Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Andreu Porta-Sánchez graduated in medicine from the Universitat de Barcelona in 2007 and completed his residency in cardiology at Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron in Barcelona (2008-13). Following his residency, he received a post-graduate training grant from «la Caixa» Banking Foundation and pursued further clinical and research training in arrhythmia at the University of Toronto (Canada) from 2014 until 2017. In December 2017 he obtained his fellowship in cardiac electrophysiolgy from the University of Toronto and decided to come back to his country of origin to pursue an academic career in cardiology. He obtained his PhD in ventricular tachycardia at Universitat de Barcelona (cum laude) in 2019 and after four years of leading the arrhythmia unit at Hospital Universitario Quirónsalud Madrid and teaching as an assistant professor of medicine at Universidad Europea de Madrid, he moved in early 2022 to Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, where he works in the arrhythmia unit. Since late 2017, he has been a research fellow at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) in Madrid in the Molecular Cardiology Laboratory led by Prof. Silvia Priori.
St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
Dr. Bart van Putte graduated from the University of Antwerp in 2002 and earned his PhD from Utrecht University in 2003 on experimental lung surgery. He became a cardiothoracic surgeon in 2010, worked at Amphia Hospital (2011–2013), and has practiced at St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein since 2013, where he leads the residency program. His clinical and research focus is minimally invasive mitral and AF surgery, including left appendage management. A proctor for thoracoscopic AF ablation since 2012, he has trained over 25 centers worldwide and contributed to the 2016 and 2020 ESC/EACTS Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines.
UZ Brussels, Belgium
Carlo de Asmundis, MD, PhD graduated in Medicine in 2003 University Vita-Salute San Raffaele. University Hospital of Milan (Italy). Currently, he is Full Professor of Cardiology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels(Belgium), Director of Heart Rhythm Management Centre (HRMC) – UZ Brussel, VUB, Brussels (Belgium), Director of Postgraduate program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing (PGCEP) – UZ Brussel, VUB, Brussels (Belgium), Director of Postgraduate program in Biomedical Engineering with emphasis in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Device (PGBioEP) – UZ Brussel, VUB, Brussels (Belgium), Guest professor of Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy). Along with Prof. Pedro Brugada he developed the Heart Rhythm Management Center (HRMC) in 2006. The HRMC is part of the Cardiovascular Department of the UZ Brussel-Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Brussels, Belgium and operates as an independent section dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of all forms of cardiac rhythm disturbances. Over the past several years it has gained a national and international reputation due to the numerous peer reviewed publications we released and its successful and renowned teaching program. Professor de Asmundis has been and is in the Board of a lot of Scientific Societies. Professor de Asmundis reviewer of several scientific journals including Circulation, European Heart Journal, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, Heart Rhythm. Professor de Asmundis has published more than 600 original articles in international https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=de+asmundis&sort=date . www.vub.be; www.uzbrussel.be
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA
David Holmes MD: Director and Advisory Board – Internal Medicine and Cardiology of American Health. He is a practicing Physician, a Director at Mayo Clinic and a Past President of the American College of Cardiology David R. Holmes, Jr., M.D., is the Scripps Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in honor of Dr. George Gura, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. He has been a member of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine for 40 years, primarily involved in interventional cardiology, electrophysiology and pacing, patient care and cardiovascular education. Dr. Holmes is an interventional cardiologist and very much enjoys the practice of interventional cardiology taking care of patients with all types of cardiovascular diseases. He has been involved in multiple research studies both as a clinical investigator and as the principal investigator. He was the director of Electrophysiology and Pacing, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation from 1981 to 1985 and then became the director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory from 1984 to 2003. His subspecialty interests include the development of strategies for stroke prevention in the setting of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis, valvular heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and acute and chronic coronary artery disease. In addition to patient care, he works in the cardiac catheterization laboratory specializing in interventional cardiology procedures, procedures for left atrial appendage occlusion, structural heart disease, treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis, and acute and chronic coronary artery disease patients. He has a passion for research and education: is involved in educating medical students, fellows and practicing cardiologists both at Mayo Clinic and national and international meetings. He has been a past president of the Society of Cardiac Angiography as well as a past president of the American College of Cardiology. He has been on the Board of the Trustees of the American College of Cardiology and has been a member of several national guideline committee recommendations related to structural heart disease.
