Skip to content

Controversies 2026 Program & Faculty

Controversies 2026 will bring together leading experts for dynamic discussions on the most pressing debates in cardiovascular medicine. Through engaging keynote presentations, spirited debates, and interactive panels, thought leaders will tackle cutting-edge topics across the full spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. 

View the current program and distinguished faculty below! Full program details will be released soon!

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Additional Keynote and Featured Lectures:

  • My 50-Year Global Journey in Cardiovascular Innovation
  • The 10 Most Important Lessons Learned in My Career
  • Photon-Counting CT
  • Advanced Interventions for Heart Failure

Session I: Atherosclerosis and Dyslipidemia
Chair: P.K. Shah, MD, MACC

  • Gut Microbiome: A Novel Therapeutic Target for Atherosclerosis
  • New Approaches to Lipid Lowering
  • New Anti-Inflammatory Agents: IL-6 Inhibitor, Antibody Against Ox-LDL Epitope

Session II: Structural Heart Disease
Chair: Raj Makkar, MD, FACC

  • Lessons Learned from My Heroes: Legends in Cardiac Surgery
  • The Next Frontier: Treatment of Moderate MR in Heart Failure
  • Aortic Stenosis is History, is Aortic Regurgitation the Future?
  • Disparities in the Management of Structural Heart Disease: Controversies from Europe

Session III: Hypertension
Chair: Florian Rader, MD, MSc

  • Debate: Novel Approaches to Hypertension Treatment
    • Renal Denervation Is Here (To Stay)
    • There Are Better, Novel Approaches to BP Reduction
  • What’s New in the 2025 Hypertension Guidelines?

Session IV: Update in Cardiac Imaging: State-of-the-Art and Future
Chair: Daniel Berman, MD

  • Advances in PET Perfusion: New Tracers, New Assessments
  • How Are Coronary Plaque and Ischemia Changing Practice in Coronary CTA?
  • The Digital Biopsy: Tissue Characterization by Cardiac MRI
  • Will Other Technologies Replace Echo or Will Echo Replace Them?

Session V: Practice Changing Trials Shark Tank
Chair: Sanjay Kaul, MD, MPH

    • Clinical Trial 1 - Structural

PI Presentation - Bull Shark Reaction - Nurse Shark Reaction
Round up and vote

    • Clinical Trial 2 - Interventional

PI Presentation - Bull Shark Reaction - Nurse Shark Reaction
Round up and vote

    • Clinical Trial 3 - Pharmacological

PI Presentation - Bull Shark Reaction - Nurse Shark Reaction
Round up and vote

Friday, February 6, 2026

Additional Keynote and Featured Lectures:

  • Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Management in 2025: State-of-the-Art
  • Pharmacology of Heart Failure: Present and Future – What Everyone Needs to Know

Session VI: Clinical Electrophysiology
Chair: Michael Shehata, MD, FACC

  • Debate: Ablate AF and Close the LAA, Why Not Kill Two Birds with a Concomitant Procedure?
    • LA Appendage Closure is Ideal for Most AF Ablation Patients
    • Just Ablate AF Successfully and Stop the Anticoagulation, Forget the LAA
  • Physiologic Pacing: The New Standard for All Pacemaker Implants
  • Cardioneural Ablation: A New Treatment Paradigm for Recurrent Vasovagal Syncope
  • LastCall for Alcohol in the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation?

Session VII: Controversies in the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease - Expert Views
Chair: Raj Makkar, MD, FACC, Suhail Dohad, MD, FACC

  • State-of-the-Art PCI for CAD in 2026
  • State-of-the-Art Non-PCI Devices for CAD in 2026
  • Debate: The CTO Controversy
    • CTO Interventions Are Underused
    • CTO Interventions Are Overused and Have Questionable Clinical Value
  • The Latest on Pharmacotherapy for CAD: What Everyone Needs to Know

Session VIII: AI in Healthcare
Chair: Aakriti Gupta, MD, MSc, Harlan Krumholz, MD

  • Current State of AI in Medicine/Guiding the AI Revolution
  • AI Rounds: How Is AI Being Used in Daily Practice
    • AI for Healthcare Records
    • AI for EKG Interpretation
    • AI for Cardiac Imaging
    • AI for Clinical Diagnosis and Decision Making
  • Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Outcome of Heart Transplant Clinical Trials – Update on the iBox
  • Panel Discussion: How Do Journals View AI?

