FACULTY
A world-class international faculty, including experts from Europe, Latin America, and North America will provide lectures on traditional and new technology procedures.
Programme Committee: Chair: Rafael Sádaba (Pamplona, Spain), Rui M.S. Almeida (Cascavel, Brazil), Joseph E Bavaria (Philadelphia, USA), Filip P.A. Casselman (Aalst, Belgium), Victor Dayan (Montevideo, Uruguay), José Luis Javier Ferrari (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Stephanie Fuller (Philadelphia, USA), Lorenzo Galletti (Rome, Italy), Vadim Kotowicz (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Patrick Myers, (Lausanne, Switzerland), José Luis Pomar (Barcelona, Spain), Ourania Preventza (Virginia, USA), Nestor Sandoval (Bogota, Columbia), Pablo F Ruda Vega (Ohio, USA), Vinod H Thourani (Atlanta, USA), Juan P Umaña (Florida, USA)
Rafael Sádaba, MD, PhD, FRCS CTh,
Pamplona, Spain
Dr Sádaba graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of the Basque Country (Bilbao, Spain). During his training, he was awarded a Master’s Degree in Science by the University of Leeds. Subsequently he was awarded a PhD degree by the Public University of Navarra for his work on degenerative aortic valve disease. Dr Sádaba is currently Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the Navarra University Hospital and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Public University of Navarra in Pamplona (Spain). He is Area Coordinator (Cardiovascular and Renal Diseases) at the Health Research Institute of Navarra (IdiSNA). His research interests have focused on the surgical pathology of the heart valves.
Joseph E. Bavaria, MD
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Ourania Preventza, MD
Virginia, USA
Ourania Preventza MD is the George Minor Professor of Surgery, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Co-Director of Cardiovascular Surgery Service Line at the University of Virginia Health. Dr. Preventza is triple-boarded; American Board of Surgery, American Board of Surgery (Surgical Critical Care), and American Board of Thoracic Surgery. She is the immediate Past President of the International Society of Endovascular Specialists 2021-2023(ISEVS), and an MBA holder from Brandeis University in Boston. She is a world expert in aortic disease, and she is the Co –chair of the 2022 ACC/AHA guidelines on aortic disease. She has co –authored more than 200 articles in peer review journals. Her interest includes education, health outcomes research, aortic surgery, heart valve surgery, new technologies and cardiovascular disease and women.
Rui M.S Almeida, MD, PhD
Cascavel, Brazil
Dr Rui Almeida is a Full Professor and a Dean of the Medical School of University Center Assis Gurgacz. He has held leadership roles in many professional societies, including past presidencies such as his tenure as President of the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery and World Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons; actually he is President elected of the Latin American Association of Cardiac and Endovascular Surgery. Dr Almeida's research includes his work on creating experimental models for studying aortic valve homograft’s and the clinical application of bileaflet mechanical heart valves in aortic positions, as well as left ventricle remodeling surgery and structural heart Diseases.
Javier Eduardo Ferrari Ayarragaray
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dr Javier Ayarragaray is a professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Buenos Aires. He is the current Vice-President of LACES, and a Past President of the Argentine Society of Angiology and Cardiovascular Surgery and of the Argentine College of Cardiovascular Surgeons (Colegio Argentino de Cirujanos Cardiovasculares). He is fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Argentine Association of Surgery, the Society of Heart Valve Society, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the Society of Vascular Surgery.
Filip P.A. Casselman, MD, PhD
Aalst, Belgium
Filip Casselman is the co-director Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the OLV Clinic in Aalst, Belgium. His interests include minimally invasive surgery (robotic and videoscopic), valvular reconstructive surgery, percutaneous valve replacement and arrhythmia surgery. Filip is the Chair of the EACTS Acquired Cardiac Disease Domain and is actively involved in cardiac clinical research. He has participated in multiple multicenter trials (including Syntax trial, Partner and Prevail trial, etc). He is (co)author of more than 140 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has given more than 300 presentations at international meetings.
Stephanie Fuller, MD
Philadelphia, USA
Dr Stephanie Fuller is an attending surgeon in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a board certified in thoracic surgery and congenital cardiothoracic surgery. She has leadership positions at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. Her research interests include adult congenital heart disease, neurodevelopmental outcomes, and other quality of life outcomes after heart surgery.
Vadim Kotowicz, MD, MBA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dr Vadim Kotowicz is a Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery Department at The Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Argentina. Board Certificate in General Surgery, Cardiovascular Surgery. He was trained in Herzzentrum Leipzig in minimally invasive Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Kotowicz is the Director of Cardiac Surgery of the Argentine College of Cardiovascular Surgery and also has a leadership position in the STS/EACTS Latin American Surgery Conference Task Force. His Primary Discipline is Adult Cardiac Surgery, minimally Surgery, especially MItral, Tricuspid and Aortic Valve Disease treatment.
