Prof. Dr. med. Stephan Achenbach is the Chairman of the Department of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the University of Erlangen, Germany. His main clinical interests are Interventional Cardiology, General Cardiology as well as Cardiac Imaging. His research is focused on cardiac interventions and cardiac imaging with a special focus on computed tomography of the heart and the use of imaging to support coronary and structural procedures. Stephan Achenbach was the Founding President of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He has been on the Board of the European Society of Cardiology since 2012, serving as Councillor (2012-2014), Vice President (2014-2016), Chairman of the Congress Programme Committee (2016-2018) and President-Elect (2018-2020). He is the President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for the mandate 2020 to 2022.

Prof.dr. Jeroen J. Bax, FESC (Leiden, Netherlands)
ESC Immediate Past-President (2018 – 2020), Jeroen Bax is Director of non-invasive imaging and Director of the echo-lab at the Leiden University Medical Center. His main interests include clinical cardiology, heart failure, cardiac resynchronization therapy and the application of all different imaging modalities to these clinical fields. Professor Bax has authored numerous papers and holds several positions in national and international scientific organizations, as well as serving on the editorial boards of many different journals.

Doctor Tirone E. David is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto, attending cardiac surgeon at Toronto General Hospital, and the holder of the Melanie Munk Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery. He was born in Brazil and educated in his native country, United States and Canada.  His postgraduate training in surgery was at the State University of New York, Cleveland Clinic, and University of Toronto.  He joined the academic staff of the University of Toronto and has become one  of the leading cardiac surgeons in the world.  Hundreds of heart surgeons from around the globe visit his operating theatre every year.

Doctor David has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 42 chapters in medical textbooks as well as 5 surgical textbooks.  He has developed numerous operative procedures to treat patients with heart valve disease, complications of myocardial infarction, and thoracic aneurysms. One of these innovative procedures has been named after him, The David Operation, designed to preserve the aortic valve in patients with aortic root aneurysms. He has been a member of the editorial board of several surgical and medical journals. He was President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in 2004-2005.

Doctor David is a member and honorary member of numerous surgical and medical societies. He received the Order of Ontario in 1993 and the Order of Canada in 1996. He was elected University Professor in 2004, the highest honor the University of Toronto bestows its professors. The American Association for Thoracic Surgery conferred him the Scientific Achievement Award in 2016 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Director, Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Director, Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology
School of Molecular Cell Biology and Biotechnology
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
The Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Tel Aviv University

Marc Gillinov, MD, is Chairman of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. He is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He holds the Judith Dion Pyle Chair in Heart Valve Research.   He is also Chair of the NIH-funded Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network.   In addition, he is Surgical Director of the Center for Atrial Fibrillation at Cleveland Clinic.

In response to patients’ questions, Dr. Gillinov worked with Dr. Steven Nissen to write Heart 411: The Only Heart Guide You Will Ever Need. The goal of the book is to help people learn about heart health and live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Specialty interests: Mitral valve repair, robotic mitral valve surgery, robotic heart surgery, aortic valve replacement, minimally invasive heart surgery, heart valve surgery, heart valve repair.

Number of Procedures Performed: Cleveland Clinic performs more than 4,000 heart surgeries each year. All Cleveland Clinic cardiac surgeons complete between 300-400 cardiac cases per year.  The majority of Dr. Gillinov’s procedures are heart valve procedures, especially mitral valve surgery. Dr. Gillinov performs more mitral valve surgeries each year than any other surgeon in the world.

Success Rates: Cleveland Clinic has been ranked the #1 hospital for cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report since 1995.

Education and Training:  A Cleveland native and graduate of Hawken School, Dr. Gillinov first worked at Cleveland Clinic in 1978. After a close family member’s successful heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Gillinov became interested in learning more. He spent his summers during high school at Cleveland Clinic, working as a researcher and assistant in the cardiac surgery operating suite.

After graduating summa cum laude from Yale University, Dr. Gillinov entered Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he ranked first in his class. Dr. Gillinov received his clinical and advanced training in general surgery and cardiac and thoracic surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. After completing his education and training, he returned to Cleveland Clinic and joined the cardiac surgery staff in 1997.

Publications and Speaking: Dr. Gillinov is a recognized expert in mitral valve repair surgery, robotic heart surgery and in the study and treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation. He has been instrumental in the development of new, less invasive treatment approaches for patients with mitral valve disease and atrial fibrillation. He has been invited to give hundreds of lectures at hospitals, academic meetings and seminars in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Gillinov has written more than 400 publications, eight continuing medical educational films and contributed over 30 chapters to medical/surgical textbooks. He has been granted patents for several innovations, including a patent disclosing new techniques for valve repair for which he received a Cleveland Clinic Award for Innovation.

