Professor Giuseppe Ambrosio is recognized as a fellow of both the European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Naples School of Medicine, Italy, graduating “summa cum laude”. He received his Ph.D in Cardiovascular Pathophysiology from the University of Naples. He trained as a resident in cardiology at the same university and later completed his fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, U.S.A. He is currently the Director of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Perugia, School of Medicine and has published over 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals with over 14,000 citations in international literature and an impact factor of 1526.5. He has given over 150 lectures and seminars at international meetings. He is also a former editor of the Italian Heart Journal as well as former secretary of the Science Council of the European Society of Cardiology. Professor Ambrosio has received multiple international research grants of which his research interests include acute coronary syndromes, chronic ischemic heart disease, ischemia / reperfusion injury, no-reflow neutrophil activation, microcirculation, myocardial stunning and myocardial hibernation, oxidative stress and heart failure.

Professor Theresa McDonagh is an established clinical and academic expert in Heart Failure. She has significant standing interest in the Epidemiology of Heart Failure and in the use of Biomarkers to detect preclinical disease. She is a past Chair of the British Society for Heart Failure and is on the Board of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). She is the Clinical Lead for the National Heart Failure Audit and is on the ESC Guidelines Committee. She is currently working at King's College Hospital as a Consultant Cardiologist and Professor of Heart Failure

Dr Stefan D. Anker is Professor of (Tissue)Homeostasis in Cardiology & Metabolism (W3) at Charité Berlin (from June 2017). Dr. Anker studied medicine at Charité Berlin and completed his clinical training in Germany and the UK. He obtained his M.D. from Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany (1993), and his Ph.D. (1998) at National Heart & Lung Institute of Imperial College London. He was Professor of Cardiology & Cachexia Research (W2) at Charité (2002-14), and Professor of Innovative Clinical Trials (W3) in Göttingen (2014-17).

Dr. Anker has authored more than 750 original papers, reviews, and editorials that are well cited (total citations: >51,000, h-index: 108, papers with ≥ 200 citations: 62; source: Scopus, 28th Sept, 2017). For his work Dr. Anker has won several prizes, and obtained a number of fellowships and grants, including 2 from NIH (WARCEF trial), 2 EU-FP7 & 2 IMI/Horizon2020 grants. He was co-ordinator for “SICA-HF” study (EU-FP7).

Dr. Anker is Vice President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC, 2016-18), serving on the ESC board since 2012. Dr. Anker serves in the board of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC since 2006; he was HFA President (2012-14), and currently chairpersons the HFA committee on regulatory affairs. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of the first open access heart failure journal ESC Heart Failure. Dr. Anker serves on the editorial boards of 4 scientific journals (including European Heart Journal and European Journal of Heart Failure), and he worked in several ESC Guideline task forces.

Dr. Anker is the founding president of the International Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders (SCWD – see www.cachexia.org). Dr. Anker is founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (JCSM, 2016-IF: 9.70, see www.jcsm.info). Dr. Anker was and is member of >30 international clinical trial steering committees, chairing or co-chairing several currently (FAIR-HF2, RESHAPE-HF2, EMPEROR-HFpEF, Fair-HFpEF) as well as in the past (incl. FAIR-HF, TIM-HF, AUGMENT-HF, IMPULSE-HF, and BACH). He served in a number of DMC’s (chairing 4) and end-point committees (chairing 4).

Professor Iain Squire qualified in Medicine from Glasgow University, UK in 1987. His early training took place in Glasgow, where he held position as Lecturer, and completed MD studies in to the haemodynamic and neurohumoral response to initiation of ACE inhibition in patients with heart failure. Professor Squire was appointed as Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Leicester in 1995, and as Senior Lecturer in 1998. A personal Professorial Chair was awarded in 2009.

Professor Squire is Consultant Physician at the University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust where he has clinical responsibility for the 19-bed coronary care unit at Glenfield General Hospital, a busy tertiary cardiology centre. With two colleagues Professor Squire runs an out-patient heart failure service which includes an urgent heart failure service, a nurse-led clinic and an in-patient service which includes a 27-bed heart failure unit and four specialist nurses . Professor Squire was a Councillor to the British Society for Heart Failure from 2001 to 2003, Treasurer from 2009-2011, Deputy Chair from 2011-2013 and is currently Chair of the Society. He is UK coordinator for the joint European Society of Cardiology/European Heart Rhythm Association CRT Registry, a position he has held since 2007. Professor Squire is also Vice-Chair of one of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Technology Appraisal Committee.