José Luis Pomar, MD
Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Pomar is a Senior Consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery and Director of the Cardiothoracic Transplantation Program at the Hospital Clinico de Barcelona. He also is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Barcelona Medical School. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and presented more than 600 papers and lectures at meetings around the world. Dr. Pomar is a Past President of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.
Lorenzo Galletti, MD, PhD
Rome, Italy
Dr Lorenzo Galletti is Director of the Cardiac Surgery Department and of the Clinical Area of Fetal, Neonatal and Cardiologic Sciences at the “Bambino Gesù ” Hospital in Rome. He received his medical degree from the University of Pisa, his board in cardiothoracic surgery and his PhD from the University of Rome. His field of interest is Congenital Heart Surgery both in Pediatric and Adults, as well Heart Transplantation and mechanical support in children and adults with congenital heart disease. .
Patrick Myers, MD
Lausanne, Switzerland
Dr Patrick Myers is a consultant cardiac surgeon at CHUV - Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland. He is a former secretary of the European Board for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, and now serves as Secretary General of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, president of CTSNet and international director of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. His areas of interest are multiple arterial coronary artery bypass grafting, evolving transcatheter techniques to treat structural heart disease, HOCM and critical appraisal of clinical trials and their discussions on social media.
Victor Dayan, MD
Montevideo, Uruguay
Professor Victor Dayan is the current president of the Uruguayan Society of Cardiology. He completed his PhD at the University of the Republic of Uruguay and a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Toronto. Additionally, he was certificated in Surgical Leadership at Harvard University. Dr. Dayan has been the author of over 70 peer-reviewed articles, 40 of them indexed at Pubmed. He is an active member and associate editor of the American Association of Thoracic Surgery and of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Vinod H. Thourani, MD,
Atlanta, GA, USA
Dr Thourani is the Marcus Chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery and Director of the Marcus Heart Valve Centre for Piedmont Heart Institute in Atlanta, GA, USA. He is the current Treasurer of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the Past President of the Heart Valve Society, International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery, Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, and South Atlantic Cardiovascular Society. Dr Thourani has extensive expertise in structural heart disease and valve surgery, specifically minimally invasive mitral surgery and transcatheter aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve replacement. He is the PI or steering committee of 12 trials on the management of valve disease.
Nestor F. Sandoval, MD
Bogota, Colombia
Dr. Sandoval is the Director of the Institute of congenital Heart Diseases at the Fundación Cardioinfantil Instituto de Cardiología in Bogotá, Colombia. He is also a Professor of Surgery and Director of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Programme at the Universidad del Rosario, also in Bogotá. He served as the Secretary of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and is a Past President of the Sociedad Latina de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular Pediátrica. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and edited three cardiology textbooks.
Juan P. Umaña, MD
Florida, USA
Dr Umaña is the Chair of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida. He completed his general surgery training at Columbia University, where he developed the Mitraclip in Dr. Oz’s lab during a research year. He trained in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University. He is Board certified in general and thoracic surgery and is an active member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. As a co-founder of the STS/EACTS Latin American Cardiovascular Surgery Conference, he continues to make part of the program committee. His clinical and research interests include minimally invasive and conventional mitral and aortic valve repair, valve-sparing aortic root replacement and the Ross procedure.
Pablo F Ruda Vega, MD
Ohio, USA
Dr. Pablo F. Ruda Vega is a thoracic surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio and is affiliated with University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. He received his medical degree from University of Buenos Aires and has been in practice for more than 20 years. Dr. Pablo F. Ruda Vega has expertise in treating heart valve surgery, heart bypass surgery, among other conditions
Carla Agatiello, MD
Buenos Aires
Dr. Agatiello is the Head of Interventional Cardiology at Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, specializing in heart valve replacement. She earned her medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires, completed cardiology training in Buenos Aires, and specialized in interventional cardiology in France. Dr. Agatiello directs the MIL Group, coordinates activities for SOLACI and CACI, and is the President of the SOLACI-CACI2024 Meeting. She has published over 100 scientific articles.
Ignacio Juaneda, MD
Cordoba, Argentina
Dr. Juaneda is the Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery at both Hospital de Niños de Córdoba and Hospital Privado Universitario de Córdoba, Argentina. He holds ECFMG/USMLE certification and is board certified in General Surgery and Congenital Heart Surgery. Dr. Juaneda completed fellowships at the Heart Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA. He is a member of the Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología, the Colegio Argentino de Cirujano Cardiovasculares, and a Governing Council Member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery. His res earch focuses on congenital heart disease and database outcomes.
