OPCI Journal Club: A Conversation with Dr. Brilakis: Coronary Optical Coherence Tomography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Determine Underlying Causes of Myocardial Infarction with Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries in Women

Allen Jeremias, MD, MSc, is the Director of Interventional Cardiology Research and Associate Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York. He is also a member of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York City where he currently serves as the Director of the Physiology Core Laboratory. He completed his medical training at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Harvard Medical School. He has been a high volume interventional cardiologist since 2006 and recognized as a Top Doctor in the New York Metro Area by Castle Connolly. Dr. Jeremias has significantly contributed to advancing the field of interventional cardiology and he is considered one of the foremost authorities in coronary physiology and intravascular imaging. He is a co-director of the annual St. Francis Intravascular Imaging and Coronary Physiology Workshop, teaching physicians around the world on “Precision Angioplasty”. Dr. Jeremias is presently engaged in a major global study that could change the path of treating clogged arteries. Known as the ILUMIEN IV trial, this major clinical study is evaluating Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to guide coronary stent placement. He is also the principal investigator of DEFINE PCI, an international study on assessing the improvement in blood flow after stent placement for severe coronary blockages.

David J. Cohen, MD, MSc is currently Director of Clinical and Outcomes Research at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (New York, NY) and Director of Academic Affairs at St. Francis Hospital (Roslyn, NY). Previously, he was Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and Director of Cardiovascular Research and Medical Director of Health Economics and Technology Assessment at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. Heart Institute where he continues to direct the Health Economics and Technology Assessment Group. Dr. Cohen earned his M.D. at Harvard Medical School and his Master's degree in Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. He did his clinical training at Brigham and Women's Hospital and was a clinical and research fellow in cardiology at Beth Israel Hospital for five years. Dr. Cohen is a practicing interventional cardiologist with a focus on structural and valvular heart disease. His research focuses on the application of formal cost-effectiveness methodology to novel interventions for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the extension of traditional cardiovascular outcomes research to include patient-centered outcomes, and the development and evaluation of instruments for assessing CVD patients’ health status and preferences. He is also active in research to determine the short- and long-term outcomes of new devices for percutaneous coronary revascularization and identifying the optimal target populations and techniques for these devices. Dr. Cohen has published more than 500 original articles in leading journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, Circulation, and the Journal of the American College. Dr. Cohen serves on the editorial board for the American Heart Journal, JACC Interventions, and Circulation and reviews for the American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Medical Decision Making.

Emmanouil S. Brilakis, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA, FESC, FSCAI is Director of the Center for Complex Coronary Interventions at the Minneapolis Heart Institute and Chairman of the Center for Coronary Artery Disease at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. After graduating from Lycee Leonin de Patissia, Dr. Brilakis received his medical degree from the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He trained in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases and Interventional Cardiology at the Mayo Clinic. He also completed a Masters in Clinical Research at the Mayo Clinic and a PhD in Clinical Research at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. He served as director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories at VA North Texas Health Care System from 2004-2016. He was on the faculty of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School from 2004-2018. Dr. Brilakis leads a large clinical trial group investigating treatment of chronic total occlusions, prevention and treatment of saphenous vein graft disease, prevention and management of complications, intracoronary imaging, antiplatelet treatment optimization post coronary stenting, radiation safety in the catheterization laboratory, and implementation of novel technologies in healthcare. Dr. Brilakis has authored or co-authored over 600 manuscripts and has written the Manual of CTO Interventions, now in its second edition. He directs the Complex Coronary Interventions Webcast series and is on the Board of the Cardiovascular Innovations Foundation. He is an associate editor for Circulation and an editorial board member and reviewer for several journals and grant agencies. He is lecturing and proctoring at several institutions in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Evan Shlofmitz is an Interventional Cardiologist and the Director of Intravascular Imaging at St. Francis Hospital - The Heart Center in Roslyn, NY. He completed a fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at Georgetown University/MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He previously completed an Intravascular Imaging and Physiology fellowship at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), a Cardiovascular Disease fellowship at Northwell Health and served as Chief Resident for Internal Medicine at New York Presbyterian Queens. He serves on SCAI's IHD Council and is a co-director of Optimizing PCI (OPCI). His research interests have centered on intravascular imaging, the treatment of calcified coronary artery disease, in-stent restenosis and the optimization of stent implantation, with more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

An internationally recognized interventional cardiologist, Dr. Moses has performed more than 15,000 interventional procedures, authored over 600 publications, and served as lead investigator for numerous national and international clinical studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of coronary stent placement. In 2002, Dr. Moses was the lead investigator on a large clinical trial, the first in the U.S. that demonstrated the enormous benefit that led to FDA approval of the first drug-coated stent now used in the majority of interventional procedures in the U.S. Most recently in on the Executive Committee of PARTNER trial; they brought the first transcatheter aortic valve to clinical use in the U.S. He currently serves as Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Therapeutics at Columbia University Medical Center and as Director of Advanced Cardiac Interventions at St Francis Hospital and Heart Center in Roslyn, NY. He is also a pioneer in developing approaches involving minimally invasive surgery, angioplasty, gene therapy, novel imaging technologies and various support devices that allow for wider application of interventional cardiovascular procedures.

Dr. William Nicholson is acting Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and Director of Complex Coronary and Cardiac Intervention at Emory Healthcare. Dr. Nicholson also serves as the program director for the Advanced Complex High-Risk Interventional Procedures (CHIP) fellowship at Emory University Hospital. Dr. Nicholson came to Emory in 2020 after fourteen years in private interventional cardiology practice in York, Pennsylvania. While in private practice, Dr. Nicholson founded and developed that institution’s carotid stenting program, structural heart program, transcatheter aortic valve replacement program, and the complex coronary intervention program. He also has become nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in treatment of Chronic Total Occlusions (CTO’s). He is a perennial live case operator for nationally televised conferences. Dr. Nicholson formerly trained at Emory University Hospital having completed his general cardiology and interventional fellowship in 2006. He completed his medical residency at Brown University Hospitals where he also served as Chief Medical Resident. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State College of Medicine.

Ziad Ali is the Director of the DeMatteis Cardiovascular Institute, Director of Investigational Interventional Cardiology, and Director of Cardio-nephrology at St Francis Hospital & Heart Center in New York. He is also Director of the Angiographic Core Laboratory at Cardiovascular Research Foundation and Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. His clinical research interests focus on the use of intravascular imaging and physiology technologies such as optical coherence tomography, intravascular ultrasound, and flow wire assessment to optimize coronary interventions, for which he has served as a Global principal investigator on a number of trials. Dr. Ali is also a recognized innovator, playing an integral role in the development of the Resting Full-Cycle Ratio (RFR) and Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy. Clinically Dr. Ali developed pioneering techniques to perform vascular interventions without contrast administration, including IVUS-guided zero-contrast PCI and OCT using saline flush media, protecting patients with advanced kidney disease from acute kidney injury and the need for dialysis.