Diagnosis and management of patients with INOCA

Prof Amir Lerman Is an endowed named Barbara Lips professor of medicine and a consultant in the department of cardiovascular disease at the Mayo graduate school of medicine. Prof. Lerman graduated from the Technion school of Medicine in Haifa Israel and completed his training in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and invasive cardiology at the Mayo Clinic Prof. Lerman serves as an associate chair of the department of Cardiovascular medicine and the Director of the Mayo Clinic cardiovascular research center, the medical director of the chest pain and coronary physiology clinic. Prof. Lerman’s interest is the coronary physiology and imaging and the role of novel therapy of the microcirculation and endothelial function in cardiovascular diseases. Prof. Lerman’s research program is also active and publishes in the area regenerative medicine, innovative technologies and digital health. Prof. Lerman published more than 800 manuscripts, book chapters and reviews; the NIH, AHA, and several foundations support his research.

Enrique Gutiérrez is an Interventional Cardiologist at Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid. After specializing in Cardiology in Zaragoza, he became an interventional cardiologist, and since 2008 he is a Consultant at Gregorio Marañón. He visited Mayo Clinic under the direction of Prof. Amir Lerman, and subsequently started focusing on coronary physiology, with a special interest in microvascular and endothelial function. He has published papers con coronary physiology assessment and the physiology of the non-culprit artery, and is the lead investigator in the Spanish multicenter registry of acetylcholine test ENDOCOR. He is a member of the ESC working group on Coronary Pathophysiology and Microcirculation, and co-chair of the working group for intracoronary diagnosis of the Spanish Association of Interventional Cardiology.

Dr. Hernán Mejía-Rentería is an Interventional Cardiologist at the Department of Cardiology, Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. He graduated from the Medical School of Universidad del Valle (Colombia) and underwent specialty training in Cardiology at Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. Subsequently, he completed his subspecialty training as Interventional Cardiologist in 2017 at the same institution. Dr. Mejía-Rentería obtained a PhD (Cum Laude) in coronary physiology in 2021 at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He is a member of European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) and has published over 70 indexed scientific articles on coronary physiology, functional angiography, intracoronary imaging techniques and Takotsubo Syndrome, and is author of chapters in different academic textbooks. His main research areas at present include coronary physiology assessment with invasive and angiography derived techniques in patients with coronary artery disease or ischemia with non-obstructive coronary arteries.

Prof Javier Escaned is Head of Section (Interventional Cardiology Section) at Hospital Clinico San Carlos / Complutense University (Madrid, Spain). He trained in the United Kingdom as Specialist in Cardiology and obtained his PhD in The Netherlands. Author of >600 indexed scientific articles on interventional cardiology, imaging and physiology (h-index 74) and over 30 years of experience as PCI operator, he regularly lectures and performs live cases at major scientific and educational meetings. He is a recipient of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Silver Medal and the Andreas Grüntzig Award for his contributions to the fiedl fo Interventional Cardiology. Main areas of expertise include complex PCI, intracoronary diagnostics and functional coronary angiography. His track record in coronary physiology comprises being investigator on pioneer FFR trials like DEFER (1998), collaborator with Justin Davies in the validation and clinical implementation of iFR, and developer of new tools for the assessment of coronary microcirculation. Editorial roles include Deputy Editor EHJ, Advisory Editor Eurointervention, editor of the textbooks “Coronary Stenosis: Imaging, Structure and Physiology” and “Physiological Assessment of Coronary Stenoses and the Microcirculation". Recent board positions include EAPCI board / Education Committee Chair, ESC WG Coronary Pathophysiology and Microcirculation, EuroCTO Board. Recent trials as Principal Investigator include ADVISE II, DEFINE FLAIR, SYNTAX II, PIONEER IV, Cerebral-Coronary-Connection (C3), DCR4Contrast, INOCA LongCovid and AID ANGIO. Additional interests are philosophy and music.

Dr Justin Davies is founder and CEO of Wondr Medical, inventor of iFR, and clinical academic and consultant interventional cardiologist at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London.

Suzette Elias-Smale, MD, PhD is a cardiologist and clinical epidemiologist. She is specialized in cardiovascular imaging and cardiovascular diseases in women. In 2015 she set up an outpatient clinic for patients with INOCA (ischemia and no obstructive coronary arteries). Her aim is to improve diagnosis and treatment of angina due to coronary vasomotor dysfunction by doing clinical studies on new diagnostic tools and treatment strategies. She thereby uses her skills as imaging cardiologist and clinical epidemiologist. In 2016 she received the status of junior Principal Clinician, rewarding her innovative healthcare strategies. As president of the gender working group of the Dutch Society of Cardiology (NVVC), Suzette is active in the implementation of knowledge on gender differences in cardiovascular disease in the Netherlands. She is also a member of the global COVADIS (Coronary Vasomotor Disorders) working group.

Prof Kunadian is a Professor of Interventional Cardiology holding a Personal Chair at Newcastle University and Honorary Academic Consultant Interventional Cardiologist Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Prof Kunadian has an international reputation in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular research, making her a sought-after and respected speaker at prominent national and international meetings. She has championed diversity in her specialty as a role model; only 5% of interventional cardiologist are female in the UK, <1% are clinical academics/researchers and only female interventional cardiologist holding a University Personal Chair. She is also recipient of the UK Department of Health National Clinical Excellence Bronze Award. She is UK Chief Investigator in many multicentre clinical trials with major grant awards including from the British Heart Foundation. She has published >180 peer reviewed publications in major journals. She is UK’s 1st female to be appointed as the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society Research and Development Working Group lead. She has been chosen by the British Heart Foundation as their panel member for the Bias and Biology Campaign addressing the disparity of care among female patients with heart disease. She was the Chair/Lead author on the ESC/EAPCI Consensus document on INOCA which has raised the awareness of this condition worldwide. She has campaigned on the national media including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and newspapers to improve the care of patients with heart disease in particular women and heart disease. She is one of the commissioners on the Lancet Commission to reduce the global burden of heart disease in women by 2030. She was awarded Winner of the UK Times and the Sunday Times We Are The City Rising Star Award for 2018. In 2022 she was nominated for the British Heart Foundation Heart Hero Research Engagement Award. She was also nominated for the 2023 Northern Power Women Awards- Disruptor Good Category.