7th EAPC Sports Cardiology course & Cardiac Risk in the Young International Conference

Dr Papadakis is an Assoc Professor in Cardiology at St George’s, University of London. He is the president-elect for the European Association of Preventive Cardiology and the past chair of the European section of Sports Cardiology and Exercise. He is consultant to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, English Institute of Sport, English and Wales Cricket Board and Rugby Football Union. His interests include sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, cardiovascular disease prevention including prevention of sudden cardiac death in young and athletic individuals, heart failure and cardiac imaging. Dr Papadakis is currently credited with more than 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals and numerous presentations in national and international conferences. He has contributed to international projects, including the creation of the Sports Cardiology curriculum, the criteria for the interpretation of the athlete’s ECG and the exercise guidelines in individuals with heart disease. In 2016 he launched a novel MSc degree in Sports Cardiology.

Dr Antonio Pelliccia is a specialist in Cardiovascular Diseases and Sports Medicine. He is Head of the Cardiology Department of the Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of the Italian National Olympic Committee. Adjunct Professor of "Sports Cardiology" at the School of Specialization in Cardiovascular Diseases and Sports Medicine, University of L'Aquila and La Sapienza in Rome. Dr Pelliccia served as the Health Manager of the Italian mission to the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake 2002, Turin 2006, Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. He is an associate professor in Medicine at TUFTS University, Boston. Dr Pelliccia is the author of numerous papers in international scientific journals (New Engl J Med, Circulation, JACC, Eur Hart J) on the cardiovascular physiopathology of exercise and sports activities. Past President of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, of the European Society of Cardiology.

Dr. Jonathan Drezner is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of the UW Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA – USA). He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, and he is Team Physician for the Seattle Seahawks (NFL), OL Reign (NWSL), and the University of Washington. Dr. Drezner is past-President of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (2012-13) and Director of the Division for Cardiac Injury in Sport for the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Dr. Drezner has dedicated his career to the prevention of sudden cardiac arrest and death (SCA/D) in young athletes and the development of effective models for prevention. His primary research focuses on the incidence and etiology of SCA/D, cardiovascular screening and ECG interpretation in athletes, and emergency response planning and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the school and athletic settings.

Since 2003, university professor Dr. Martin Halle is the medical director of the centre for prevention and sports medicine at the university hospital “Klinikum rechts der Isar” of the Technical University of Munich, Germany. He is specialized in internal medicine, cardiology and sports medicine as well as preventive cardiovascular medicine DGPR®. He is an expert in the field of “sports cardiology” (Certification German Cardiac Society) with a special expertise in cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation. His scientific interest lies in prevention of and recovery from cardiovascular diseases, particularly in heart failure, by physical exercise. Internationally, he is one of the leading scientists in his field of research. Among other honors, Prof. Martin Halle was appointed President of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for the period of 2020-2022.

Dr. Börjesson is a professor at Göteborg University (Institute of Food, Nutrition and Sports Science and the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology) and Sahlgrenska University Hospital. He is also Director of the Center for Health and Performance, Göteborg University, and a practicing physician in Östra, Goteborg with specialties in internal medicine and cardiology. Börjesson has served on many task forces and chaired multiple societies including the Sports Cardiology Section of the European Society of Cardiology (2008-10); Swedish Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine (2013-15), where he was also the president from 2015-17; and the Swedish Society of Cardiology (2016-18).

Dr. Meagan M. Wasfy MD MPH is a sports cardiologist in the Cardiovascular Performance Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She trained in internal medicine and cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Wasfy’s clinical practices focuses on the cardiovascular care of athletic and active individuals and on echocardiography. Dr. Wasfy is also active in research, with a focus on the use of cardiac imaging to characterize exercise-induced cardiac remodeling and the specific question of how to better distinguish between cardiac enlargement due to exercise versus that due to cardiac disease.

Dr Papadakis is an Assoc Professor in Cardiology at St George’s, University of London. He is the president-elect for the European Association of Preventive Cardiology and the past chair of the European section of Sports Cardiology and Exercise. He is consultant to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, English Institute of Sport, English and Wales Cricket Board and Rugby Football Union. His interests include sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, cardiovascular disease prevention including prevention of sudden cardiac death in young and athletic individuals, heart failure and cardiac imaging. Dr Papadakis is currently credited with more than 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals and numerous presentations in national and international conferences. He has contributed to international projects, including the creation of the Sports Cardiology curriculum, the criteria for the interpretation of the athlete’s ECG and the exercise guidelines in individuals with heart disease. In 2016 he launched a novel MSc degree in Sports Cardiology.

