Smidt Heart Institute Experts Featured at AHA Scientific Sessions 2021

Los Angeles (November 9, 2021). –“The Smidt Heart Institute is at the forefront of innovation and medical breakthroughs in cardiology and cardiac surgery,” said Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute and the Mark S. Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Professor. “This year’s conference is an important opportunity for our experts to share the new knowledge, best practices and perspectives we have learned throughout the past year.”

Smidt Heart Institute researchers, clinicians and surgeons will participate in more than 60 late-breaking presentations, on-demand discussions and poster sessions. Experts also will be available to comment on late-breaking science stemming from the conference.

“Our presentations range from new surgical techniques and heart valve repair and replacement to atrial fibrillation, women’s heart disease, sudden cardiac arrest and genetics,” said Joanna Chikwe, MD, founding chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery and the Irina and George Schaeffer Distinguished Chair in Cardiac Surgery. “We are eager to share our experiences with our peers and also educate the public so they can make the best choices for their heart care.”

Chikwe will be leading several discussions, including a 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning late-breaking science panel called Valves, Veins and New Viewpoints in Cardiothoracic Surgery and an 8:30 a.m. Sunday presentation, Prevention to Intervention in Atrial Arrhythmias.

Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, professor, chair of the Department of Cardiology and the  Lee and Harold Kapelovitz Distinguished Chair in Cardiology, and Prediman K. Shah, MD, the Shapell and Webb Family Chair in Clinical Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute, are also leading late-breaking science presentations.

Albert will speak about the top innovations in electrophysiology on Saturday morning, and Shah will present data the same day from a translational study called Peptide Complexed to Nanoparticles as Therapeutic Modality in ASCVD.

Other Smidt Heart Institute faculty presentations include:

• Sumeet Chugh, MD, director of the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention and the Pauline and Harold Price Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology Research, will present on Sudden Cardiac Death in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

• Natalie Ann Bello, MD, MPH, director of Hypertension Research in the Smidt Heart Institute, will discuss Pregnancy Complications, Preterm Birth and Future CV Risk: Who, What and Why. Bello will also be available to discuss a study titled Knowledge of Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Young Women of Reproductive Age: A Cross-Sectional Survey-Based Study.

• Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology, will moderate the Best Science in Cardiovascular Genetics and Genomics: Building Blocks to Better Outcomes. Cheng, who also serves as the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health and Population Science, will also lead a discussion on Novel Therapeutics for the Lipid Lowering Treatment.

Additional experts available for interviews include:

• C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and professor of Cardiology.
• Eugenio Cingolani, MD, associate professor of Cardiology, director of Preclinical Research and director of the Cardiogenetics Program.
• Florian Rader, MD, associate professor of Cardiology and co-director of the Clinic for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Aortopathies.
• Roopinder K. Sandhu, MD, MPH, director of the Device Clinic in the Smidt Heart Institute.
• Jennifer Van Eyk, PhD, professor of Cardiology and the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Heart Health.
• Janet Wei, MD, assistant professor of Cardiology, assistant medical director of the Biomedical Imaging Research Institute and co-director of the Stress Echocardiography Lab.

Read more from the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Treatment Options for Heart Valve Disease