ISHLT: The International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation

Boards & Committees - Board of Directors

2011-2012 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ABOUT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The ISHLT Board of Directors is comprised of 15 individuals: the four Officers (Past President, President, President-Elect, and Secretary-Treasurer) and eleven Directors, reflecting the geographic and disciplinary constituencies of the Society. The Editor of the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantion, the Medical Director of the Registry, the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Chair, the Chair of the Development Committee, and the Executive Director serve as ex-officio, non-voting members of the Board.
April 2011 ISHLT Board of Directors Meeting Minutes PDF		Call for Nominations The ISHLT is seeking nominations for four (4) Director positions and the position of President-Elect. Please read the Letter from John Dark, Immediate Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee, for more information. Nomination Form PDF Version or Word Version Deadline for nominations: February 13, 2012
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
	Lori J. West, MD, DPhil (2013) PRESIDENT University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA 780-492-3200 ljwest@ualberta.ca	Dr. Lori West is the Director of Heart Transplantation Research and a Professor of Pediatrics, Surgery and Immunology at the University of Alberta - one of the largest heart transplant programs in the world. Dr. West completed her pediatric residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She trained in pediatric cardiology at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and subsequently in pediatric transplant cardiology at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center and Columbia-Presbyterian Children's Hospital. She obtained her PhD for specialized training in transplant immunology research at Oxford University and works in the role of a clinician-scientist.
	David O. Taylor, MD (2014) PRESIDENT-ELECT Cleveland Clinic Foundation Cleveland, Ohio, USA 216-444-2492 taylord2@ccf.org	Dr. Taylor is Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Taylor is the Director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship Program at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Taylor completed his Internal Medicine residency, Cardiology fellowship, and Heart Failure/Transplant fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. He remained on staff at MCV for one year prior to joining the U.T.A.H Cardiac Transplant Program in Salt Lake City in 1991. He moved to Cleveland Clinic in 2001.
	John Dark, MB, FRCS (2012) PAST-PRESIDENT Freeman Hospital Newcastle, UNITED KINGDOM 44-191-223-1450 j.h.dark@ncl.ac.uk	Dr. John Dark is Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Newcastle University and Freeman Hospital. He was an original member of the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority (UKXIRA), serves on the Ethics Committee and Council of the British Transplant Society.
	Duane Davis, MD (2013) SECRETARY TREASURER Duke University Medical Center Durham, North Carolina, USA 919-681-4760 davis053@mc.duke.edu	Dr. Duane Davis is the Director of Transplantation at the Duke University Medical Center and is Professor of Surgery at the Duke University School of Medicine. He also is the Surgical Director of Thoracic Transplantation - one of the largest heart and lung transplant programs in the world. Dr. Davis received his MD from the UCLA School of Medicine. He completed his general and cardiac surgery residencies at Duke University and additional training in lung transplantation at Barnes-Jewish/ Washington University. He received additional training and mentoring in transplant immunology research under Jeffrey Platt. He has an active role as a physician-scientist and a leadership role at Duke University.
DIRECTORS
	Raymond L. Benza, MD (2013) DIRECTOR Allegheny General Hospital Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA 412-359-3584 rbenza@wpahs.org	Dr. Raymond L. Benza is a Professor of Medicine at Temple University College of Medicine and Program Director for the Advanced Heart Failure, Transplantation, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Pulmonary Vascular Diseases group of the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at the West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh, PA. His primary clinical interests are in the evaluation and treatment of advanced congestive heart failure, cardiac transplantation, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Dr. Benza graduated cum laude from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, received his medical degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He performed his internship and residency at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and served as the Chief Cardiology Fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, later serving as a faculty member there until 2008. He currently is the James Magovern Chair of Cardiovascular Research at the Allegheny West Penn Health System in Pittsburgh, PA, and serves as the Director of the Allegheny Heart Institute.
	Susan M. Chernenko, RN, MN, NP (2012) DIRECTOR Toronto General Hospital Toronto, Ontario, CANADA 416-340-4800 x 6574 susan.chernenko@uhn.on.ca	Susan Chernenko is a Nurse Practitioner with the Toronto Lung Transplant Program. She has been in clinical practice since 2002 following completion of a Masters degree in Advanced Nursing Practice from the University of Alberta. She currently holds a position of Clinical Practice Leader/Program Development within the Toronto Lung Transplant Program. Susan partners with medical, surgical and multidisciplinary colleagues in the management of patients with end-stage lung disease through their trajectory of illness towards and following lung transplantation. Susan has been appointed to various leadership positions locally, nationally and internationally and has lectured frequently on key issues pertaining to lung transplantation. She currently holds cross appointment as adjunct lecturer with the Lawrence S Bloomberg, Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto.
