Ottawa Heart Conference 2019: Big Data in Cardiovascular Disease

7th International Ottawa Heart Conference:  Big Data in Cardiovascular Disease

April 13, 2019 | National Arts Centre, Ottawa

We were pleased to bring the Ottawa Heart Conference(OHC) and Toronto Ottawa Heart Summit (TOHS) under one roof for a spectacular two-day program on April 12-13, 2019. The joint meeting was carefully designed to communicate the use of Big Data/AI in health and the exciting advances in management of cardiovascular disease.

The 7th Int'l Ottawa International Heart Conference:  Big Data in Cardiovascular Disease was co-chaired by Dr. Peter Liu, and Dr. Jodi Edwards. Planning Committee members represented the wide range of big data / AI experts in the region and included:  Drs. Han Kim (UOHI), Doug Manuel (OHRI), Ruth McPherson (UOHI), Wojtek Michalowski (uOttawa) as well as representatives from Research Services (conference secretariat). This meeting was supported by uOttawa and featured an opening session with Drs. Sylvain Charbonneau (VP Research, uOttawa) and Dr. Thierry Mesana (UOHI) addressing the interests of both institutions planning for the emergence of artificial intelligence in research activities. The opening lecture was presented by the globally recognized expert, Dr. Henry Lieberman (MIT). We were delighted to feature many distinguished speakers from across the globe as well as a visiting delegation of leading AI scientists from Taiwan and registrants learned of evolving technologies from these leading AI institutions. 

In its 22nd year, the TOHS featured top experts in all areas of cardiovascular medicine. High profile faculty included Dr. Mark Richards, MD, PhD (University of Otago, New Zealand) who opened the Summit with the plenary address "Global Differences in Cardiovascular Disease". In addition, UOHI presenters and/or session moderators included: Heather Tulloch, PhD, Peter Liu, MD, Derek So, MD, Sharon Chih, MBBS, PhD, David Messika-Zeitoun, MD, PhD, Mehrdad Golian, MD and David Birnie, MD. On April 13th, Dr. Thierry Mesana chaired a special session entitled Dr. Wilbert J. Keon Memorial Session: Valves.

Highlights from this meeting included a record number of 47 abstract submissions that translated into an engaging poster judging session at end of day one. Trainees of the five top ranked abstracts were featured in a special Rapid Fire Oral Presentation session on day 2. A Trainee Career Mentorship Luncheon was organized that enabled our next generation of researchers to sit elbow to elbow with top ranked cardiovascular and big data specialists.

Educational opportunities like this could not be possible without sponsorship support. We were fortunate to receive early support from uOttawa OVPR. With this momentum, the following pharma companies endorsed the joint program:  Bayer Canada, Boehringer Ingelheim/Lilly, Amgen, Akcea Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, AusculSciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi, and MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan).

Plans are already underway to organize the 8th Int’l Ottawa Heart Conference on April 30-May1, 2020.  Mark you calendars today!