His research interests include: natriuretic peptides and other cardiac biomarkers; the epidemiology of heart failure; prognostic markers in heart failure and acute coronary syndromes; and the influence of glycaemia and diabetes on prognosis in coronary artery disease. Professor Squire has authored over 180 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, and several book chapters, and he was UK national lead investigator for the PARADIGM-HF trial.

Dr Roberto Diletti is interventional cardiologist at the Thoraxcenter, Erasmus MC, in Rotterdam. He obtained the degree of PhD based upon his research in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). He published widely within the fields of bioresorbable scaffolds, acute coronary syndromes and coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO). He has significant expertise in complex PCI and he has a particular interest in CTO treatment, also focusing on education and implementation of new technologies and techniques. He is currently leading the clinical research on acute coronary syndromes and the CTO program at Thoraxcenter, Erasmus MC.

Dr Stephan Achenbach, MD graduated from the University of Erlangen Medical School in 1993. His career steps included positions in Erlangen, Germany, Boston, MA, USA and Giessen, Germany until, in October 2012, he was appointed Chairman of the Department of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the University of Erlangen, Germany.

The main clinical interests of Stephan Achenbach are Interventional Cardiology, General Cardiology as well as Cardiac Imaging and Intensive Care Medicine. His research is focused on cardiac intervention and cardiac imaging, mainly computed tomography, with an  emphasis on using CT to identify and quantify coronary stenoses, to analyze and characterize coronary atherosclerotic plaque and support coronary and structural interventional procedures.

Stephan Achenbach has authored approximately 550 publications listed in Medline. According to Thomson Reuters, he is among the 1% most cited researchers in the field of Clinical Medicine. He serves as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and is on the Editorial Board of several other journals. He was the Founding President and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Stephan Achenbach served as a Councillor to the Board of the European Society of Cardiology from 2012 to 2014 and as Vice President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for the 2014-2016 period. He is currently Chairperson of the ESC Congress Programme Committee and a member of the ESC Board of Directors.

Dr. Achenbach has received several awards, including the Jan Brod Award for Clinical Research of the Medical School of Hannover, Germany (1999), the Thomas C. Cesario Distinguished Visiting Professorship Award, University of California Irvine School of Medicine (2007), the Simon Dack Award, American College of Cardiology (2009), the Gold Medal of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (2015),  the Sir Godfrey Hounsfield Award of the British Institute of Radiology (2016), and the Best Teaching Award, Clinical Medicine, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016).

Dr Laura Dalla Vecchia is Chief Cardiologist at the IRCCS Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, Milano, and Medical Director of the “Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SPA SB” of Milano and Lissone. Italy. The IRCCS Maugeri is a leading hospital for Rehabilitation Medicine. Patients receive a comprehensive care for their main disease together with the associated comorbidities and disabilities, consisting of an individualized rehabilitation project and program based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Disease and disability are treated as a whole.

Doctor Dalla Vecchia graduated in 1987 at the University of Milan, then specialized in Cardiology at the University of Parma. She served as a Fellow in Cardiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, "Lown Cardiovascolare Group", Boston (1989-1991). Back in Italy, she was clinical cardiologist, third level echocardiographer and researcher at the L. Sacco Hospital, University of Milano, and in 2007 she was appointed Director of the Sub-acute Care Department and Syncope Unit at the IRCCS Maugeri in Milan. She currently directs 3 of the 18 Maugeri Institutes in Italy (www.fsm.it). She is Vice-President of the Local Ethical Committee.

She is author and co-author of more than 100 articles, book chapters and abstracts in peer reviewed national and international journals. Main research interests include the cardiovascular nervous control, cardiac arrhythmias, echocardiography, telemedicine, ischemic heart disease, exercise and sport medicine. She was also adjunct professor at the School of Sport Medicine, University of Milan (2008-2015).

She is currently Principal Investigator of the following projects: REGINA (REGIstry of Non-vitamin K oral Anticoagulant), CARDINALS (CARDIovascular Neural Regulation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), WOW&CAP (Working Women and their Cardiac Autonomic Profile), and Co-Investigator of several Clinical Trials and Projects.
 

