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Heart and Vascular Institute

Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute’s 2025 Annual Symposium Agenda

At this year’s symposium, we will be offering two different tracks, a general cardiology and a cardiovascular specialty session.

The general cardiology track will discuss the most cutting-edge development and advancements in cardiovascular management and treatment. Content will focus on diagnosis, treatment and management of cardiovascular diseases.

Primary Target:
Internal medicine, family physician and healthcare providers

Secondary Target:
Cardiovascular specialists, advanced practitioners and specialty providers

The specialty track will focus on higher acuity management of our Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute's patients to include heart failure, vascular surgery, cardiovascular surgery and structural heart programs.

Primary Target: 
Cardiovascular specialists, advanced practitioners and specialty providers

Secondary Target:
Internal medicine, family physician and healthcare providers

*Session topics are subject to change.

Course Director: Aurelio Duran, MD

Start Time End Time Session Focus Area Speaker
7:00 AM 7:45 AM REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST
7:45 AM 8:00 AM Welcome Aurelio Duran, MD and Anthony Rongione, MD
8:00 AM 8:10 AM Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute Update Vijaykumar Kasi, MD, PhD, President, Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute and Andy Shunk, Assistant Vice President, Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute
8:10 AM 8:30 AM Keynote Speaker Erick Hawkins, Chief Administrative Officer, Orlando Health
8:30 AM 8:35 AM BREAK/EXHIBITS
8:35 AM 8:50 AM General Cardiology Session Is That an Elephant or an Ant on the Chest? – Acute Coronary Syndromes Srinivas Prasad, MD
8:50 AM 9:05 AM Cleared But at What Risk? Cardiovascular Risk Factor Stratification and Clearance Christina Dudley, MMSc, PA-C
9:05 AM 9:20 AM Lipids – What is Floating in 2024–2025? Therapies and Guidelines George Ghareeb, DO
9:20 AM 9:35 AM Can We Do Better with Hypertension Management? Closer Look at Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring and Renal Denervation Farhan Khawaja, MD
9:35 AM 9:50 AM Fighting the Diabetes Epidemic – Will New Medications Help the Heart Win? Sindhu Jacob, MD
9:50 AM 10:05 AM Exercise for Cardiovascular Health: Natural Prevention Wesley Romney, MD
10:05 AM 10:20 AM Panel Discussion Moderators: Valerie Izarnotegui, MD and Laith Al-Balbissi, MD
10:20 AM 10:40 AM BREAK/EXHIBITS
10:40 AM 10:55 AM Vascular and Imaging Session Twisted, Leaky and Swollen – Know Your Veins Dwayne Badgett, MD
10:55 AM 11:10 AM What's New, What's Hot, What's Not in Arterial Endovascular Therapies Jan Skowronski, MD
11:10 AM 11:25 AM There is New Information in Your Echo Report – Understanding Strain and 3D Image Interpretation Jonathan Rodriguez-Ortiz, MD
11:25 AM 11:40 PM Do the Stars Predict a Blockage? Nuclear Stress Testing, PET, CTA and Nuances of the Calcium Score Saji Jacob, MD
11:40 PM 11:55 PM A Peek Into the Heart From The Outside – Advancements in Cardiac MRI and CT Allan Chen, MD
11:55 PM 12:10 PM Panel Discussion Moderators: Caitlin Merrin, DO and Punita Kaveti, MD
12:10 PM 12:50 PM LUNCH/EXHIBITS
12:50 PM 1:05 PM Electrophysiology and Pulmonary Session ECG Jeopardy – Make it Cash Javier Acevedo, MD
1:05 PM 1:20 PM The Lights Are Out – Syncope and Sudden Cardiac Death Stephen Watts, MD
1:20 PM 1:35 PM Atrial Fibrillation Prevention and Management – Role of Antiarrhythmics and Anticoagulants Daniel Masvidal, MD
1:35 PM 1:50 PM Putting the Electricity back into Electrophysiology – Pulse Field Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Luis Garcia, MD
1:50 PM 2:05 PM Breathing to Live: Sleep Disorders and Pulmonary Hypertension Roberto Swazo, MD
2:05 PM 2:20 PM Remembering the Pandemic and Its Sequelae – CV Impact of Covid, Long Covid and Vaccines Alxander Johnson, MD
2:20 PM 2:35 PM Panel Discussion Moderators: Daniel Nguyen, MD and Prakash Goutham, MD and David Lew, MD
2:35 PM 2:50 PM BREAK/EXHIBITS
2:50 PM 3:10 PM Debates and Controversies Session To Open or Not to Open: CABG vs PCI Sandeep Gupta, MD and Stephen Bakir, MD
3:10 PM 3:30 PM Managing Bicuspid Aortic Stenosis and Aortic Insufficiency: TAVR vs SAVR Edward Ferguson, MD
3:40 PM 4:00 PM An Equivocal Stress Test: Cath vs CT Angiography Prakrut Patel, MD and S. Imran Zaidi, MD
3:50 PM 4:10 PM In or Out: Role of Aspirin, Beta Blockers, Vitamins and Health Supplements Tywaun Tillman, MD and Salvador Lanza, MD
4:10 PM 4:30 PM To Play or Sit Out: Sports Cardiology Patrick Chang, MD and George Eldayrie, MD
4:30 PM 4:50 PM Panel Discussion Moderators: Kamran Akram, MD and Saji Jacob, MD
4:50 PM 5:00 PM Closing Remarks Jamal Hakim, MD, Chief Physician Officer, Orlando Health
5:00 PM 6:00 PM COCKTAIL HOUR
6:00 PM 7:00 PM EXHIBITS/DINNER AND SOCIALIZING
Course Director: Anthony Rongione, MD

