Smidt Heart Institute Experts Available for Interviews During ESC Congress 2023

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 23, 2023) — 

WHAT

Throughout the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress August 25-28, 2023, in Amsterdam, experts from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai will be available to discuss advances and innovations in cardiology, including some of the most recent and promising breakthroughs in research.  

“The prestigious ESC Congress is the world’s largest cardiology meeting, and our physicians and researchers will be there to present research, guide discussions and connect with other experts in the field,” said Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute. “Many of the advancements in the field—which will be discussed throughout the conference—were pioneered by physicians and investigators at the Smidt Heart Institute. We look forward to collaborating with esteemed attendees during this information-packed event.”

A highlight of this year’s ESC Congress is a special session on sudden cardiac death, co-presented by Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, chair of the department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute. The presentation will be accompanied by a simultaneous, groundbreaking publication—a Commission Report in The Lancet, “A Call for Multidisciplinary Action and International Collaboration,” of which Albert is an author.

“Sudden cardiac death, which includes a complex interaction of factors, has always been of significant interest in the field,” Albert said. “Our commission report issues an urgent call for a clinical multidisciplinary approach and international research collaboration to address this global health issue, which will require a revamped approach to prevention through governmental and community-based policy changes.”

Albert also will present:

• Increasing the Success of Atrial Fibrillation Ablation: What Can We Do?
  ESC TV Perspectives—The Future of Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Care.
  Expertise: Arrhythmias and device therapy
  Twitter: @CMAlbertEP

Other Cedars-Sinai physicians and investigators presenting at the ESC Congress include:

• Great Debate: Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease—Anatomical vs. Functional Testing First.
  Speaker: Damini Dey, PhD, professor of Biomedical Sciences
  Expertise: Advances in imaging
  Twitter: @damini_dey
   
• Decision-making in Patients Eligible for Both Surgery and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.
  Speaker: Michael Farkouh, MD, associate dean for Research and Clinical Trials and professor of Cardiology
  Expertise: Risk factors and prevention
  Twitter: @drmikefarkouh
   
• Quantification of Aortic Valve Fibrosis and Calcification by Computed Tomography Angiography: A Prospective Head-to-Head Comparison with Histology.
  Speaker: Kajetan Grodecki, MD, PhD, research scientist
  Expertise: Interventional cardiology and cardiovascular surgery
   
• Sex and Racial Disparities in Proportional Mortality of Premature Myocardial Infarction in the USA from 1999-2020.
  Basic Research in Cardio-oncology.
  Cardiology Toolbox: Managing Heart Disease in Pregnancy.
  Speaker: Martha Gulati, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology and associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center
  Expertise: Women’s heart health, coronary artery disease, risk factors and prevention
  Twitter: @DrMarthaGulati
   
• Cerebral Embolic Protection in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement with Bicuspid Aortic Stenosis.
  Effectiveness of Cerebral Embolic Protection in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement with High Aortic Valve Calcium Burden.
  Speaker: Aakriti Gupta, MD, cardiologist
  Expertise: Interventional cardiology and cardiovascular surgery
  Twitter: @aakriti_15
   
• Innovations in Public Health and Health Economics.
  Speaker: John Gordon Harold, MD, professor of Medicine; past Chief of Staff of Cedars-Sinai
  Expertise: Cardiovascular disease in the elderly
  Twitter: @jgharoldmd
   
• Ventricular Arterial Coupling in Patients with Ischemia But No Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease: Novel Insight into Heart Failure Progression.
  Speaker: Ana Iribarren, MD, cardiologist in the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center
  Expertise: Cardiovascular disease in women
  Twitter: @Analribarren10
   
• Discussion: TAVI is safe and effective for the treatment of bicuspid aortic valve stenosis.
  Speaker: Raj Makkar, MD, Cedars-Sinai’s vice president of Cardiovascular Innovation and Intervention Expertise: Interventional cardiology
   
• Invasive Physiology Indices in Coronary Artery Disease.
  Speaker: Noel Bairey Merz, MD, professor of cardiology, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and director of the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Health Program
  Expertise: Women’s heart health
   
• High Levels of High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C) and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events and 10-year All-cause Mortality: Results from Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study.
  Speaker: Sachini Ranasinghe, MD, MPH, clinical and research fellow in the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center
  Expertise: Epidemiology, prognosis and outcome
   
• The Current and Future Total Health Care Costs of Atrial Fibrillation.
  A Polygenic Risk Score Predicts Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease Without Severe Systolic Dysfunction.
  Speaker: Roopinder Sandhu, MD, MPH, associate professor of Cardiology
  Expertise: Arrhythmias and device therapy
  Twitter: @sandhuR_md
   
• High Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I in Response to Handgrip in Women with Signs and Symptoms of Ischemia with No Obstructive Coronary Arteries.
  Speaker: Janet Wei, MD, assistant professor of Cardiology, associate medical director of the Biomedical Imaging Research Institute and co-director of the Stress Echocardiography Lab
  Expertise: Cardiovascular disease in women; risk factors and prevention
  Twitter: @JanetWeiMD

HOW

Interviews can be conducted in person at the conference or can be done virtually through Zoom, FaceTime and Skype.