Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Andreu Porta-Sánchez graduated in Medicine at 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 Electrophysiology from 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 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.
UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, London, UK
Dr. Andrew Cook is Associate Professor and leads the Centre for Cardiac Morphology at the Institute of Cardiovascular Science / Great Ormond Street Hospital Institute of Child Health, London, UK. He has an international reputation for providing education, training and expertise in the structural architecture of the heart including major textbooks on surgical anatomy of the heart and fetal cardiology. He is founder of the website www.cardiacmorphology.com and advises companies on anatomy for device design and simulation. During this work he has developed specific expertise in correlating cardiac structure with imaging from fetus to adult. Current areas of research are: micro-imaging and 3D printing of structural heart disease using micro-computed tomography and phase-contrast synchrotron imaging; and deep-phenotyping of heart defects in mutant mouse embryos using high throughput, high-resolution 3D imaging.
Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC+), Maastricht, the Netherlands
Dr. Bart Maesen studied medicine at the University of Antwerp. After obtaining his medical degree, he conducted scientific research into ischemia/reperfusion damage at the University of Antwerp. He subsequently moved to Maastricht University where he conducted research into various aspects of the substrate of AF in Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schotten’s group. In 2011 he was trained as a cardiothoracic surgeon at Maastricht UMC+ and registered as such in 2017. In 2015 he received his PhD from Maastricht University. In addition to general cardiothoracic procedures, his attention is focused on minimally invasive surgery (Hybrid AF ablation, rhythm surgery, transcatheter heart valve intervention). Within the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS) he is a member of the “Arrhythmia Taskforce”.
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 AFib-related stroke, cerebral microbleeds and early dementia in patients with AFib, 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.
Northwestern University Medical Center, Chicago, USA
Dr. 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.
Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Professor Jolanda Kluin MD, PhD is Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She studied medicine in Rotterdam where she also did her PhD and training in cardiothoracic surgery. After that, she worked as a consultant in Utrecht and Amsterdam. She served as the chair of the European Association EACTS Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery Committee and is associate editor of the European heart Journal. Her clinical work and surgical focus is mainly on valve reconstruction, endocarditis and the complex type of (redo) operations. Her research in translational cardiothoracic surgery includes, amongst others, development of new (e.g., tissue engineered) heart valves and the development of a hybrid, soft robotic artificial heart, virtual reality and other modern imaging tools, always with a view to this work ending up in helping the patient.
Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain
Currently awaiting biography
La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain
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 Organising 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.
SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
Josep Brugada Terradellas, MD, PhD, FESC. Cardiologist, Specialist in Biology and Sport Medicine, MBA Management in Health Services. Medical Director of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, head of the Arrhythmia Section of the Pediatric Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Past President of the European Heart Rhythm Association. Dr Brugada discovered, treated and found the genetic cause (along with his brother Pedro and Ramon) of a rare syndrome causing Sudden Death, which is known in the scientific literature as Brugada Syndrome. So far, he has published more than 300 original papers in the most relevant international journals, Prof. Brugada held also the post of Deputy Editor of the European Journal of Cardiology. He is member of several scientific societies and is Professor of Medicine at the University of Barcelona since 1998. Professor Brugada is a member of the AER editorial board.
German Heart Center Munich, Germany
Dr Keti Vitanova is the acting deputy director of the department and a specialist in cardiovascular surgery at the German Heart Centre Munich, hospital of the Technical University of Munich.
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. 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 stand-alone 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 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.
Southcoast Health, New Bedford, Massachusetts USA
Dr. Sood is the Director of the Atrial Fibrillation Wellness Program. He graduated from Government Medical School in Nagpur, India. He completed clinical electives and a research fellowship at Georgetown University, as well as an internship and residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology at the University of Connecticut Health Center. Dr. Sood also completed a fellowship in electrophysiology at the Lahey Clinic, Tufts University Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. Dr. Sood was selected as “Star Fellow” “Fellow Elite in Training” 2012 by American College of Cardiology (ACC) and also “Young Investigator of the year” 2012. Dr. Sood is board certified in internal medicine, and holds certifications in echocardiography, nuclear medicine, and cardiovascular disease. He specializes in the field of electrophysiology. Dr. Sood has a special interest in treating patients with atrial fibrillation, syncope and implantation of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators.
Central Teaching Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior, Warsaw, Poland
Prof. Piotr Suwalski is Head of the Cardiac Surgery Clinic at the Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Warsaw. He’s also a member of the prestigious group Cardiovascular Nucleus, European Society of Cardiology. Prof. Suwalski, as the author of over 200 publications in national and foreign journals, is a valued cardiac surgeon, committed scientist and a teacher devoted to scientific work. He is honored with many awards, including the NOW POLSKA NOW Award for cardiosurgical treatment with the use of minimally invasive techniques.
McMaster University Medical School, Hamilton, Canada
Dr. 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 P I 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.
Asklepios Klinikum Harburg, Germany
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.