Dr. Eugene Braunwald to Deliver the 10th HJC Swan Memorial Lecture at the Opening Ceremony of the International Academy of Cardiology, Annual Scientific Sessions 2016, 21st World Congress on Heart Disease

July 18, 2016

CIRINA CATANIA
The Catania Group

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) (July 18, 2016) - Asher Kimchi, M.D., Founder and Chairman of the International Academy of Cardiology, announced that Eugene Braunwald, M.D., Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and founding Chairman of the TIMI Study Group at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, will deliver the tenth H.J.C. Swan Memorial Lecture at the Opening Ceremony of the International Academy of Cardiology, Annual Scientific Sessions 2016, 21st World Congress on Heart Disease, that will be held in Boston, MA, USA, from Saturday, July 30 through Monday, August 1, 2016.

Dr. Braunwald will present on the topic of “The War on Heart Failure”. Heart failure (HF) is a global problem with an estimated prevalence of 38 million patients worldwide, a number that is increasing with the ageing of the population. Despite some progress, the prognosis of HF is still worse than that of most cancers. Because of the seriousness of the condition, a declaration of war on HF is proposed on five fronts: 1) Efforts to treat HF by enhancing myofilament sensitivity to Ca²+; 2) Several abnormal Ca2+-handling proteins in the failing heart are candidates for gene therapy; 3) Short, non-coding RNAs—ie, microRNAs, block gene expression and protein translation. Their actions can be blocked by a new class of drugs, antagomirs, some of which have been shown to improve cardiac function in animal models of HF; 4) Cell therapy, with autologous bone marrow derived mononuclear cells, or autogenous mesenchymal cells, which can be administered as cryopreserved off the shelf products, are promising in both preclinical and early clinical HF trials; 5) Fibrosis is prominent in HF and antifibrotic drugs are promising. The approaches to the treatment of HF described, when used alone or in combination, could become important weapons in the war against HF.

Dr. Braunwald received his medical training at New York University and completed his Medical Residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He served as the first Chief of the Cardiology Branch and as Clinical Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, founding Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. From 1972 to 1996 he was Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was a founding trustee and Chief Academic Officer of Partners HealthCare System.

Dr. Braunwald’s early work focused on the control of ventricular function and he was the first to measure both left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular dp/dt in patients. His group showed the first neurohumoral defect in human heart failure. He and his colleagues were the first to show the benefit of preventing adverse remodeling of the infarcted ventricle with ACE inhibition.

Dr. Braunwald has received numerous honors and awards including the Distinguished Scientist and Lifetime Achievement Awards of the American College of Cardiology, Research Achievement, and Herrick Awards of the American Heart Association, the Gold Medal of the European Society of Cardiology and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Heart Failure Society of America. He is the recipient of 22 honorary degrees from distinguished universities throughout the world. The living Nobel Prize winners in medicine voted Dr. Braunwald as “the person who has contributed the most to cardiology in recent years”.

Dr. Asher Kimchi comments, “We are most fortunate to have Dr. Braunwald with us at the 21st World Congress on Heart Disease. His teachings and research are unparalleled and we are looking forward to his presentation on ‘The War on Heart Failure.’”

Asher Kimchi, M.D., is the Clinical Chief of Cardiology and the Co-Medical Director of the Preventive and Consultative Heart Center of Excellence at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California. He is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.

On Saturday, July 30, 2016, at 9:00 am, the Founder and Chairman of the International Academy of Cardiology, Dr. Asher Kimchi, will greet the Congress’ attendees from forty countries at the Opening Ceremony of the 21st World Congress on Heart Disease. The Opening Ceremony and Awards Presentations will be chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Borer, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology, Radiology and Surgery, at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center and College of Medicine, and Director of the Howard Gilman Institute for Heart Valve Disease; Chairman of the Scientific Executive Committee and Chairman of the Section of Valvular Heart Disease, International Academy of Cardiology.