Christian Pizarro, MD
Wilmington, USA
Dr. Christian Pizarro is the Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington, Delaware, and a Professor at Thomas Jefferson University. A native of Chile, he completed his MD at the University of Chile and specialized training in Philadelphia and London. Board certified in Surgery and Thoracic Surgery, he is a leader in professional societies and focuses on neonatal cardiac surgery, single ventricle management, and heart transplantation. Dr. Pizarro has led humanitarian missions and authored over 100 publications, contributing significantly to congenital heart disease research.
Mateo Marin-Cuartas, MD
Leipzig, Germany l
Dr. Mateo Marin-Cuartas is a cardiac surgeon in the University Department of Cardiac Surgery at the Leipzig Heart Center in Leipzig, Germany. He is board-certified in cardiac surgery and trained in critical care medicine. Dr. Marin-Cuartas is the coordinator of academic affairs and the thoracoscopic atrial fibrillation ablation programme at the cardiac surgery department in Leipzig. He holds leadership positions at the Latin American Association of Cardiac and Endovascular Surgery (LACES) and the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS), and editorial positions at EJCTS, JACC Case Reports, CTSnet, and LACES. His main research interest is valvular heart disease.
Michael Grant
Maryland, USA
Dr. Grant is a cardiac anesthesiologist, critical care intensivist and Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Surgical ICU at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is board certified in anesthesiology, critical care medicine and perioperative transesophageal echocardiography. He holds leadership positions at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery - Cardiac Society. His research interests include Enhanced Recovery, perioperative clinical program development and healthcare systems engineering.
Jaime Camacho, MD
Bogota, Colombia
Dr. Camacho is an attending surgeon on the divisions of cardiovascular and vascular surgery at Fundación Cardioinfantil - LaCardio in Bogota, Colombia. He is the head of the Cardiovascular Surgery department and the Aorta Clinic, and he holds the position of academic coordinator for both fellowship programs, cardiovascular and vascular surgery, with Universidad del Rosario. Among his interest are complex aorta pathology, aortic root surgery, endovascular aneurysm repair, and TAVR.
Omar Meija, MD
São Paulo, Brazil
Dr. Omar Mejia is an attending surgeon in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Heart Institute of São Paulo Medical School, Brazil. He is certified in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery by the Brazilian College of Surgeons and the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery. He is a full professor in cardiovascular surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo. Her research interests include cardiac surgery outcomes, focusing on reducing perioperative risks, optimizing perioperative processes and organizing teams in an efficient, safe and patient-centered way.
Joe Sabik, MD
Cleveland, USA
Dr. Joseph F. Sabik is the Oliver H. Payne Professor and Chair in the Department of Surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the Sally and Bob Gries distinguished Chair in Cardiac Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center. He is the first Vice-President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. Sabik is an adult cardiac surgeon, and his research and clinical interests are focused on coronary surgery, in particular multi-arterial revascularisation.
Kevin Lobdell, MD
Charlotte, Colombia
Dr. Lobdell is board certified in thoracic surgery and has special qualifications in surgical critical care. His research interests include risk models, mitigation strategies, digital health, etc. He has authored ~100 peer-reviewed articles and presented ~200 times in national & international forums. Dr. Lobdell serves on various boards, including ERAS-Cardiac. He was Chair of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Workforce on Research Development and on the Council on Quality, Research, and Patient Safety. He is also a member of the research committee for the Thoracic Surgery Foundation, a Section Editor of SESATS for the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Andrea Oliveira MD
São Paulo, Brazil
Dr. Andrea is a cardiovascular surgeon in São Paulo, Brazil, and Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Mario Covas State Hospital. She is board certified in general and cardiovascular surgery. Member of the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery, STS and EACTS. Her main interests are aortic valve, aortic root and A-fib surgery. She is also a member of the LACES Women in Cardiac Surgery Task Force Committee, which promotes progression and career development for female surgeons in Latin America
Christian Bermudez MD
Philadelphia, USA
Juan Crestanello, MD
Rochester, USA
Eduard Quintana Obrador, MD
Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Quintana is a consultant cardiovascular surgeon and associate professor at the University of Barcelona Medical School – Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. He coordinates the Cardiovascular Surgery fellowship programme and teaching activities at the Cardiovascular Institute. He is a board member and secretary of the European Board of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Examination, and his clinical interests include aortic diseases, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and critical care. Dr. Quintana has coauthored the 2024 EACTS/STS Aorta Guidelines and the 2023 ESC Guidelines for Endocarditis. He is also an advisory board member for the Asian Cardiovascular & Thoracic Annals and The Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Monica Gilbert, MD
Guayaquil, Equador
Dr. Gilbert is a specialist in Adult Cardiovascular Surgery she serves as the Head of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Clínica Guayaquil, in Ecuador. Dr. Gilbert leads the ECMO and Adult Cardiac Transplant teams at Clínica Guayaquil and co-edits the journal Medicina e Investigación. She is a member of LACES and ISHLT, and serves as a spanish-language representative for ISHLT. Furthermore, she is a member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine at ECOTEC
Fernando Fleischman MD
Los Angeles
Dr. Fernando Fleischman was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Los Angeles, California. He graduated from medical school with honors and took that knowledge to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Fleischman continued his education in cardiothoracic surgery at USC under Dr. Starnes. After training he joined the practice in 2011, being further promoted to Associate Professor In 2015. He continues to push for innovations in his field and his current research focuses on endovascular approaches to aortic diseases. He holds leadership roles at STS, AATS and Western Thoracic Surgery societies.