Sabiha Gati is a cardiologist at Guys and St Thomas's NHS Trust, London, UK.

David Niederseer is consultant cardiologist at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. After completing his studies in medicine (MD) and sports science (BSc) in Innsbruck, Austria, he graduated from a PhD-program in molecular medicine in Salzburg, Austria. Thereafter he received a training in general internal medicine and then moved with his family to Switzerland, Zurich to complete his training in cardiology. Dr Niederseer has a special interest in sports cardiology, cardiovascular rehabilitation, exercise training and testing as well as preventive cardiology. He has published extensively in these areas, is part of national and European societies, and is frequently invited to national and international conferences as speaker. Additionally, he serves as reviewer for leading journals and is associate editor for the European Heart Journal – Case Reports. For the EAPC he is Section Editor for the Sports Cardiology Quizzes, part of the EAPC Certification Task Force as well as EAPC Young Ambassador, Switzerland. My affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Heart Center Zurich, University of Zurich, University Hospital Zuirch, Zurich, Switzerland

Elena Cavarretta is a MD, PhD from Sapienza University of Rome, with a PhD dissertation on "New diagnostic tools for left ventricular hypertrophy: biomolecular and echocardiographic techniques". Since 2011, she has been serving as Researcher/Assistant Professor at the department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnology, Sapienza University of Rome. She obtained the national scientific qualification as Associate Professor in: Internal Medicine, Sports Sciences and Exercise and Full Professor in Applied Medical Technical Sciences. At present she is the elected secretary of the European nucleus of the Sports Cardiology and Exercise, European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) and a board member of the Italian Society of Sports Cardiology (SIC Sport). She is involved in cardiovascular clinical and translational research. In particular, dr. Cavarretta’s scientific interests are cardiovascular adaptation to exercise, athlete's heart, cardiovascular non-invasive imaging, machine learning, oxidative stress and microRNAs as biomarkers in cardiovascular pathologies, in particular cardiomyopathies. She is the author of >90 indexed papers. She is the recipient of several awards and grants, including national research project. She is the Deputy Editor for the Preventive Cardiology section of the EHJ-Case Report and Deputy Editor for Minerva Cardiology Angiology.

- Clinical cardiologist with focus on sports cardiology at University Hospitals Leuven - Assistant professor at KU Leuven, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences - Honorary Researcher at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute - Chairman of the Medical Committee of Belgian Cycling - Nucleus Member of the EAPC Sports Cardiology Section - Board Member of the Belgian Working Group of Non-invasive Cardiac Imaging His research focuses on the effects of endurance exercise on the human heart and the integration of exercise evaluation into the management of patients with cardiovascular disease. He is (co-) author of 83 scientific publications indexed in Web of Science (h-index 20). Guido has presented more than 20 abstracts at international scientific meetings as first author and is regularly invited as faculty speaker at several international meetings. He has written invited reviews and editorials in JACC Imaging, The Journal of Physiology and other high impact journals and given multiple plenary lectures on athlete’s heart at the European Society of Cardiology annual congresses.

Specialist in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Sports Medicine, Sports Cardiology Chief and University Chair, Institute of Sports Medicine, Prevention and Rehabilitation, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Austria. Director, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention President, Austrian Association of Prevention and Rehabilitation Chair-elect, Section of Sports Cardiology and Chair, Research Committee; European Association of Preventive Cardiology, European Society of Cardiology High school: Diploma, USA; Abitur Kassel, Germany Medical schools: Mainz, Germany; Vienna, Austria; Dijon, France; Chicago, USA; Sydney, Australia Academic qualifications: MD: Univ. of Mainz, Germany PhD: Imperial College, University of London, UK MBA: University of Salzburg Specialist training: Univ. of Heidelberg, Germany Stanford University, USA University of London, UK University of Leipzig, Germany Publications: > 300 publication; 4 books, >20 book chapters.