The following Members of the International Academy of Cardiology will also take part in the Opening Ceremony:

• Dr. John A. Elefteriades, New Haven, CT, USA; Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the Aortic Institute at Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital; Member, Scientific Executive Committee; Chairman, Section of Cardiovascular Surgery, International Academy of Cardiology
  
  
• Prof. Naranjan S. Dhalla, Canada, Distinguished Professor and Director of Cardiovascular Developments, SBRC, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Member of the Scientific Executive Committee and Chairman of the Section of Cellular Biology of the Heart, International Academy of Cardiology

• Prof. Nathan D. Wong, Irvine, CA, USA; Professor and Director, Heart Disease Prevention Program, Division of Cardiology, University of California, Irvine; Member of the Scientific Executive Committee and Chairman of the Section of Preventive Cardiology, International Academy of Cardiology

• Prof. Laurence Sperling, Atlanta, GA, USA; Professor of Medicine, Founder and Director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center, Emory University; President, The American Society for Preventive Cardiology; Member of the Scientific Executive Committee, International Academy of Cardiology
  
  

Awards will be presented for Distinguished Contributions to Medicine and Cardiology.

The International Academy of Cardiology has established five awards to honor the memory of distinguished colleagues who made a major contribution to Medicine and Cardiology and who were members of the faculty for previous International Academy of Cardiology meetings. As in previous years, a very prestigious Awards Committee selected the recipients.

Dr. Jeffrey S. Borer and Dr. John A. Elefteriades, Co-Chairmen of the Awards Committee, will present the following awards for 2016 at the Opening Ceremony of the Congress:

• The WALTER BLEIFELD MEMORIAL AWARD for distinguished work in the field of Clinical Research
  
• The ALBRECHT FLECKENSTEIN MEMORIAL AWARD for distinguished work in the field of Basic Research
  
• The JAN J. KELLERMANN MEMORIAL AWARD for distinguished work in the field of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
  
• The HANS-PETER KRAYENBUEHL MEMORIAL AWARD for distinguished work in the field of Research in Cardiac Function
  
• The MELVIN L. MARCUS MEMORIAL AWARD for distinguished contribution as a Gifted Teacher
  
• The DISTINGUISHED FELLOWSHIP AWARD for profound contribution to Cardiovascular Medicine and important service to the Academy

Dr. Kimchi notes that, “The Congress will provide the opportunity for a comprehensive overview of the latest research developments primarily in the areas of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Genetics of Heart Disease, Cardiac Imaging, Coronary Artery Disease, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Preventive Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, Lipoprotein Disorders, Hypertension, Metabolic Syndrome, Heart Failure, Valvular Heart Disease, Diseases of the Aorta, Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology, Implantable Cardiac Pacemakers and Cardioverter-Defibrillators, Sudden Cardiac Death, Pediatric Cardiology, Congenital Heart Disease, Cardiac Surgery, Heart Transplantation, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Measurement of Outcome and Quality of Cardiovascular Care."

According to Dr. Kimchi, "Papers will be presented in the form of plenary sessions, symposia and posters and will include superb scientific material originating from numerous laboratories around the globe that was carefully selected by the Scientific Abstract Review committee from over seven hundred abstracts submitted for presentation at the meeting. The four hundred forty- six studies selected for presentation originate from laboratories in forty-four countries, assuring that the meeting will be a major scientific event."

Dr. Kimchi proudly announced, “The World Congress on Heart Disease has been endorsed by most prestigious medical societies and associations. The scientific program of the Congress has been reviewed by the American Medical Association and approved for 23 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. The Congress is affiliated with the American College of Cardiology, California Chapter, the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, and the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences.”

The International Academy of Cardiology, founded twenty-seven years ago by Dr. Asher Kimchi, is dedicated to the advancement of global research in cardiovascular medicine through the support of scientific meetings and publications.

Registration for the 21st World Congress on Heart Disease, presented by the International Academy of Cardiology, in Boston, MA, USA from July 30 – August 1, 2016 is available online at http://www.CardiologyOnline.com. The Congress takes place at the Westin Copley Place, 10 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, USA.

For further information or to book interviews, please contact Cirina Catania at The Catania Group, Inc., klimedco(at)ucla(dot)edu.

CIRINA CATANIA
The Catania Group
news@catania.us

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