Dr. Gillinov is a current or past member of 10 scientific societies, and he has been invited to join the editorial review board or act as an editorial reviewer for 15 scientific periodicals. He is the medical editor of Cleveland Clinic’s Cardiac Consult, and has served on the editorial boards of e-Cleveland Clinic, The Heart Surgery Forum, Innovations, the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and the Journal of Cardiac Surgery.

Tal Hasin, MD

Director, Heart failure unit
Jesselson Integrated Heart Center

Shaare Zedek Medical Center
Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University

Jerusalem, Israel

Prof.  Tal Hasin was born in Jerusalem in 1972 and graduated from the Hadassah Medical School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem in 1998 (MD). He completed fellowship in cardiology at Rambam medical center (2006-2010). Following he completed clinical fellowship in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation at the Mayo clinic (2010-2012). Since September 2014 Prof. Hasin joined the cardiology department in Shaare Zedek, Jerusalem to establish and direct the heart failure unit. He was appointed Professor associate in the Hebrew university in April 2019. Since 2017 Prof. Hasin is active as the secretary of the heart failure working group of the Israeli Heart Society. Prof. Hasin is a fellow of the heart failure association of the European Society of Cardiology since 2017 and active in the Mechanical Circulatory Support Study Group (2016-2021). He is also a member of the ACC International Heart Failure Work Group since 2018.

Prof. Hasin was awarded the exceptional resident in cardiology award (Israel Heart Society) in 2010 and received various research grants. He has authored over 70 scientific publications including first author New England Journal of Medicine and four Journal of the American College of Cardiology publications. His main research interests are in advanced heart failure and cardio-oncology. During 2020-2021 Prof. Hasin has joined the Israel Heart Society task force for COVID-19 and was appointed by the IHS to consult the Israeli Ministry of Health on possible COVID-19 Vaccine related adverse effects.

Ajay J. Kirtane, MD, SM, is Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital / CUMC. Dr. Kirtane is an internationally-renowned leader in Interventional Cardiology, specializing in the care of patients with complex coronary and peripheral vascular disease. In addition to his clinical commitments, Dr. Kirtane has a strong interest in clinical education and research, serving as Chief Academic Officer of Columbia Interventional Cardiovascular Care, and as director of several international, national, and regional educational conferences in Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Kirtane’s research interests are in clinical trials and outcomes of device-based and pharmacologic interventions in Interventional Cardiology. He is/has been Principal Investigator and serves on the steering committees of numerous clinical trials in interventional cardiovascular medicine.

Amir Lerman, MD. Is an endowed named Barbara Lips professor of medicine and a consultant in the department of cardiovascular disease at the Mayo graduate school of medicine. Dr. Lerman serves as an associate chair of the department of Cardiology and the Director of the cardiovascular research center at Mayo Clinic and the medical director of the chest pain and coronary physiology clinic. Dr. Lerman serves as the Director Mayo-Israeli start-up companies initiative and on the faculty member of the Merage Institute for medical innovation.  Dr. Lerman graduated from the Technion school of Medicine in Haifa Israel and completed his training in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and invasive cardiology at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Leman interest is coronary physiology and imaging, regenerative medicine, innovative technologies and digital health. Dr. Lerman published more than 650 manuscripts, book chapters and reviews; the NIH, AHA, and several foundations support his research.

Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones serves as president-elect of the American Heart Association (AHA) for FY2020-2021. Among the world’s most highly regarded experts in cardiovascular disease prevention and epidemiology, his volunteer leadership has had a profound impact on the Association’s efforts to improve patient outcomes and create healthier communities across the nation.

At Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Dr. Lloyd-Jones is Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research and Professor of Preventive Medicine, Medicine-Cardiology, and Pediatrics.

A volunteer since 1997, Dr. Lloyd-Jones currently serves as the Chairperson of the Committee on Scientific Sessions Program and is a member of the Science Advisory & Coordinating Committee. He has provided invaluable guidance as a Science Advisor to the AHA’s CEO Roundtable and as the President of the Midwest Affiliate and the Workplace Health Steering Committee July 2015 – June 2017

As Chairperson of the Strategic Goals Subcommittee, his vision was critical to creating the Association’s 2020 Impact Goal, and our first-ever definition of ideal cardiovascular health, as well as the criteria for the “Life’s Simple 7” health metrics. He co-chaired the Expert Work Group that created the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk.

In the Chicago area, Dr. Lloyd-Jones has been a passionate supporter of numerous AHA advocacy efforts, including a successful campaign to implement a sweetened beverage tax in Cook County. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 peer-reviewed articles and is included in Thomson-Reuters’s prestigious list of the world’s 1% most frequently cited scientific authors.