University of South Florida, Department of Neurology, Tampa, USA
Dr. David Z. Rose is a professor of vascular (stroke) neurology at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Medicine and co-medical director of the 32-bed Neuro-ICU at Tampa General Hospital. He completed an internal medicine internship and residency at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, neurology residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and stroke fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Research interests include early anticoagulant use after AF-related stroke, cerebral microbleeds and early dementia in patients with AF, and neuro-cardiac program pathways such as arrhythmia monitoring for embolic strokes of undetermined source and left atrial appendage co-management. Dr. Rose is the author of a fun review book entitled “Laughing Your Way to Passing the Neurology Boards”. His online presence is X/Twitter: @DrStroke.
University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium
Dr. Filip Rega is associate professor and assistant head of clinic at the Department of Cardiac Surgery of the University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium. His clinical work focuses on congenital heart surgery and valvular heart disease. From both of those programs grew an interest in electrophysiology. Dr. Rega is surgical director of the Leuven electrophysiology program.
Adventist Health St. Helena, California, USA
Gan Dunnington MD completed his cardiothoracic training at the University of Virginia in 2010. After working for two years as an assistant professor at Stanford University, he moved to Napa Valley where he still currently holds the position of Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He has performed over 1300 stand alone thoracoscopic maze procedures and additionally has interest in minimally invasive valve repair and aortic surgery.
University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, USA
Prof. Husam H. Balkhy, MD, is a pioneer in the field of minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery. He specializes in the treatment of coronary artery disease, heart valve disorders, atrial fibrillation and other cardiac diseases, using robotic and less invasive techniques in order to reduce pain, disability and recovery time. Through education, he empowers his patients to take an active and informed role in their care. Dr. Balkhy is one of only a handful of surgeons in the world with extensive experience in performing robotic totally endoscopic beating heart coronary bypass grafting (TECAB). He also has a large experience with robotic mitral valve surgery, robotic atrial fibrillation surgery and minimally invasive (port access) aortic valve surgery.
Northwestern University Medical Center, Chicago, USA
Prof. James Cox is best known for his work in the field of cardiac arrhythmia surgery and the development of the Cox-Maze Procedure for the treatment of AF completing the first “Maze” procedure in 1987. On January 1, 2017, Dr. Cox was appointed professor of surgery and surgical director of the Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Cox was the 81st president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), is a member of the editorial board of over 20 scientific journals, chairman of the Residency Review Committee for thoracic surgery, a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, a member of the Surgical Study Section at the National Institutes of Health and a founding member of the following boards: Board of Directors of CTSNet, Board of Directors of the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education and the Joint Council on Thoracic Surgical Education. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Science in 2005.
Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. JB Guichard is a cardiologist who received his medical training at the University of Saint-Étienne (France). He further specialized in Cardiac Arrhythmias through training in Canada, completing his doctorate in 2019. His research activities, both clinical and translational, focus on describing atrial cardiopathy to enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic management of atrial fibrillation. In addition to his clinical work at the Arrhythmia Unit of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, he is leading multiple clinical and translational research projects. Dr. Guichard was awarded an Advanced Research Contract from the BBVA Foundation - Hospital Clínic Barcelona Joan Rodés - Josep Baselga in 2023 for a duration of 3 years.
Bart’s Heart Centre, London, UK
Mr John Yap is a consultant cardiac surgeon at Barts Heart Centre, following the merger of The Heart Hospital with St Bartholomew's Hospital in 2015. He is also a co-founder of London Heart Specialists, Harley Street Clinic. He specialises in the surgical and endovascular treatment of valvular heart disease, Marfan syndrome, and diseases of the thoracic aorta (including aortic dissection and aneurysms). Mr Yap completed his medical degree at Glasgow University and went on to specialise in general surgery. He obtained a fellowship with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow in 1992. Following this, he undertook further cardiothoracic surgery in London and a research fellowship at Mayo Clinic, USA. He was awarded an MD (Doctorate of Medicine) for his research into gene therapy.
Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
Cardiovascular Surgery Residency at the University Hospital of Valencia. Cardiovascular Surgery Department at the University Hospital of Vinalopó (2010-2018). Fellowship from the European Board of Cardiothoracic Surgery (2020). Cardiovascular Surgeon at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona since 2019.
La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain
Prof. Jose L Merino is director of the Arrhythmia– Electrophysiology Research Unit at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid. His research focus is the clinical management of arrhythmia and interventional electrophysiology, and he has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is also involved in the development of pre-market-release versions of electrophysiology navigation systems. Dr Merino is past president of the Working Group on Arrhythmia and chairman of the Accreditation Committee of the Spanish Society of Cardiology. He is also past chairman of the Accreditation Committee of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), a member of the organizing committee of the past and next Europace congresses and a member of the EHRA’s Scientific Initiative Committee. Dr Merino serves on the editorial board of several journals, including EP-Europace and Revista española de cardiología, and is a fellow of the ESC and an honorary member of the Argentinian and other Latin American societies of cardiology.
Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
Dr. Manuel Carnero is an Adult Cardiac Surgeon at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid, Spain. His expertise is in arrhythmia surgery, minimally invasive procedures and heart failure treatment. Manuel is a Member of the scientific committee of the Spanish National Registry of Cardiovascular Surgery. Manuel has a Postdoctoral master’s degree in Research Methodology and Statistics and is a statistical reviewer for EJCTS and ICVTS as well as a Member of the editorial board of Revista Española de Cardiología. Manuel has a postdoctoral master’s degree in clinical management and is the Quality Manager of the Cardiac Surgery Department at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos. Manual also has a postdoctoral master’s degree in echocardiography. Manuel is also a member of EACTS and the Spanish Society of Cardiology, is General Secretary of the Spanish Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery, and Investigator for the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC). Manuel has authored 95 manuscripts as first author or collaborator. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5045-576.
Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Manuel Castella is a cardiovascular surgeon, head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department at the Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona. The department is a national referral for complex mitral repair including robotic, pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and adult congenital heart disease. Among all types of cardiac surgery, Dr. Castella’s main interest and fields of research are AF surgery and pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. He has co-led trials in thoracoscopic AF ablation and he has been member of the ESC/EACTS Committee for the development of the Guidelines for Atrial Fibrillation Management in 2016 and 2020. Since 2018, Dr. Castella is the chairman of the Arrhythmia Surgery Task Force of EACTS. His interests are port-access mitral repair and other types of minimally invasive surgery.
University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium
Dr. Mark La Meir is chair and professor of cardiac surgery and head of the Cardiac Surgery Department at the University Hospital Brussels and consultant at the Maastricht University Medical Center (the Netherlands). He earned his medical degree in 1992 and completed his PhD on hybrid treatment of atrial fibrillation in 2012. He has a special interest in the concomitant and standalone treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Since 2005 he developed hybrid approaches for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, inappropriate sinus nude dysfunction, premature ventricular contractions and Brugada syndrome. He is a board member of the Arrhythmia Task Force of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications.
Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany
Michael Borger completed his cardiac surgery training and a PhD in Clinical Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Toronto, Canada in 2001. After completing a 1 year fellowship with Dr Friedrich-Wilhelm Mohr at the Leipzig Heart Center in 2002, he took a position as Staff Cardiac Surgeon at the Toronto General Hospital and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto from 2002 to 2006 under the mentorship of Dr Tirone David. In 2006, Michael returned to Germany as a Staff Surgeon at the Leipzig Heart Center. He became adjunct Professor at the University of Leipzig in 2008 and was appointed as Assistant Director of the Leipzig Heart Center in 2009. In 2014, Michael became the Director of Aortic Surgery and the Director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in New York. He was also appointed the George H. Humphries Professor of Surgery at CUMC. In 2017, Michael returned to Leipzig as the Director of Cardiac Surgery at the Leipzig Heart Center and Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Leipzig. His clinical and research interests include aortic surgery, minimal invasive and percutaneous valve procedures, aortic and mitral valve repair surgery, and ischemic mitral regurgitation. He is an author on over 300 peer-reviewed publications and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, and AORTA. He is former Associate Editor for the Thoracic Vascular section of the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and an Associate Editor for the journal Structural Heart: The Journal of the Heart Team.