Dr. Sanz de la Garza graduated in Medicine cum laude at University of Oviedo, Spain in 2007. Then, she moved to Barcelona where she did her specialization in cardiology at Hospital Vall d’Hebron (2008-2013). Right after, she performed a three-year fellowship in sports cardiology in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and developed her PhD focused on the cardiac remodelling induced by endurance training. In 2016, she did a 6-month research stay in cardiac rehabilitation at Montreal Heart Institute (Canada). Since 2017, she is a consultant cardiologist at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona where she is in charge of the cardiovascular preparticipation screening of Football Club Barcelona and leads the cardiac rehabilitation unit. Her main interests include sports cardiology, cardiac imaging, and cardiac rehabilitation. She has published extensively in these areas and she is a frequent speaker at national and international congresses. For the EAPC, she is a nucleus member of the Sports Cardiology and Exercise Section and Young Ambassador of Spain.

Dr Papadakis is an Assoc Professor in Cardiology at St George’s, University of London. He is the president-elect for the European Association of Preventive Cardiology and the past chair of the European section of Sports Cardiology and Exercise. He is consultant to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, English Institute of Sport, English and Wales Cricket Board and Rugby Football Union. His interests include sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, cardiovascular disease prevention including prevention of sudden cardiac death in young and athletic individuals, heart failure and cardiac imaging. Dr Papadakis is currently credited with more than 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals and numerous presentations in national and international conferences. He has contributed to international projects, including the creation of the Sports Cardiology curriculum, the criteria for the interpretation of the athlete’s ECG and the exercise guidelines in individuals with heart disease. In 2016 he launched a novel MSc degree in Sports Cardiology.

Dr Bhatia qualified from the Norwich Medical School with distinction in basic science research in 2011. He was awarded an open scholarship for the duration of his studies in view of academic performance. Dr Bhatia’s cardiology training to date has been diverse with competencies developed in sports cardiology, inherited cardiac conditions, cardiovascular imaging, and interventional cardiology. He is currently undertaking a higher research degree under the guidance of Dr Michael Papadakis & Professor Sanjay Sharma as a Cardiac Risk in the Young research fellow, at St. George’s, University of London. His primary research interests include evaluating the role and efficacy of cardiovascular screening in individuals aged 14-35 years, which incorporates the challenges and opportunities catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He leads the principles of cardiovascular evaluation of athlete’s module for the novel Sports Cardiology MSc, held at St. George’s, University of London. Outside of medicine, Raghav is a proud husband and father. He enjoys spending time with his family & friends, travelling, and all things cricket!

Viviana Maestrini is an Associate Professor of Cardiology in the Department of Clinical, Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology and Cardiovascular Sciences at Sapienza University of Rome in Italy. She obtained her Medical degree and qualifications as a cardiologist at Sapienza University in Rome. Then, she undertook a PhD jointly between Sapienza and University College London (UCL) focused on CMR. She also collaborates with the Institute of Sport Medicine in Rome - National Italian Olympic Committee, which has a long tradition in promoting sport cardiology. Current her research interests include cardiac imaging and valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and heart failure. She is also developing a program on the role of CMR to define the complex phenotype of athlete’s heart and to prevent sudden cardiac death. She is also nucleus member of the EAPC Sports Cardiology and Exercise Section.

Aneil Malhotra is a cardiologist at St George's Hospital, London UK.

Assistant Professor F Schnell works at University Hospital of Rennes, Cardiology.

Gherardo Finocchiaro is a consultant cadiologist at King's College Hospital, London, UK.

Dr Papadakis is an Assoc Professor in Cardiology at St George’s, University of London. He is the president-elect for the European Association of Preventive Cardiology and the past chair of the European section of Sports Cardiology and Exercise. He is consultant to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, English Institute of Sport, English and Wales Cricket Board and Rugby Football Union. His interests include sports cardiology, inherited cardiac diseases, cardiovascular disease prevention including prevention of sudden cardiac death in young and athletic individuals, heart failure and cardiac imaging. Dr Papadakis is currently credited with more than 100 publications in peer reviewed medical journals and numerous presentations in national and international conferences. He has contributed to international projects, including the creation of the Sports Cardiology curriculum, the criteria for the interpretation of the athlete’s ECG and the exercise guidelines in individuals with heart disease. In 2016 he launched a novel MSc degree in Sports Cardiology.