	Maria G. Crespo-Leiro, MD (2013) DIRECTOR Hospital Universitario A Coruña La Coruña, SPAIN 34-981-178-304 Marisa.Crespo.Leiro@sergas.es	Maria G (Marisa) Crespo-Leiro, MD, PhD, FESC, is the Medical Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Transplant Unit at the Hospital Universitario A Coruña, La Coruña, Spain. She obtained her MD degree at the University of Santiago de Compostela, her specialization in cardiology at Clinica Puerta de Hierro in Madrid and her PhD from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Since 1993 she has been working in the Heart Division at the Hospital Universitario A Coruña (formerly the Hospital Universitario Juan Canalejo) in La Coruña, where she is also Associate Professor of Medicine. Her main fields of research interest are heart failure and heart transplantation.
	James F. George, PhD (2013) DIRECTOR Univ of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama, USA 205-934-4261 jgeorge@uab.edu	Dr. James George, a Professor of Surgery, Medicine, and Microbiology, is the Director of the Transplantation Immunobiology Laboratory and Co-Director of Clinical Research in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. George completed his post-doctoral training in immunology with Dr. Max D. Cooper and Harry W. Schroeder at UAB after receiving a PhD in immunology from the University of Cincinnati.
	Allan R. Glanville, MBBS, MD, FRACP (2012) DIRECTOR St. Vincent's Hospital Sydney, AUSTRALIA 61-2-8382-3257 aglanville@stvincents.com.au	Professor Glanville trained in Sydney, Brompton Hospital, London and Stanford University, California. Currently working as a specialist in Lung Transplantation at St. Vincent's Hospital Sydney, he is actively involved with international trials into new immunosuppressive and anti-viral agents. He is Global Principal Investigator for the European and Australian Investigators in Lung Transplantation CeMyLungs trial, and sits on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He has authored over 140 publications including approaches to antibody mediated rejection, bronchoscopic surveillance, RSV, CMV, Chlamydia and mycobacteria. He is the senior author of the International Guidelines for Lung Transplantation, foundation director of Outcomes Australia and a foundation member of ShareLife Australia.
	Richard Kirk, MA FRCP FRCPCH (2014) DIRECTOR Freeman Hospital Newcastle, UNITED KINGDOM 44-191-213-7499 richard.kirk@nuth.nhs.uk	Dr. Richard Kirk trained at Christ's College, Cambridge University and Guy's Hospital graduating in 1979. His general paediatric training was principally undertaken in Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Alder Hey Children's Hospital (the largest children's hospital in Europe). His specialist training in Paediatric Cardiology was undertaken at Harefield Hospital and Freeman Hospital in the UK, Boston Children's Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco in the USA and the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne in Australia. Following his training, he was appointed consultant to the University Hospital of Wales and established the Paediatric and Fetal Cardiac Service for South Wales which achieved UK recognition as a centre of excellence. In 2001 he moved to Singapore and was Head of the Department of Paediatric Cardiology at the National University Hospital. In 2004 he returned to the UK and currently works in the Department of Paediatric Cardiothoracic Services at the Freeman Hospital.
	Patricia A. Uber, PharmD (2013) DIRECTOR University of Maryland Baltimore, Maryland, USA 410-328-3140 puber@medicine.umaryland.edu	Dr. Patricia Uber is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She regularly serves on the scientific program committees for the Heart Failure Society of America as well as the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. She has authored over 100 publications, including peer-reviewed original research papers, investigating new immunosuppressant regimens in heart transplantation, genetic approaches to personalized medicine, health care disparities in African-American heart transplant recipients and biomarkers in obese patients with heart failure.
	J. David Vega, MD (2012) DIRECTOR Emory Clinic Atlanta, Georgia, USA 404-778-5289 david.vega@emory.edu	Dr. J. David Vega is the Director of Heart Transplantation/Mechanical Circulatory Support at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Vega completed his general surgery training at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, TX. He spent two years as a clinical research fellow at the Texas Heart Institute and then completed his cardiothoracic surgical training at the Texas Heart Institute. He completed a one year fellowship in cardiopulmonary transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is currently Professor of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine.