In 2017, he received the American Heart Association Physician of the Year award and in 2020, he became President-Elect of the American Heart Association.

William John McKenna is Professor of Cardiology at University College London (UCL) and one of the world’s leading experts in inherited heart diseases such as the cardiomyopathies (heart muscle diseases) and the channelopathies (ion channel diseases). He became Professor of Cardiac Medicine at St George’s Hospital in London in 1993 and moved to his current role in July 2003. He is also cardiovascular programme director for UCL Partners and led the development of the specialist inherited cardiac disease clinic at the Heart Hospital. His main interests have been in the clinical treatment and research of the cardiomyopathies. His recent work has contributed to the identification of disease-causing genes in hypertrophic, dilated and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, to the establishment of new diagnostic criteria in familial disease, and to establishing calculations to identify patients at high risk of sudden death.

He is also president of the Cardiomyopathy Association, a charity that provides information and support to affected families.

Director, Electrophysiology Unit.

Shaare Zedek Medical Center

Jerusalem, Israel

Silvia G. Priori, MD, PhD

Full Professor of Cardiology

University of Pavia- Italy

Director of Molecular Cardiology Unit

Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA & SB

Pavia – Italy

Director of Molecular Cardiology Unit

Centro Nacional de Investigaciones

Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) – Madrid – Spain

Silvia G Priori graduated in Medicine in 1985, became specialist in Cardiology in 1990 and got the PhD in Cardiac Pathophysiology in 1995. She is Full Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pavia, Director of General Medicine III Unit and of the Molecular Cardiology Laboratories at the ICS Maugeri and Director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Program, at the Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid.

Prof Priori was: Chairman Committee for ESC Practice Guidelines; President of the EHRA; Member of the ESC Board; Co-Chairman of the ESC Congress Programme Committee.

Prof Priori is now Vice-President of the ESC.

Her main research fields are Inherited Arrhythmias and Gene Therapy.

Gregory G. Schwartz, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine (Division of Cardiology) at the University of Colorado. He is also Chief of Cardiology at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado (USA).

Dr Schwartz graduated from Brown University in Providence, RI with a degree in Biomedical Engineering, and then received PhD and MD degrees from Duke University in Durham, NC. He completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado and fellowship in Cardiology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), where he served on the faculty as Assistant and Associate Professor before assuming his present position.

Dr Schwartz’ clinical research has focused on trials of lipid and metabolic interventions in coronary heart disease, including the placebo-controlled cardiovascular outcomes trials that established the efficacy of intensive statin treatment (MIRACL, 2001) and PCSK9 inhibition (ODYSSEY OUTCOMES, 2018) after acute coronary syndrome. Among current activities, Dr Schwartz is Chair of the VA Cooperative Study “VA-IMPACT” testing the cardiovascular efficacy of metformin in pre-diabetes. In basic research, Dr. Schwartz directs a swine physiology laboratory that investigates translational questions in myocardial energy metabolism and ischemic protection.

Professor David Taggart is currently the Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Oxford. He qualified from Glasgow University in 1981 and in 1989 was awarded an MD with Honours for studies on the effects of hypothermia on the metabolic response to cardiac surgery. He subsequently trained as the Senior Registrar at the Royal Brompton Hospital under Professor Yacoub and Mr. Lincoln.
In 1995, he was appointed Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, where he obtained a PhD (from Strathclyde University ) for studies of the inflammatory response during cardiac surgery. In 2004 he was appointed Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at the
University of Oxford.
He was President of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery of GB and Ireland (April 2010 – April 2012), Chairman of the European Society of Cardiology Cardiovascular Surgery Working Group, a member of the Adult Domain of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery and a member of the AATS and STS.
He was appointed as the lead for cardiothoracic surgery research in the UK by the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 2013-16.
His main interests are coronary revascularization, especially a critical appraisal of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using stents vs. CABG surgery, arterial grafts and off-pump surgery. He has authored over 340 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is the PI of the ART trial – one of the largest surgical trials ever conducted (a randomised trial of 3000 CABG patients to single
or bilateral IMA grafts during CABG).

Holger Thiele is the Medical Director of the Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology at the Heart Center Leipzig at University of Leipzig which is one of the largest heart centers in Europe. He is full professor of cardiology at the University of Leipzig.

His main research interests are acute myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, cardiogenic shock, mechanical circulatory support, acute cardiovascular care, interventional cardiology and structural heart disease.

Professor Thiele has published over 500 articles in international scientific journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, Circulation, JACC, and the European Heart Journal with a cumulative impact factor of >4000. He has received multiple awards from the German Society of Cardiology and other organisations.