Global Lecture Series to Highlight Challenges of Healthcare Reform, Pediatric Cardiology, Future of Interventional Cardiology

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Many of the world’s leading interventional cardiologists and cardiovascular professionals will gather in New Orleans May 10-13 for the 40th Annual Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) Scientific Sessions. The meeting coincides with the 40thanniversary of the first coronary angioplasty, a procedure that revolutionized medicine.A key component of this international meeting is the SCAI Lecture Series, which will feature renowned speakers who will challenge current thinking in the field and inspire the next generation of interventional cardiologists.
  • Hildner Lecture (May 11, 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. CDT) — “Interventional Coronary Physiology: A 30-Year Overnight Success Story,” by Morton J. Kern, MD, MSCAI, chief of medicine, Long Beach VA Health Care System, Long Beach, California.
  • Featured Presentation (May 11, 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. CDT) — “Our Future is Cognitive: Empowering Heroes, Transforming Health,” by Anne Le Grand, vice president, Imaging, IBM Watson Health, Seattle, Washington.
  • Mullins Lecture (May 11, 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. CDT) — “Pediatric Interventional Cardiology: Alice in Wonderland or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers?,” by Lee N. Benson, MD, FSCAI, director, Cardiac Diagnostic and Interventional Unit, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
  • Founders’ Lecture (May 12, 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. CDT) — “Opportunities and Challenges,” by Christopher J. White, MD, MSCAI, director, John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Long Beach VA Health Care System Chief of Medicine Morton J. Kern, MD, MSCAI, will deliver the Hildner Lecture. Kern will focus on how coronary physiology techniques can be effectively used and what’s in the future, keeping with one of the main goals of the SCAI Scientific Sessions to provide a framework for attendees to learn about new techniques and how they can be applied.“Interventional cardiology has matured in the field of coronary intervention, but is just now blossoming in the field of structural heart disease,” said Kern. “I think the next wave of advances to come will be an increasing number of sophisticated structural heart disease interventions performed using miniaturized equipment.”Anne Le Grand with IBM Watson Health will present the featured lecture, “Our Future is Cognitive: Empowering Heroes, Transforming Health.” Le Grand has more than 25 years of experience leading large global healthcare technology industries. She will discuss recent advances and explore the potential value of “augmented intelligence” to assist healthcare providers as well as the patients they serve.The Mullins Lecture will be delivered by Lee N. Benson, MD, FSCAI, director of the Cardiac Diagnostic and Interventional Unit, The Hospital for Sick Children. He will discuss advances in pediatric interventional cardiology and what we can expect in the future, including a closer working relationship with pediatric surgeons as partners versus competitors.“SCAI has always had an important role in organizing the interventional cardiac community in general and in being an advocate,” said Benson. “But recently I’ve seen an increased focus on pediatric interventional cardiology,” noting that today there is more overlap between pediatric cardiologists and adult interventionists.John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute Director Christopher J. White, MD, MSCAI, will deliver the Founders’ Lecture. His address will focus on a topic that is on the minds of many: the challenges of healthcare reform and efficiency within the field of interventional cardiology. “We have to find ways to lower the cost per unit of healthcare, and we have to find ways to be more efficient; we cannot waste,” said White. “I think we have a bright and strong future, but I also think we have to manage our future.”

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