U-CARS 2025

2025 Thank you & Agenda

On behalf of the U-CARS symposium planning committee, it was our great pleasure to host the 13th Annual Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (U-CARS) on February 20-21, 2025.

The objective of this conference was to bring thought leaders together to exchange ideas, debate paradigms, and share information directly focused on issues related to myocardial recovery and regeneration.  Topics expanded across the basic, translational, and clinical sciences to provide a unique forum to push the field of heart recovery forward.

This year we hosted more than 1000 registered participants both in-person & virtually, with a broad range of national and international speakers. 

Thursday, February 20,2025 (all times MST)

7.00-7:30am. Breakfast Industry Theater (Non-CME) 

• AstraZeneca ATTR (Ballroom) - Wainua: Identifying Constellations: Polyneuropathy and Cardiomyopathy of ATTR. Kris Vijay, MD, Arizona Heart Foundation/ U of Arizona -View Recording HERE
• Impulse Dynamics (Amphitheater) - CCM® Therapy for the Management of Heart Failure. Paul J. Mather MD, U of Pennsylvania

8.00-8:15am. Introduction

8.15-9.30am. Session 1: Innovation in cardiac adrenergic receptors in disease - View Recording HERE
Chairs: Robin Shaw, MD/PhD, U of U; Kirk Knowlton, MD, Intermountain Health; Klitos Konstantinidis, MD, U of U

1. Molecular mechanisms of b-adrenergic stimulated cardiac contractility. Steven Marx, MD, Columbia
2. Spatiotemporal activation of cardiac b-adrenergic receptor signaling. Donald Bers, PhD, UC Davis   
3. Allosteric modulation of b1-adrenergic receptors for catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, Howard Rockman, MD, Duke  

(15 min talk + 10 min discussion each)

9.30-10.30am. Keynote address - View Recording HERE
30 + years of Gene Expression Measurements in the Intact Human Heart: What have we Learned?
Michael Bristow, MD/PhD, U of Colorado, Denver, Colorado

10:30-11:00am. Break

11:00am-12:15pm. Session 2:  Interorgan and intercellular signaling in cardiac health and disease - View Recording HERE
Chairs: Scott Summers, PhD, U of U; Sihem Boudina, PhD, U of U

1. The heart in a muscle-liver-adipose "Bermuda triangle". Robert Gerszten, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard
2. Immune cells at the crossroad to cardiac fibrosis and heart failure. Pilar Alcaide, PhD, Tufts
3. Hepato-cardiac signaling in control of pathologic cardiac hypertrophy. Konstantinos Drosatos, PhD, U of Cincinnati

(15 min talk + 10 min discussion each)

12.45-1.15pm. Lunch Industry Theaters (Non-CME)

• J&J Medtech (Ballroom) - Innovations in the science of heart recovery. Manreet Kanwar, MD, U of Chicago; Alexander Bernhardt, MD, U Heart and Vascular Center, Hamburg, Germany - View Recording HERE
• Paragonix (Amphitheater) - Organ Preservation: Is it time for a change in the guidelines? Nir Uriel, MD, Columbia.

1.45-3.30pm. Session 3: Myocardial recovery: evidence and implementation (Non-CME) - View Recording HERE
Chairs: James Long, MD, Integris Health; Stephen McKellar, MD, Intermountain Health

1. How is progression of disease/HFrEF affecting the cardiac recoverability? Is this the same for all HFrEF therapies? Liviu Klein, UCSF
2. How to (a) individualize the probability of recovery and (b) guide recommendations for ‘direct transplant’ vs ‘VAD as bridge’. Maya Guglin, MD, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson
3. Durability of recovery after VAD weaning: results from VAD WEAN Recovery Registry. Benjamin Sun, MD, Minneapolis Heart Institute
4. Upgraded recommendations for recovery in the ISHLT guidelines. Michael Tong, MD, Cleveland Clinic
5. UNOS and INTERMACS evidence of under diagnosis and underutilization of LVAD-mediated recovery. Anelechi Anyanwu, MD, Mount Sinai
6. Reasons for under diagnosis and underutilization and ways to address them. Palak Shah, MD, INOVA

Discussants Panel: Snehal Patel, MD, Montefiore; Amanda Vest, MD, Cleveland Clinic; Kartik Sundareswaran, PhD, Abbott; Abdallah Kfoury, MD, Intermountain Health; Stavros Drakos, MD/PhD, U of U

(10 minutes each and 45 minutes panel discussion at the end)

3.30-4.00pm. Break

4.00-5.30pm. Session 4: Cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic crosstalk in acute and chronic HF - View Recording HERE
Chairs: Srinivasan Beddhu, MD, U of U; Aylin Rodan MD, PhD, U of U; Yan-Ting Shiu, PhD, U of U

Featured Presentation: Amino acids for renal protection in cardiovascular disease. Alessandro Belletti, MD, San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy (20 min + 10 min discussion)

1. Intersection between skeletal muscle and myocardial muscle recovery in HF. Amanda Vest, MD, Cleveland Clinic
2. Metabolic mechanisms of pulmonary vasculopathy in heart failure. Vojtěch Melenovsky, MD, IKEM, Prague, Czechia
3. Cardiogenic shock, vasoplegia and cardiorenal syndrome. Tom Hanff, MD, U of U

(12 min talk + 8 min discussion each)

Discussants Panel: Alfred Cheung, MD, U of U; Nirupama Ramkumar, MD, U of U; Brandi Wynne, PhD, U of U 

