U-CARS 2023

2023 Highlights:
Our 2023 U-CARS symposium occurred on March 16-17, 2023 and attracted over 700 in person attendees as well as 200 attendees tuned into our Live Stream worldwide.  This event featured thought leaders and insightful speakers from around the globe who discussed ground-breaking research in the field of cardiac recovery spanning clinical, translational and basic sciences that continue to hold relevance year after year.

2023 Agenda:

Thursday, March 16, 2023 (all times MDT)

7.00-8.00am. Breakfast Industry Theater (Non-CME)

• Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals - Treating Pericarditis and Reducing the Risk of Recurrence. Steven Call, MD
   

8.00-9.30am. Session 1: What is Good Enough Myocardial Repair, Recovery/Remission in Chronic HF?

Chairs: James Fang, MD, U of U, Rachel Hess, MD, U of U, Stephen McKellar, MD, Intermountain Healthcare

1. Clinical perspective. Jane Wilcox, MD, Northwestern

2. Biomedical engineering perspective. Stuart Campbell, PhD, Yale

3. Basic and translational science perspective. Kory Lavine, MD/PhD, Washington University, St. Louis

(20 min talk + 10 min discussion each)
 

  9.30-10.30am. Keynote address

 Christine Seidman, MD, BWH/Harvard/HHMI
 Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Reaping the Benefits of Genetic Insights

VIDEO RECORDING - UCARS 2023 Thursday Session 1 and Keynote: https://hsc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_fad3uqv4

10.30-12.00pm. Session 2: Innovation in Heart Failure Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Chairs: Katharine Clapham, MD, U of U, Will Holland, PhD, U of U, Eric Tuday, MD/PhD, U of U/VAMC

1. Untangling Fibrosis in Advanced Heart Failure. April Stempien-Otero, MD, U of Washington, Seattle

2. The impact of mitral and aortic valve interventions on cardiac reverse remodeling. Pavan Atluri, MD, U of Pennsylvania 

3. Ex vivo perfusion and recovery of donor graft function. Andreas Zuckerman, MD, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

(20 min talk + 10 min discussion each)

VIDEO RECORDING - UCARS 2023 Thursday Session 2: https://hsc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_7p3rfdqp
 

12.30-1.00pm Lunch Industry Theater (Non-CME)

• Abiomed - Pathways to Heart Recovery: A Heart Failure Cardiologist and CT Surgeon Perspective. Manreet Kanwar, MD & David D'Alessandro, MD 
• AstraZeneca - A Treatment Option for Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction. Paul Tomasic, MD,  MS, FACP,  FACE 
   

1.30-3.15pm. Session 3: Innovation in Cardiac Metabolism, Heart Failure and Myocardial Recovery 

Chairs: Sihem Boudina, PhD, U of U, Dipayan Chaudhuri, MD/PhD, U of U, Jared Rutter, PhD, U of U/HHMI

1. Fuel utilization by the failing and non-failing human heart. Zoltan Arany, MD/PhD, University of Pennsylvania

2. Understanding the role of cardiac metabolism in myocardial recovery. Greg Ducker, PhD, U of U

3. SGLT2 inhibitors: understanding cardiometabolic effects and mechanistic actions. Vojtěc Melenovsky, MD,
IKEM, Prague, Czech Republic

4. Metabolomic reprogramming of the myocardium to optimize function. Paul Tang, MD/PhD, U of Michigan                                 

(20 min talk + 10 min discussion each)

VIDEO RECORDING - UCARS 2023 Thursday Session 3: https://hsc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_6ild2f6y

Break 3.15-3.45pm
 

3.45-5.30pm Session 4: Innovation in Gene Therapy  

Chairs: Christine Seidman, MD, BWH/Harvard/HHMI, Martin Tristani-Firouzi, MD, U of U/PCH

1. Gene therapy programs: the beginning of a revolution. Kiyotake Ishikawa, MD/ PhD, Mount Sinai

2. Gene therapy targeting cardiac BIN1 to improve myocardial microstructure and function.  Robin Shaw, MD/PhD, U of U

3. Angiogenic and Myocardial Regeneration Strategies: Results of the Phase 1/2 EXACT Trial and Cell Reprogramming Studies. Todd Rosengart, MD, Baylor

4. How soon is now: gene therapy for inherited cardiomyopathy. Eric Adler, MD, UCSD

(17 min talk + 10 min discussion each)

VIDEO RECORDING - UCARS 2023 Thursday Session 4: https://hsc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_uc6oim65

7:00-10.00pm Symposium Reception
Rice-Eccles Stadium

Friday, March 17, 2023 (all times MDT)

7.30-8.15am. Breakfast Industry Theater (Non-CME)

• CVRx Barostim - Baroreflex Activation Therapy in HFrEF Patients
  • Autonomic Dysfunction and Unmet Needs in HFrEF. Marat Fudim, MD
  • Insights from the BeAT-HF Clinical Study. Richard Shelton, MD, Salt Lake City, VA
• Bristol-Myers Squibb - Redefining the Treatment Landscape of Symptomatic NYHA Class II-III Obstructive HCM.  Robert Fowles, MD