Ruggero De Paulis, MD
Rome, Italy
Ruggero De Paulis is the Director of the Cardiac Surgery Department of the European Hospital in Rome, and a full Professor at the Unicamillus University of Rome. In 2018 he has been appointed Associate Professor at the Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbiterian Hospital. He is the designer of the “Valsalva” graft, and the co-designer of the “Physioflex” ring for mitral repair. He has been EACTS Chairman of the Vascular Domain from 2014 to 2017. He has served as EACTS President in the period 2018-2019. He is currently the Chairman of the Francis Fontan Fund at the EACTS.
Guillermo Vaccarino, MD,
Buenos Aires
Guillermo N. Vaccarino MD director institute of cardiology, chief cardiac surgery and heart transplant department Hospital Universitario Austral. He is an active member of Argentine Society of Cardiology, Argentine Federation of Cardiology, Argentine College of Cardiovascular Surgeons and LACES. Research and development interests mainly in valve repair techniques, minimally invasive techniques and OPCAGB with arterial grafts.
Seenu Reddy, MD
Nashville, USA
Dr. V. Seenu Reddy, MD, MBA, FACS, FACC, is a Board Certified Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeon at HCA/TriStar Health’s Centennial Medical Centre, where he serves as Chief of Cardiac Surgery and National Medical Director for the Cardiovascular Service Line. He graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College, earned his MD with clinical honours from the University of Alabama, and completed his surgical training at Vanderbilt and Emory. Dr. Reddy specialises in adult cardiac surgical procedures and has authored numerous book chapters and articles. He has presented his work nationally and internationally.
Daniel Engelman, MD
Massachusetts, USA
Dr. Engelman is the Medical Director of the Cardiac Surgical Critical Care Unit at Baystate Health, in Springfield, MA and Professor of Surgery at UMass Chan Medical School-Baystate. He is the founder and President of the ERAS Cardiac International Society. In 2019, he wrote the first consensus guidelines for cardiac surgical perioperative care in Jama Surgery. An updated expert consensus manuscript was published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery in 2024. Dr. Engelman is the Senior Editor for Perioperative Care for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. His research interests include critical care medicine, multimodal analgesia, AKI and SSI prevention.
Lorena Montes, MD
Cali, Colombia
Dr. Lorena Montes is an attending Cardiovascular surgeon in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Medical Leader of the Center of Excellence for Myocardial Revascularization at the Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia of Floridablanca, Colombia. She holds leadership positions at The Colombian Society of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, LACES, WTS and CTSNet. She is especially active in her areas of expertise and research: Complex Coronary Surgery, Mechanical Circulatory Support as well as Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, being currently the Chair of the Women in Cardiac Surgery Committee at LACES and the Co-chair of International Affairs at WTS.
Jacob Delarrosa, MD
Idaho, USA
Dr. Jacob DeLaRosa is the Wheeler Family Endowed Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Portneuf Medical Center and Chief of Surgery. He is board-certified in General and Thoracic Surgery, specializing in complex heart and valvular surgery. Dr. DeLaRosa has published hundreds of articles and abstracts and holds multiple US and world patents. A recognized innovator and inventor, he is a past member of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Companies and industry leaders seek his expertise for consultation on various topics, consistently at the forefront of advancements in cardiovascular surgery.
Nimesh Desai, MD
Philadelphia, USA
Nimesh Desai, MD, PhD is a cardiovascular surgeon who serves as Director of the Penn Aorta Center. Dr. Desai’s research interests include organizing large multi-center clinical trials to assess new cardiovascular technologies and health process evaluations using big-data and novel statistical approaches to improve quality of care for cardiac patients. Dr. Desai is the primary investigator of over 10 clinical trials currently ongoing, holds grants for database and registry development, and holds an NIH grant as part of the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network. Dr. Desai holds several national leadership positions in cardiovascular surgery including Co-Chair of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Aortic Surgery Task Force.
Francisco Costa, MD
Curitiba, Brazil
Sitaram Emani, MD
Boston, USA