5.30-6.30pm. Poster Presentations Session (Non-CME)

7.00-10.00pm. Symposium Gala Dinner Reception
 

Friday, February 21, 2025 (all times MST)

7.00-7:30am. Breakfast Industry Theaters (Non-CME)

• Bristol Myers Squibb (Ballroom) - The Long-term Impact of CAMZYOS® in Patients with Symptomatic NYHA Class II–III Obstructive HCM. Mariko Harper, MD MS, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health System - View Recording  HERE
• Fire 1 Foundry (Amphitheater) - NORM – The Future of Remote Management for Heart Failure. Nir Uriel, MD, Columbia; Marat Fudim, MD, MHS, Duke

8.00-10.00am. Session 5: Featured Research Presentations- Best Submitted Abstracts (Non-CME) - View Recording HERE
Chairs: Markus Amann, PhD, U of U; Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, PhD, U of U; Roberta Florido, MD, U of U; Eleni Tseliou, MD/PhD, U of U

1. Heart-Brain Communication of Antioxidant Signals in Heart Failure. Irving H. Zucker, PhD, U of Nebraska
2. Multi-modal biomimetic human translational models for understanding myocardial load response. Michael Ibrahim, MD, PhD, U Penn
3. Role of microcirculation in assessing myocardial recovery. Nir Uriel, MD, Columbia
4. Innovation in stem cell therapy for HF patients. Gregor Poglajen, MD, U of Ljubljana, Slovenia
5. LV unloading and its effect on RV contractility and RV-pulmonary coupling in LVAD recipients. Steven Hsu, MD, Johns Hopkins
6. Ventricular restoration to mediate reverse remodeling: AccuCinch trial. Ulrich Jorde, MD, Montefiore/Einstein
7. Innovation in recovering donor hearts: insights from the Donor Heart Study. Kiran Khush, MD, Stanford
8. Safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics of the dipeptidyl peptidase 3 antibody Procizumab in a first-in-human, placebo-controlled, phase 1 trial. Karine Bourgeois, PhD, CSO 4TEEN4 Pharmaceuticals

10.00-10.30am. Break

10.30-12.15 pm Session 6: Debates on vexing clinical issues - View Recording HERE

Debate 1: Severe multi-vessel coronary artery disease in HF 

Chair: James Fang, MD, U of U

Option 1: Revascularization: David Taggart, MD, U of Oxford, England

Option 2: Optimal Medical Therapy: Gerasimos Filippatos, MD, U of Athens, Greece

Discussants Panel: Ivan Netuka, MD, IKEM, Prague, Czechia; John Ryan, MD, U of U; Matthew Goodwin, MD, U of U; Brigham Smith, MD, U of U; Tara Jones, MD, U of U; Libo Wang, MD, U of U

The speakers and panel will discuss various associated clinical characteristics and how this variability may further inform the potential therapeutic options.

(15 min each and 20 min discussion)

Debate 2: Therapeutic approaches to moderate and severe mitral valve regurgitation in HF

Chair: Fred Welt, MD, U of U

Option 1: Interventional approach. Brian Whisenant, MD, Intermountain Health

Option 2: Surgical approach: Christopher Salerno, MD, U of Chicago

Discussants Panel: David Taggart, MD, U of Oxford, England; Ivan Netuka, MD, IKEM, Prague, Czechia; Ethan Tumarkin, MD, U of U; Anwar Tandar, MD, U of U; Vikas Sharma, MD, U of U 

The speakers and panel will discuss various associated clinical characteristics and how this variability may further inform the potential therapeutic options.

(15 min each and 20 min discussion)

12.45-1.15 pm Lunch Industry Theaters (Non-CME)

• Abbott (Ballroom) - Pioneering Progress: Driving Innovation in Heart Failure. Kartik Sundareswaran, PhD, Abbott - View Recording HERE
• CVRx (Amphitheater) - Integrating Barostim into a Comprehensive Heart Failure Program. Marat Fudim, MD, Duke 

1.45-3.15pm Session 7: Interesting Cases – Interactive Discussion - View Recording HERE
Discussants Panel: Antigone Koliopoulou, MD, Onassis, Greece; Rami Alharethi, MD, Intermountain Health; Spencer Carter, MD, U of U; Laura Geer, RN, U of U; Marisca Nelson, RN, U of U

1. Berlin Heart Institute case – Felix Schoenrath, MD, Charite, Berlin, Germany
2. Karolinska Institute case – Emil Najjar, MD, Karolinska, Sweden
3. U of Utah case – Radha Kanneganti, MD, U of Utah

(15 min presentation and 15 min discussion each)

3.15-3.45pm. Break

3.45-5.00pm Session 8: Acute HF and cardiogenic shock - View Recording HERE
Discussants Panel: Ulrich Jorde, MD, Montefiore; Alessandro Belletti, MD, Milan, Italy; Felix Schoenrath, MD, Berlin, Germany; Anna Ciullo, MD, U of U; Joseph Tonna, MD, U of U

1. Native heart recovery and temporary MCS in cardiogenic shock. Manreet Kanwar, MD, U of Chicago
2. SCAI/SoCCC SHOCK TEAM Think Tank 2024: summary and action items. Jason Katz, MD, NYU
3. Reasons for Success and Failure in Developing a Shock Team. Shashank Sinha, MD, INOVA

(15 min presentation and 10 min discussion each)