Professor Jai-Wun Park received his M.D. in 1983 from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and trained in internal medicine and cardiology at the Academic Teaching Hospital of Schwabing, Munich and later at the German Heart Institute, Berlin.

He has held the position of Chief of Cardiology at a number of hospitals around Germany including the Health Institute of Dresden, Technical University and later Asklepios Academic Teaching Hospital of Hamburg before moving on to his current post as Chief of Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Dietrich-Bonhoeffer Hospital, Neubrandenburg.

He is also the Head of the Institute for Magnetocardiography at Coburg General Hospital and Senior Consultant in Cardiology at Charite University Hospital, Berlin and in 2003 he was elected as Chief Executive Officer at the Institute for Heart and Circulation Research, Hoyerswerda.

Dr Michael Papadakis is a Senior Lecturer in Cardiology at St George’s, University of London and a Consultant Cardiologists at St George’s University Hospitals. Dr Papadakis qualified at Imperial College School of Medicine in London in 2001 and gained membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 2007. In 2014 he was awarded a Medical Doctorate at King’s College London. His interests include sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, prevention of sudden cardiac death in the young, heart failure and cardiac imaging.

Dr Papadakis is currently credited with more than 80 publications in peer reviewed medical journals. He is the chair-elect of the European section of Sports Cardiology. He has contributed to a number of projects including the creation of the Sports Cardiology core curriculum and exercise recommendations for patients with congenital heart disease. He has advanced education in the field of Sports Cardiology by building the educational material for the European Society of Cardiology and launching a novel MSc degree in Sports Cardiology, the first postgraduate qualification of its kind.

Dr Susan Vosloo was born in South Africa, and underwent schooling and pre-graduate medical training in Bloemfontein, qualifying in 1980 at the University of the Free State.  She started Surgical training in Johannesburg and completed training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Cape Town, gaining the Fellowship of the College of Surgeons of South Africa and M.Med degree in Cardiothoracic Surgery (UCT) in 1988.  Further training in Congenital and Paediatric Cardiac Surgery was done at the Harley Street Clinic and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospitals in London, UK in 1989 and 1990.   She remains up to date by regular attendance of conferences and workshops in her interest fields.  She was a full-time surgeon in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town before starting at the then City Park Hospital in 1991. She currently is in independent private practice at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital.  Her professional interests are Transplantation and surgery for congenital heart defects. 

She remains passionate about education and serves on the University Council of UFS. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (hosted in Cape Town in 2013) and was a founder member of World Society for Paediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, where she currently serves on the Governing Body as well.  Susan is married to Anton Ferreira, Specialist Anaesthesiologist and has twin daughters, born in October 2000.   

Professor Jane Somerville is Emeritus Professor at Imperial College, London, and is globally acknowledged as a pioneer for her research into congenital heart disease. She also helped found the field of Grown Up Congenital Heart Disease and founded the World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology.

Professor Silvia G. Priori received her Degree in Medicine in 1985 at Milan University, her specialization in Cardiology in 1989 at Milan University and her PhD in Cardiovascular Pathophysiology at Milan University. She is Global Scientific Director of Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri (ICS MAUGERI) SpA SB, Full Professor of Cardiology since 2014 in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Pavia (Italy), Director of Molecular Cardiology Unit at the Centro National de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) Madrid Spain and at the ICS MAUGERI in Pavia, Italy. She is best known for her work on genetics and pathophysiology of genetic cardiac arrhythmias. The translational research conducted in her laboratories ranges from molecular studies in induced-pluripotent stem cells derived myocytes used as a disease model to functional investigations in transgenic animals and to the development of gene therapies. On the clinical and several landmark studies in the field of inherited arrhythmias have identified novel therapies, developed risk stratification schemes and contributed to the definition of clinical management for patients with inherited arrhythmias.

Dr George Karavolias graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Medicine in 1985 and later completed his PhD in 1997 at the same university. He carried out his internship and residency at Rhodes General Hospital, Greece and completed his fellowship in Cardiology at Athens General Hospital.

Dr Karavolias is currently the Head of the Department of Cardiology of the Metropolitan Hospital of Athens. He has experience in interventional cardiology, transplant cardiology and as a consultant for the coronary care unit. He is considered a fellow of the European Society of Cardiology as well as the American College of Cardiology. He is also affiliated with the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association, the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Intervention (EAPCI) and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.