8.45-10.30am. Session 5: Oral Presentations of Featured Abstracts (Non-CME)

Chairs: Rami Alharethi, MD, Intermountain Health, Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, PhD, U of U, Roberta Florido, MD, U of U, Sarah Franklin, PhD, U of U

1. VEGF enhances direct reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts to cardiomyocytes
   Megumi Mathison, MD, PhD, et al – Baylor College of Medicine
2. Hypoxia attenuates pressure overload-induced heart failure
   Christian Riehle, MD, PhD, et al – Hannover Medical School, Germany
3. A latent cardiomyocyte regeneration potential in human heart disease
   Olaf Bergmann, PhD, et al – Karolinska Institute, Sweden
4. Adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 as a novel therapeutic target to combat fibrosis in heart failure
   Thirupura Shankar, PhD, et al – University of Utah Health
5. Acellular human amniotic fluid preserves cardiac function after acute myocardial ischemia in rats
   Hadi Javan, MD, et al – University of Utah Health
6. Multi-omic signatures of frailty may identify age independent pathways of frailty in advanced heart disease
   Andrew Perry, MD, et al Vanderbilt University Medical Center
7. The role of right ventricular interstitial fibrosis in heart failure patients undergoing mechanical circulatory support. Michael Bonios, MD, et al – Onassis Center, Greece
8. Wireless and waterproof mechanical circulatory support for ambulatory heart failure patients
   Leslie Miller, MD, et al – Second Heart Assist, Inc
9. Aerobic endurance training during Impella 5.5 support in congenital heart disease
   Robert Devich, BS, et al – Penn State College of Medicine
10. ECPELLA for myocardial recovery: a single center experience
    Alan Gass, MD, et al – Westchester Medical Center
11. Myocardial recovery after pediatric LVAD implantation: a single center case series
    Kyle Hope, MD, et al – Texas Children’s/Baylor College of Medicine
12. Multicenter machine learning-derived predictive model to identify reverse remodeling potential before implementing cardiac mechanical support: UCAR score
    Christos Kyriakopoulos, MD, et al – University of Utah Health

10.30am-12.30pm. Session 6: A Practical Approach to MCS-mediated Recovery/Remission (Joint Session with ICCAC)

Chairs: David D'Alessandro, MD, MGH/Harvard,  Marisca Nelson, RN, U of U, Randal Starling, MD, Cleveland Clinic

• What is the incidence and the phenotypes of cardiac improvement? Palak Shah, MD, Inova
• What are the predictors? Jane Farr, MD, UTSW
• How to follow and manage candidates for recovery? Erin Grimm, RN, Allegheny
• How to monitor and optimize hemodynamics to enhance functional recovery? Nir Uriel, MD, Columbia
• How to wean patients from mechanical support: standard and new approaches. Emma Birks, MD, U of Kentucky
• Clinical trajectory after LVAD weaning: results from an international multicenter registry. Snehal Patel, MD, Montefiore/Albert Einstein
• Next steps: multicenter study proposal and other initiatives. Stavros Drakos, MD/PhD, U of U

(12 min each presentation + 30 min panel discussion)

VIDEO RECORDING - UCARS 2023 Friday Sessions 5 and 6: https://hsc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_jfry5fsv

12.30 – 1.30pm Lunch Industry Theater (Non-CME)

• Abbott - Can Smarter, Connected Systems Improve the Likelihood of Cardiac Recovery/ Remission? Kevin Bourque, MSME
   

1.30-3.30pm. Session 7: Dilemmas in Acute and Chronic Heart Failure

1) Chairs: Maryjane Farr, MD, UTSW, Daniel Goldstein, MD, Montefiore

Inotrope-dependent young patient with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy: “Transplant” or “LVAD as Bridge-To-Recovery”?

a) The pros of each option: Manreet Kanwar, MD, Allegheny

b) The cons of each option: Randal Starling, MD, Cleveland Clinic

Case resolution: both speakers

The speakers will discuss additional clinical characteristics such as GMDT naïve or intolerant or on minimal GDMT, duration of HF history, spectrum of ages and other. And how this variability may further inform the potential therapeutic options.
(20 min talk + followed by 20 min panel discussion)
 

2) Chairs: Anna Ciullo, MD, U of U, Andreas Zuckerman, MD, Medical University of Vienna

For cardiogenic shock real world outcomes to eventually improve, the short-term MCS therapies should be… :

a) … expanded in terms of patient characteristics, timing, and other. Daniel Goldstein, Montefiore

b) … limited and scrutinized with careful selection of patient characteristics, timing and other. David D'Alessandro, MD, MGH/ Harvard
(20 min each speaker + 20 min panel discussion at the end)
 

3.30-5.30pm. Session 8: Cardiogenic shock: Cardiac and Patient Recovery

Chairs: Pavan Atluri, MD, U Penn, Kevin Shah, MD, U of U, Nir Uriel, MD, Columbia

1. Cardiogenic shock outcomes: why have we not made significant progress yet? Rachna Kataria,  MD, Brown University