Session IX: Controversies in Advanced Heart Failure
Chair: Jon Kobashigawa, MD, FACC

  • AThe Adipokine Hypothesis of HFpEF
  • Cardiac Amyloidosis Made Easy
  • Innovations and Controversies in Advanced Heart Disease Surgery
  • Amyloid Stabilizers and Silencers
    • Just Pick One
    • More Is Better Than Less

Session X: Global Heart Health
Chair: C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, MACC, Bruce Samuels, MD, FACC

  • The Status of Global Cardiology and Cardiovascular Health
  • Novel Pharmacotherapy to Address the Global Obesity Epidemic
  • Debate: How I Measure Ischemia
    • We Are Overtreating Patients with PCI
    • Is Coronary Stenting Overused?
  • Optimal Risk Management and Practical Implementation of Guidelines

Expert Invited Faculty - additional speakers to be announced!

Al Lamee, Rasha

Rasha Al Lamee, MA, MB, BS, PhD

Imperial College London
London, UK

Ali, Ziad

Ziad Ali, MD, DPhil

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center
Roslyn, NY

Di Carli, Marcelo

Marcelo DiCarli, MD

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA

Fudim, Marat

Marat Fudim, MD, MHS

Duke University Health System
Durham, NC

Krumholz, Harlan

Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM

Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, CT

Leipsic, Jonathan

Jonathon A. Leipsic, MD

The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada

Leopold, Jane

Jane Leopold, MD

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA

Mack3

Michael Mack, MD, MACC

Baylor Scott & White Health
Plano, TX

Marcus, Gregory

Gregory Marcus, MD, MAS

University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Masri, Ahmad

Ahmad Masri, MD, MS

Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine
Portland, OR

Maurer, Matthew

Matthew S. Maurer, MD, FACC

Columbia University
New York, NY

Mehran, Roxana

Roxana Mehran, MD, FACC

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY

Nissen, Steven

Steven Nissen, MD

Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH

Oliveira Geraldes, Flavia

Flávia Oliveira Geraldes

The Lancet, Sr Editor & Cardiology Ambassador
London, UK

Ouyang, David

David Ouyang, MD

The Permanente Medical Group
Santa Clara, CA

Packer, Milton

Milton Packer, MD

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Dallas, TX

Prendergast, Bernard

Bernard Prendergast, DM, FRCP, FESC

Cleveland Clinic London
St Thomas’ Hospital
London, United Kingdom

Roubin, Gary

Gary Roubin, MD, PhD

Interventional Cardiac and Vascular Medicine
Birmingham, AL

Salerno, Michael

Michael Salerno, MD, PhD

University of California, San Francisco
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Stone, Gregg

Gregg W. Stone,
MD, FACC, MSCAI

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY

Tardif

Jean-Claude Tardif, MD

Montréal Heart Institute
Montréal, Canada

Teirstein, Paul

Paul S. Teirstein, MD, FACC

Scripps Clinic
La Jolla, CA

Tung, Roderick (2)

Roderick Tung, MD

Arizona College of Medicine
Phoenix, AZ

Program Directors

Makkar, Raj

Raj Makkar,
MD, FACC

Shah, PK

PK Shah,
MD, MACC

Albert, Christine (larger)

Christine Albert,
MD, MPH, FACC

Alfredo Trento MD

Alfredo Trento,
MD, FACC

Kobashigawa, Jon

Jon Kobashigawa,
MD, FACC

Bairey Merz, Noel

C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, MACC

Harold, John

John G. Harold,
MD, MACC

Fontana, Gregory

Gregory P. Fontana, MD, FACC

Berman, Daniel

Daniel Berman,
MD, FACC

Jilaihawi, Hasan

Hasan Jilaihawi,
BSc (HONS), MD, MRCP (UK)

Session Chairs & Local Faculty

Dohad, Suhail

Suhail Dohad,
MD, FACC

Gupta, Aakriti

Aakriti Gupta,
MD, MSc

Kaul, Sanjay

Sanjay Kaul,
MD, MPH

Rader, Florian

Florian Rader, MD

Samuels, Bruce

Bruce Samuels, MD

Michael Shehata, Doctor, MD, cardiology

Michael Shehata, MD

Scroll To Top