The Tribune

THIS week, over 200 cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and allied cardiovascular professionals will gather at Atlantis, for the 29th Annual Caribbean Cardiology Conference, which will be held July 23 - 26.

Those in attendance will include professionals from all across the Caribbean representing the region’s Dutch, English, French and Spanish speaking territories as well as visiting faculty from South America, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The conference theme, “Innovative Solutions to Cardiovascular Challenges and The Caribbean”, reflects the Caribbean Cardiac Society’s commitment to educating its members and practitioners in the region on the latest and most cutting edge advances in cardiovascular science and medicine.

Conference faculty will include President-Elect of the American Heart Association Dr Elliott Antman who will make the case for “disruptive innovation” in the continued development of medical therapeutics. Organisers will also welcome Dr Joshua Hare, director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. In delivering the conference keynote address Dr Hare will highlight the key role stem cells can play in the future of cardiovascular practice.

The meeting will explore the full spectrum of cardiovascular care including interventional cardiology, clinical cardiology, cardiac imaging and the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases. Conference Chairman Dr Conville Brown described the upcoming meeting as “a space in which to highlight opportunities for our colleagues to play an integral role in the research, development and application of new technologies.”

The conference opens this Wednesday at Atlantis with a session to update local general practitioners and internists on the management of cardiovascular co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity and the metabolic syndrome as precursors to the acute coronary syndromes.

The Caribbean Cardiology Conference is held in a different Caribbean territory each year and will include the Charles Denbow Clinical Case Competition for young physicians doing post-graduate training.