Michael Ozner, M.D., FACC, FAHA
Symposium Director
Medical Director, Center for Prevention and Wellness
Baptist Health South Florida
Bio
Michael Ozner, MD, is one of America’s leading advocates for heart disease prevention. Dr. Ozner is a board-certified cardiologist, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and of the American Heart Association, and a well-known regional and national speaker in the field of preventive cardiology. He was the recipient of the 2008 American Heart Association Humanitarian Award and has been elected to Top Cardiologists in America by the Consumer Council of America. Dr. Ozner is also the author of The Miami Mediterranean Diet and The Great American Heart Hoax. His new book, Heart Attack Proof, was released worldwide April 1, 2012.
Gerard P. Aurigemma, M.D.
Professor of Medicine and Radiology, UMass Medical School
Director, Noninvasive Cardiology, UMass Memorial Medical Center
Worcester, Massachusetts
Bio
Dr. Aurigemma has a longstanding interest in applying noninvasive imaging, principally echocardiography and cardiac MR to the study of LV systolic and diastolic function in hypertension, valvular heart disease, and diastolic heart failure.
Dr. Aurigemma is the author of over 150 peer reviewed original articles and reviews on LV function and other topics in cardiology, has served as an associate editor of the textbook Cardiology and editor of a monograph on stress echocardiography. He has also served on the editorial board of several cardiology journals, and on the board of directors of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE). He has served as course director for the ASE Board Review Course for the past ten years and has edited a board exam review CD on behalf of the ASE as well.
Bijoy K Khandheria, MD, FACP, FESC, FAHA, FACC, FASE
Clinical Adjunct Professor of Medicine
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Director. Echocardiography Services
Aurora Health Care and Aurora St. Luke Medical Center
Director, Echocardiography Center for Research and Innovation
Aurora Research Institute
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Bio
Dr. Khandheria’s career spans more than 22 years of clinical, teaching, research and fund-raising with the Mayo Clinic, in both Rochester Minnesota and Scottsdale, Arizona, earning significant recognition in the field of echocardiography and reflecting a number of highlights:
■ Former Chair of Cardiovascular Disease for the Mayo Clinic the largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world, directing administrative and clinical systems of the entire service line of cardiovascular disease. ■ Past President of American Society of Echocardiography ■ Author of more than 200 peer review publications, books, book chapters; noted lecturer and invited speaker throughout the world (see addendum for complete listing). ■ Edler Lecturer / Euro Echo Lecturer / Homobono Calleja Lecturer ■ Recognized for effective outreach programs in medicine – both national and international. ■ Hold a number of utility patents as a result of translational research. ■ Facilitated significant philanthropic donations from grateful patients and generous benefactors in recognition of clinical skills and compassionate patient care. ■ Noted for implementation of successful process and quality improvement methodologies in medicine, health care organizational management and information technology. ■ Former Chair of Information Technology for Mayo Clinic, directing IT infrastructure for entire organization.
Steven J. Lester, M.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Associate Chair, Innovation Department of Internal Medicine
Director, Peter Grant Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cardiovascular Ultrasound, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Scarsdale, Arizona
Bio
Born in Detroit, Michigan, he received his M.D. degree from the University of Toronto School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine internship at St. Michael’s and the Toronto Hospital through the University of Toronto. He did his cardiology fellowship at St. Paul’s Hospital and the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center with the University of British Columbia and a post-doctoral fellowship in echocardiography at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center.
Dr. Lester is a Fellow in the American College of Cardiology and is certified in Cardiology and Internal Medicine within the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is a Fellow in the American Society of Echocardiography as well as serving on numerous committees within that organization.
Humberto Machado,Sr.,MD,FASE,FACC,FAHA
Director of the Echocardiography Department, Mercy-HCA Hospital
Miami, Florida
Bio
Humberto Machado,Sr.,MD,FASE,FACC,FAHA, is Co-Founder with Michael Ozner,MD, FACC, of the Greater Miami Society of Echocardiography and its highly successful Yearly Symposium of Echocardiography, now celebrating its Thirty-First Year. Dr.Machado is a graduate of the University of Salamanca,Spain and since 1966 has pioneered multiple Echocardiography Applications in South Florida. He is the Medical Director of MERCY-HCA and MachadoCardio Inc., ICAEL-Accredited Echocardiography Laboratories, also having earned "Core Labs" recognition by ASE and NHLBI. Dr. Machado was recently Re-Certified by National Board Of Echocardiography and has been Consultant and Abstract Grader for ASE Scientific Sessions. As a Voluntary, Associate Clinical Professor of Cardiology at the University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Machado has authored a number of publications in areas of Clinical and Research Cardiology. Current Clinical and Research activities in Advanced Echocardiography include: Application of 3D Echo/Polyparametric and 4D Speckle Imaging in the E&M of Heart Failure patients; Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension; Resynchronization/ICD therapy; Atrial Fibrillation; Predictors of Thromboembolism; 4D TEE and improved mobile Digital Networks. Dr. Machado is in private consulting practice with his cardiologist son Humberto C.Machado,Jr.,MD,FACP.
