Saint Luke’s Researchers Again Take Center Stage at Global Cardiology Conference
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The American College of Cardiology Scientific Session is the nation’s most prestigious cardiovascular research conference. Each year the nation’s leading researchers gather to present the most impactful and groundbreaking clinical trial results and findings to a national and international audience of fellow cardiologists, scientists, and industry journalists.
Saint Luke’s is proud to once again lead the industry with an impressive 37 presentations at the virtual 70th Annual American College of Cardiology Scientific Session (ACC.21), an international conference with an anticipated registration of 50,000 cardiologists and researchers.
Each year, prior to the conference, researchers submit their most significant trials and findings, vying to be selected as one of a very select group of late-breaking clinical trial presentations. Two Saint Luke’s cardiologists and renowned researchers—Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod and Dr. John Spertus— have been selected to present their embargoed trial findings as a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial and Featured Clinical Research at the 2021 ACC Scientific Session.
“The American College of Cardiology Scientific Session is the most important cardiovascular conference in the country,” said Michael Main, MD, cardiologist, Interim CEO, Saint Luke’s Physicians Group and Medical Director of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. “If you have research that can change or improve patient care, you want the opportunity to share that research with as many of the nation’s leading cardiologists and journalists as possible. The late-breaking clinical trial presentations are the most anticipated portion of the conference. To have two of our researchers selected as part of that group sharing trial results that could reveal scientific breakthroughs and impact patient care is a distinct and significant accomplishment.”
Saint Luke’s Featured Research
- DARE-19: During a year unlike any other, Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, SLHS Vice President of Research and Executive Director of the Cardiometabolic Center Alliance, led an international randomized Phase III clinical trial called DARE-19—a partnership between Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca—studying whether a drug already showing great efficacy for patients with Type II diabetes and heart failure could impact disease progression and mortality for patients with COVID-19. Dr. Kosiborod will share more on DARE-19 as a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial and a Late-Breaker Deep Dive.
- EXPLORER-HCM: For decades, a genetic heart condition called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, which causes debilitating symptoms, has had few advances in treatment options. John Spertus, MD, MPH, cardiologist and Clinical Director of Health Outcomes Research will present in a Featured Clinical Trial detailed analysis on the EXPLORER-HCM trial results, which are based on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire he developed. The analysis will explore whether the drug Mavacamten has the potential to benefit patients with this condition.
Saint Luke’s researchers have had a history of prominence at the ACC Scientific Session in recent years, with late-breaking clinical trial presentations in 2015, 2017, and 2019.
The organization’s decades-long commitment to research, innovation, and improving bedside care is what continues to set Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute apart as one of the nation’s top 25 cardiovascular programs and an established leader in redefining cardiovascular care.
Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute
Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute is a member of Saint Luke’s Health System, which consists of 16 area hospitals and several primary and specialty care practices, and provides a range of inpatient, outpatient, and home care services. Founded as a faith-based, not-for-profit organization, our mission includes a commitment to the highest levels of excellence in health care and the advancement of medical research and education. The health system is an aligned organization in which the physicians and hospitals assume responsibility for enhancing the physical, mental, and spiritual health of people in the metropolitan Kansas City area and the surrounding region.
