LAS VEGAS, Sept. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The Heart Failure Society of America’s (HFSA) 18th Annual Scientific Meeting convenes on Sunday, September 14th, 2014 at the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. This four-day meeting—a forum for heart failure specialists to present research findings and advances in treatment—will address emerging trends in research and new developments in the approach to treating patients with all stages of heart failure.
The 2014 HFSA Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Dr. Gary Francis, M.D., Interim Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Francis has received numerous awards and has given 329 invited national and international lectures over his career at various medical schools and cardiology meetings. Dr. Francis has played a major leadership role in numerous clinical trials, and has served on 26 national and international data and safety monitoring boards. He has been published in more than 700 outlets, and has served on the Test Committee of the American Board of Internal Medicine Specialty in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation. His overarching scientific interest has been the neurohumoral axis and its role in the pathophysiology and treatment of heart failure. In addition, Dr. Francis is a past president of the Heart Failure Society of America, and has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiac Failure since 2010.
“Over the duration of his impressive career, Gary has made many significant contributions and has had a major impact on advancing research in the field of heart failure,” said Dr. Thomas Force, HFSA President. “We are thrilled to honor Dr. Gary Francis with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.”
The scientific program will begin with an opening plenary session: “The Challenge of Care Disparities in Heart Failure” on Monday, September 15th at 8:05 a.m.
Following the opening plenary will be simultaneous sessions with presentations by national and international heart failure experts, scientists, and allied health care professionals. Many presentations will focus on recent developments for treatments of heart failure and uncertainty risks patients may face along with challenges and controversies in heart failure.
“This year’s annual meeting will be very exciting as there are many new developments in the field of heart failure, the Late Breaking Clinical Trial sessions will be of particular interest that will be worth attending, “said Dr. Force. “The annual meeting will allow for experts in the field to join in conversation about the latest areas research and to discuss major topics of interest within the heart failure community.”
The Annual Scientific Meeting will include presentations on:
Contemporary Issues in Pulmonary Hypertension
Challenges in Caring for Elderly Patients with a VAD
Challenges of Care Disparities in Heart Failure
Late Breaking Clinical Trials
Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation
Heart Failure Clinical Trials
The Prevention of Heart Failure
For a complete list of annual meeting sessions or for details on attending the conference, call (617) 226-7193 or visit www.hfsa.org and click on Annual Scientific Meeting. There is also an app for the Annual Meeting available in the Apple Store by searching HFSA. There is no registration fee for accredited journalists. Interview areas will be available on-site in addition to a press room. You may follow news from the meeting on Twitter @HFSA and #HFSA.
About Heart Failure
Heart failure is a progressive condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened after it is injured, most commonly from heart attack or high blood pressure, and gradually loses its ability to pump enough blood to supply the body’s needs. Many people are not aware they have heart failure because the symptoms are often mistaken for signs of getting older. Heart failure affects 4.6 to 4.8 million individuals in the United States. Demographic and clinical evidence strongly suggests that the prevalence of heart failure will increase throughout the next decade. Ten to 15 years ago heart failure was considered a “death sentence;” however, recent advances in treatment have shown that early diagnosis and proper care in early stages of the condition are key to slowing, stopping or in some cases reversing progression, improving quality of life, and extending life expectancy. For more information on heart failure, please visit www.abouthf.org.
About the Heart Failure Society of America
The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) is a nonprofit educational organization, founded in 1994 as the first organized association of heart failure experts. The HFSA provides a forum for all those interested in heart function, heart failure research and patient care. The Society also serves as a resource for governmental agencies (FDA, NIH, NHLBI, CMS). The HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting is designed to highlight recent advances in the development of strategies to address the complex epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic issues of heart failure. Additional information on HFSA can be found at www.hfsa.org.
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