Rick Meece, CCT, RCS, RCIS, RDCS, FASE, FSICP
Cardiac Imaging Specialist
Saint Thomas Hospital, OP Cardiac Imaging
Nashville, Tennessee
Bio
Rick Meece is a cardiac imaging specialist with Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee (Ascension Health), a 541-bed acute care hospital, a part of the Saint Thomas Health System. He serves the Saint Thomas Research Institute as echo core lab manager, research sonographer, and is the team leader for transesophageal imaging in the CTOR. Rick is considered a leading proponent of 3D Echo and emerging technologies in both the clinical and institutional setting, and is an editorial journal reviewer for the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography and the International Journal of Cardiology.
Rick has received numerous research grants, and has been published in manuscripts and textbooks in the fields of interventional cardiology, cardiac resynchronization therapy, heart failure, and 3D echocardiography. He is often seen as a faculty member of a wide variety of medical education symposiums, including the SDMS Annual Conference, the ASE Scientific Sessions, the ASE Registry Review Course and the SDMS Annual Scientific Conference.
Robert J. Siegel, M.D., FACC
Kennamer Chair in Cardiac Ultrasound
Director, Cardiac Noninvasive Laboratory
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Professor of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai and David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Los Angeles, California
Bio
Dr. Siegel is internationally recognized as one of the leading experts in the field of cardiovascular ultrasound, Dr. Siegel specializes in cardiovascular ultrasound, including transthoracic, transesophageal, and intravascular methodologies. Dr. Siegel's research interests include valvular heart disease, therapeutic applications of ultrasound energy, transesophageal and intraoperative echocardiography, and the development and use of hand-held portable echocardiographic systems for clinical innovations. In addition, he is involved with clinical research studies related to the diagnosis, assessment, and management of patients with Marfan Syndrome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and pericardial and valvular heart disease.
He is on the editorial board of four cardiovascular journals and is the editor of Cardiology Update. Dr. Siegel has edited two textbooks on ultrasound-related topics, and he is a reviewer for more than a dozen cardiovascular journals. He has authored over 230 peer-reviewed scientific papers related to cardiovascular medicine. He is also a contributing author to more than a dozen cardiovascular textbooks.
William J. Stewart, M.D., FACC, FASE
Professor of Medicine, Director of Cardiovascular Disease Curriculum
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio
Bio
Dr. William James Stewart specialty interests include valvular heart disease, mitral valve repair, aortic valve repair, Doppler echocardiography, decisions regarding the timing of valve surgery, less invasive heart surgery, transesophageal echocardiography, three dimensional echocardiography, and intraoperative echocardiography. In the 1980's and 1990’s, he was one of the early pioneers in the development of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, which is now used in most heart operations worldwide.
Dr. Stewart is an expert on heart valve problems, Dr. Stewart has helped hundreds of patients decide on the optimum timing for surgery for valve stenosis or valve regurgitation of the mitral or the aortic valve. He is involved in research and imaging for the emerging field of percutaneous valve repair and valve replacement; done with transcatheter (non-surgical) methods.
He is a reviewer for Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, and Echocardiography. He is on, or has been on, the editorial boards of the journal Echocardiography, the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography and Heart Advisor.
Dr. Stewart has published over 180 scientific articles in leading medical journals on his specialty interests and research. He has authored 35 chapters in medical textbooks, related mostly to treatment of valvular heart disease and its management and diagnosis with echocardiography.
Mani A. Vannan, MBBS, FACC, FAHA, FASE
Chief, Cardiovascular Imaging Department
Piedmont Heart Institute
Director, Echocardiography, Fuqua Heart Center Piedmont
Atlanta, Georgia
Bio
Dr. Vannan is a leader in the field of Echocardiography and CV Imaging. He has been a clinical cardiologist, educator and investigator for over 15 years. He serves in various committees of the ASE, ACC and AHA and in the editorial boards of leading of CV journals. He graduated from medical school in India and trained in the UK before pursuing further cardiology practice in the USA. He is at the forefront of advanced imaging technologies and techniques and how these apply to clinical practice. His current interest is integrated CV imaging where information from different modalities is brought together to address questions for any given disease to aid clinical-decision making and guide management.