Start Time End Time Session Focus Area Speaker
7:00 AM 7:45 AM REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST
7:45 AM 8:00 AM Welcome Course Directors: Aurelio Duran, MD and Anthony Rongione, MD
8:00 AM 8:10 AM Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute Update Vijaykumar Kasi, MD, PhD, President, Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute and Andy Shunk, Assistant Vice President, Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute
8:10 AM 8:30 AM Keynote Speaker Erick Hawkins, Chief Administrative Officer, Orlando Health
8:30 AM 8:35 AM BREAK/EXHIBITS
8:35 AM 8:50 AM Advanced Heart Failure Session Heart Failure Basics and Fluid Management (GDMT, Palliative Care and Remote Monitoring) Shahid Qamar, MD
8:50 AM 9:05 AM Don't Get Shocked by Cardiogenic Shock – Know the Management Pathways Yahaira Ortiz, MD
9:05 AM 9:20 AM What Has Infiltrated the Heart? Amyloid, Sarcoid, HOCM and the Cardiomyopathies Jesal Popat, MD
9:20 AM 9:35 AM Taking Care of Mother and Baby – MFM and Cardio Obstetrics Krithika Krishnarao, DO
9:35 AM 9:50 AM Growing Up with Congenital Heart Disease David Briston, MD
9:50 AM 10:05 AM Fighting Cancer and Protecting the Heart – Cardio Oncology Bhavana Bangalore, MD
10:05 AM 10:20 AM Panel Discussion Moderators: Jacqueline Dowe, MD and Patrick Fisher, DO
10:20 AM 10:40 AM BREAK/EXHIBITS
10:40 AM 10:55 AM Surgery – CV and Vascular Session When The Pump Fails – Time for a New Motor – Mechanical Circulatory Support Anthony Rongione, MD
10:55 AM 11:10 AM Atrial Fibrillation Treatment – Surgical and Hybrid Strategies Karen Walker, MD
11:10 AM 11:25 AM Nature Gave the Aorta Bifurcations – Resolving Frustrations Through Fenestrations Aleem Mirza, MD
11:25 AM 11:40 PM When East Meets West – AV Fistulas and Dialysis Access Jacqueline Babb, MD
11:40 PM 11:55 PM Plaque in the Carotid Artery Can Mean Trouble in the Brain - Carotid Stenting and Endarterectomy Mohammad Abbasi, MD
11:55 PM 12:10 PM Panel Discussion Moderators: Hazem El- Arousy, MD and Robert Winter, MD
12:10 PM 12:50 PM LUNCH/EXHIBITS
12:50 PM 1:05 PM Interventional and Structural Cardiology Session Mitral Flow Backwards – When to Clip the Leaky Valve Deepak Vivek, MD
1:05 PM 1:20 PM Tricuspid Valve is Not a Bystander – Significance of Repair Joel Garcia, MD
1:20 PM 1:35 PM Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation – Is the Heart to Blame? Closing the LAA Aurelio Duran, MD
1:35 PM 1:50 PM Clots Can Sneak Through Holes in the Heart – Should You Close That PFO? John Sullebarger, MD
1:50 PM 2:05 PM When Clots Move Up to the Lung – Do We Lyse or Aspirate? Imran Farooq, MD
2:05 PM 2:20 PM Hear on a Helix: The Twists and Turns of Cardiovascular Disease Aditi Dagli, MD
2:20 PM 2:35 PM Panel Discussion Moderators: Kiran Mogali, MD and Neeraj Bajaj, MD
2:35 PM 2:50 PM BREAK/EXHIBITS
2:50 PM 3:10 PM Hot Topics Session Top 5 CV Clinical Trials of 2024–2025 Jean Gonzalez, MD and Ricardo Villasmil, MD
3:10 PM 3:30 PM Top 5 CV Technologies of 2024–2025 Shivangi Patel, MD and Sandip Patel, MD
3:30 PM 3:50 PM Impact of AI on Cardiology – Introducing Cyberdoc MD Mohamed Elshazly, MD
3:50 PM 4:10 PM Obesity and Cardiometabolic Syndrome – Will Weight Loss Drugs Win a Nobel? Vijaykumar Kasi, MD, PhD
4:10 PM 4:30 PM CV Quality, Rehab and Value-Based Care Update – Patient-Centric Medicine Calvin Leung, MD
4:30 PM 4:50 PM Panel Discussion Moderators: Vishesh Kumar, MD and Jan Skowronski, MD
4:50 PM 5:00 PM Closing Remarks Jamal Hakim, MD, Chief Physician Officer, Orlando Health
5:00 PM 6:00 PM COCKTAIL HOUR
6:00 PM 7:00 PM EXHIBITS/DINNER AND SOCIALIZING
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