Sir Magdi Yacoub, M.D., an internationally recognized expert in cardiothoracic disease, will deliver the keynote address at the ninth annual Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (U-CARS). Yacoub, who has been described as the "Leonardo da Vinci" of cardiac surgery, established heart transplantation in the United Kingdom and has introduced a variety of new concepts and new operations to the field.
"Dr. Yacoub has been a leader in the cardiovascular field for decades," says Stavros Drakos, M.D., professor and director of research for cardiology at University of Utah Health, who co-organized this year's U-CARS. "He's seen a lot of changes and is very familiar with the resistance within the medical community to new ideas and groundbreaking innovations. He's going to discuss what it takes to overcome those dogmas and improve care for patients with heart failure."
U-CARS will be held virtually on March 18-19, 2021, in Salt Lake City, Utah. See the symposium website for the full agenda and registration.
Registration is free of charge to employees, trainees, and students from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City VA Medical Center, Intermountain Medical Center, and Primary Children's Hospital.
The symposium is uniquely dedicated to understanding how a diseased heart can become healthy again. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from leading experts and network with academics and practitioners in a variety of fields, including cardiologists, surgeons, radiologists, anesthesiologists, ER physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and research scientists. In 2020, U-CARS attracted more than 600 attendees worldwide.
"Anything we can do to improve the failing heart is a vital step forward," says Craig Selzman, M.D., chief of cardiothoracic surgery and co-organizer of U-CARS. "Heart failure is a global epidemic. It's costing more than all cancers combined. So, the stakes are high, and U-CARS is an important venue for those of us interested in revitalizing the failing heart and promoting and sharing new ideas, therapies, and concepts."
In addition to Yacoub, other notable speakers include:
Manreet Kanwar, M.D., Allegheny Medical Center, "Myocardial recovery: what do the HF patients think and want" (live streaming with Kanwar and a patient regarding her cardiac recovery.)
Daniel Zimpfer, M.D., Medical University of Vienna, Austria, "Pediatric myocardial recovery and resilience: lessons learned and opportunities"
John Cleland, M.D., University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, "Relapse after recovery from heart failure: risk factors, pharmacological interventions and resynchronization therapy"
Gerasimos Filippatos, M.D., University of Athens, Greece, "Impact of new heart failure meds (SGLT2i, vericiquat and omecamtiv) on (a) cardiac remodeling and (b) patient outcomes"
Van-Khue Ton, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard, "New insights into how exercise can impact myocardial recovery"
Nir Uriel, M.D., MSc., New York Presbyterian/Columbia, "Combining 3-D echocardiography and PV loops to Optimize Mechanical Unloading"
Larry Allen, M.D., University of Colorado, "Patient activation and treatment decisions – lessons from EPIC-HF trial"
Media are welcome to attend free of charge or watch the livestream online. Overviews of the sessions are available in the March 18 and March 19 agendas online. All times are listed as Mountain Daylight Time.
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