McMaster University Medical School, Hamilton, Canada
Prof. Richard Whitlock is a Canadian cardiovascular surgeon and a professor of surgery at McMaster University Medical School. Dr. Whitlock joined the Department of Cardiac Surgery as an assistant professor in 2012. He also became a principal investigator (PI) at the Population Health Research Institute at the same time. He is most well known for being the PI of the SIRS (Steroids in Cardiac Surgery) trial and the LAAOS III (Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Study) trial, a trial to determine the effectiveness of left atrial appendage occlusion during cardiac surgery in patients with AF.
St George’s Hospital, London, UK
Dr Riyaz Kaba is a leading consultant cardiologist with over 25 years of experience. He cares for patients with a wide range of cardiac conditions, including atrial fibrillation, heart failure, palpitations, breathlessness, syncope (fainting) and chest pain. He regularly performs curative interventional procedures and specialises in implanting both standard and complex pacemakers. In fact, he is one of the first operators in the world to implant the state-of-the-art Quadripolar LV Lead pacemaker to treat a patient with severe heart failure. Dr Kaba graduated in the UK and proceeded to undergo training as a junior doctor at King's College Hospital London, where he reached molecular and cellular cardiology at the National Heart & Lung Institute at the Royal Brompton Hospital. During his training, he was granted an advanced fellowship at the prestigious IVY League institution of Columbia University, New York. He has been recognised nationally and internationally: he has received several academic awards and been presented with international awards from America and Europe.
University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy
Dr. Stefano Benussi has been in practice since 1991 and worked for many years as leading surgeon at S. Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy. He was founder of the Arrhythmia Task Force of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and since 2015 he has been chief of arrhythmia surgery and cardio stimulation at USZ Zurich, Switzerland where he is responsible for surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation and VAD implants. He also performs OPCAB and valve repair surgery, mainly through minimal invasive approaches.
Bart’s Heart Centre, London, UK
Dr Ahsan graduated from Guys Kings and St Thomas’ Medical School in 2000 with a First Class Honours degree in his BSc. He undertook his cardiology specialist training at various prestigious hospitals in London, where he has worked with world-renowned experts. These include the Royal Brompton Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the Heart Hospital, where he undertook his fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology. His postgraduate medical doctorate was awarded from University College London and evaluated strategies to optimise outcomes in patients with cardiac rhythm devices. His research work was awarded the Royal Society of Medicine National Prize in 2009 and was presented nationally and internationally at cardiac conferences. He has been a finalist in two national young investigator awards. In his current role, our heart specialist Dr Ahsan sees and treats many different cardiology conditions. He is a highly-experienced operator. He routinely implants all types of cardiac pacing resynchronisation and defibrillator devices. Dr Ahsan also performs ablations for arrhythmia and coronary angiography. He also sees and treats patients with blackouts, chest pains, and high blood pressure.
Asklepios Klinikum Harburg, Germany
Dr. Thorsten Hanke is associate director of the Cardiac Surgery Clinic at the Asklepios Clinic Hamburg-Harburg, Germany. He has specialized in treating atrial fibrillation surgically since 2007 and inaugurated a surgical stand-alone LAA treatment program at the Cardiac Surgery Clinic in Harburg in 2016. He is the head of the steering committee of the German surgical ablation registry (CASE-AF), which started in 2016 and which will oversee 400 patients after surgical ablation and LAA treatment.
Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute, University Hospitals Cleveland, USA
Dr. Yasir Abu-Omar is a prominent cardiothoracic surgeon who serves as the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his medical degree from the University of Aberdeen School of Medicine and completed his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil/PhD) at the University of Oxford. Before moving to the United States in 2020 to join University Hospitals, he practiced as a consultant cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon at the prestigious Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England. Dr. Abu-Omar is globally recognized for his expertise in heart and lung transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and complex valve surgeries, and he has pioneered advanced surgical techniques including robotic minimally invasive heart surgery and "Heart-in-a-Box" organ preservation.