UCARS RECAP: 2024
The 12th annual Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (U-CARS) was held February 8-9, 2024, at the Salt Lake City Marriott University Park. Once again, the gathering proved to be compelling and lively. This year’s symposium brought in more than 700 attendees, both in-person and virtually. On day one, sessions included, in part, presentations on innovation in heart failure and cardiomyopathies, cardiac metabolism and myocardial function, and heart failure remission, as well as a debate on whether to transplant directly or bridge with LVAD in a 35-year-old patient with advanced non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Day two of the symposium included a debate on the use of temporary mechanical circulatory support as an effective therapeutic approach to cardiogenic shock, sessions on acute heart failure and shock as well as diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to reverse remodeling, and ended with an interactive discussion of several interesting cases. Eight featured abstracts and six invited presentations on original research were selected for oral presentation and included presenters from around the world.
Our keynote speaker this year was Dr. Eric Olsen, PhD, a molecular biologist from University of Texas Southwestern. He gave a riveting address entitled “Writing the Language of the Heart with CRISPR.” In addition to being the founding chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at UTSW, he also directs the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine and the Wellstone Center for Muscular Dystrophy Research. Dr. Olson holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Science and the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship in Stem Cell Research.
Recordings of all talks are available on the U-CARS website. Save the date for next year’s U-CARS, scheduled for February 20-21, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
