Imaging in cardiovascular diseases and the 2020 Harvey symposium

Formally trained in cardiovascular medicine and epidemiology, Dr Paul M Ridker is the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and directs the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, a translational research unit at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr Ridker’s research focuses on the design and conduct of multi-national randomized trials, the development of inflammatory biomarkers for clinical and research use, the molecular and genetic epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases, and on novel strategies for cardiovascular disease detection and prevention.

As a preventive cardiologist, Dr Ridker is best known for his work developing the inflammatory hypothesis of heart disease, the clinical application of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) testing as a method to better evaluate cardiovascular risk, and the demonstration in 2008 in the large-scale JUPITER trial that statin therapy is highly effective at reducing heart attack and stroke when given to men and women with elevated hsCRP levels. Currently, Dr Ridker serves as Trial Chairman and Principal Investigator of two multi-national, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials designed to address whether reducing inflammation can reduce cardiovascular event rates. These trials are the Canakinumab Anti-Inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study (CANTOS) and the NHLBI funded Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial (CIRT).

Professor Geroulakos is currently the Director of the Department of Vascular Surgery at the Attikon University Hospital in Athens and the Divisional Director for Surgery in the same Hospital. This is the largest department of Vascular Surgery in Greece with 35 beds, 6 vascular specialists and 7 vascular trainees.

"We provide the full spectrum of services in the management of arterial and venous disease including management of rare and complicated cases. We operate approximately 160 aortic cases every year."