New SCCT president, a veteran cardiologist, highlights importance of listening and teamwork

Michael Walter | July 13, 2026 | Cardiovascular Business | Cardiac Imaging

Ronen Rubinshtein, MD, is the new 2026-27 president of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT). Photo by Dave Fornell

The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) closed out SCCT2026, the organization’s annual meeting in San Diego, by officially introducing its new leadership team.

Ronen Rubinshtein, MD, a veteran interventional cardiologist and director of the Heart Institute at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel, is the society’s 2026-2027 president. He takes over for cardiologist Kavitha Chinnaiyan, MD, the organization’s 2025-2026 president.

Rubinshtein lists the fields of interventional cardiology and cardiac imaging—both CT and MRI—as two of his greatest interests. He previously served as the chair of SCCT’s Membership Committee from 2019 to 2024 and was in charge of its Annual Scientific Meeting Committee during the planning for SCCT2026 in San Diego.

During his one-year term as SCCT president, Rubinshtein wants to help unify cardiovascular CT specialists, including cardiologists, radiologists and technologists.

“In many ways what I'm looking forward to is the human component—being able to connect important thought leaders, staff, members, committee chairs, members of the board of directors and members our executive committee, etc.,” he said in a statement. “It's part of the way I see things working.”

Rubinshtein also pointed to the importance of listening to colleagues and finding common ground.

“At least in my experience of the last almost 20 years in SCCT, we have a lot of problem-solving personalities within our leaders, staff and team. And sometimes there are problems—even if you're not looking for them, they're coming,” he said. “As long as I have a good team around me, I think we'll be able to tackle anything."

Rubinshtein also emphasized that he sees artificial intelligence (AI) as a valuable tool, but not something that will replace the humans who perform and interpret CT scans.

In the closing session of SCCT 2026 yesterday, Rubinshtein said the society is entering a new stage where it needs to show CCTA is not just a modality society, but part of a wider clinical movement. He said CCTA can now unveil the cardiac pathophysiologies and and offer pathways to modify disease progression and SCCT needs to make sure the rest o radiology and cardiology understands CCTA provides clear scientific value for cardiovascular prevention and intervention.

Watch a full video interview with Rubinshtein from June here.