- May 2014 -
Institute Hosts First Annual Heart Failure and Arrhythmia Symposium in Washington, DC

Marco Mercader, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Electrophysiology Research, and Gurusher Panjrath, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director of Heart Failure and Mechanical Support Program, co-chaired the First Annual Heart Failure and Arrhythmia Symposium at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC on May 17, 2014. The program was highly successful including presentations from GW faculty and fellows: Drs. B. Choi, D. Cohen, J. Kim, J. Lewis, L. Martin, R. Mazhari, C. Nagy, J. Reiner, A. Sharma, G. Sodhi, A. Solomon, and C. Tracy; and guest speakers: Drs. Desai, Najam, and Venkataraman. The symposium attracted 80 medical professionals involved in heart failure, arrhythmias, and structural, ischemic and vascular issues to educate clinicians involved in multidisciplinary cardiology care.
Friends of the Institute View Cardiology Collection at the National Museum of American History

Museum director, John Gray hosted the GW Heart & Vascular Institute's cardiologists, board members, and invited guests for a special tour of the National Museum of American History's collections of medical science artifacts. Curators of the collection highlighted artifacts in cardiology including the first artificial heart implanted in a human, the Mayo-Gibbon heart-lung machine and the Carrel-Lindbergh perfusion pump. The Institute was grateful for this rare opportunity since most of the collection is in storage and not on display at the museum.

Image: National Museum of American History 
 
GW Electrophysiologists Presented at Heart Rhythm Society Meeting

Institute faculty presented their new research at the Heart Rhythm Society's 35th Annual Scientific Sessions, the annual showcase for the latest science and innovations in the field of electrophysiology, on May 7-10, 2014 in San Francisco, CA.

  • Marco Mercader, MD, presented an update on his groundbreaking work in the treatment of atrial fibrillation tilted: "Considerations in the Development of a Transvenous Real-Time NADH Fluorescence Imaging Catherter. LuxCath, A Novel Imaging System for Evaluation of Ablation Lesions, Gaps and the Physiology of Ablation Lesions."
  • Cynthia Tracy, MD, continued her leadership role in the Heart Rhythm Society chairing the Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices Scientific Session on ICD Implantation, Programming, and Follow-up.