	Geert M. Verleden, MD, PhD (2013) DIRECTOR University Hospital Gasthuisberg Leuven, BELGIUM 32-16-34-68-09 geert.verleden@uzleuven.be	G.M. Verleden obtained his MD degree in 1983 and his PhD in 1993, after being trained in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and intensive care medicine. He is currently full professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium. He is the medical director of the Leuven Lung Transplant programme, which was initiated in 1991. His research interests are primarily in the area of inflammation of the airways with particular interest in the role of the airway smooth muscle and the neutrophils in chronic rejection after lung transplantation and the potential role of neo-macrolides to treat this condition.
	Florian M. Wagner, MD (2012) DIRECTOR University Heart Center Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg, GERMANY 49-40-74105-8949 fl.wagner@uke.de	Bio coming soon...
	George M. Wieselthaler, MD (2014) DIRECTOR Univ of California San Francisco San Francisco, California, USA 415-353-9028 georg.wieselthaler@ucsfmedctr.org	Bio coming soon...
Ex-Officio Board Members
	Mandeep R. Mehra, MD MBBS FACC FACP Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Executive Director, Center for Advanced Heart Disease, Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, Massachusetts, USA 617-732-8534 mmehra@partners.org	Dr. Mehra, an internationally recognized cardiologist with expertise in the treatment of heart failure and heart muscle damage, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory devices, is professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Heart Disease at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA (USA). He obtained his cardiovascular training at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, where he sub-specialized in the field of advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation. He is board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases. His specific research interests in cardiac transplantation focus on post-transplant coronary arterial disease, new immunosuppressive therapy to improve heart transplant outcomes, and bringing genomic and proteomic science (the study of protein interactions in the body) to the bedside. In the field of heart failure, his research has focused on the role of new devices and novel serum markers to guide diagnosis and therapy.
	Marshall I. Hertz, MD Thoracic Registry Medical Director University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA 612-624-0999 hertz001@umn.edu	Marshall Hertz, MD, is a Professor of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Hertz received his BS and MD degrees from the University of Michigan. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He has been on the faculty at the University of Minnesota since 1984. Dr. Hertz is currently Director of the University of Minnesota Center for Lung Science and Health, and has served as Medical Director of the Lung Transplant program since its inception in 1986. He is also Medical Director of the ISHLT Thoracic Transplant Registry. Dr. Hertz has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, and other publications - almost all of which have been in the field of lung transplantation. His research interests have focused on understanding, detecting, preventing, and treating chronic lung allograft dysfunction.
	Stuart C. Sweet, MD, PhD 2012 Scientific Program Chair St. Louis Children's Hospital St. Louis, Missouri, USA 314-454-2694 sweet@kids.wustl.edu	Stuart Sweet, MD, is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University and Medical Director of the Pediatric Lung Transplant Program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. He received graduate and medical degrees at the University of Michigan and post-graduate training at Washington University. His current research focuses on lung disease in children and improved understanding of the important factors determining outcome after lung transplantation. He is currently leading an NIH funded multicenter collaborative study of the role viral infections play in pediatric lung transplant. Dr. Sweet has active interests in organ allocation (he is currently Chair of the OPTN/UNOS Policy Oversight Committee) and the use of information technology in medicine (he is chair of the Electronic Health Records committee at St. Louis Children's Hospital).
	Heather J. Ross, MD, MHSc, FRCP(c) Development Committee Chair Toronto General Hospital Toronto, Ontario, CANADA 416-340-3482 heather.ross@uhn.ca	Dr. Heather Ross is the Director of Heart Failure and Transplantation, Deputy Director for the MultiOrgan Transplant Program, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Ross completed her Internal Medicine residency at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She trained in cardiology at Dalhousie, Nova Scotia, Canada, and subsequently in cardiac transplant at Stanford University, Palo Alto California. She completed her Masters in Bioethics at the University of Toronto.
	Amanda Rowe Executive Director ISHLT 14673 Midway Rd., Suite 200 Addison, Texas, 75001 972-490-9495 amanda.rowe@ishlt.org	Bio coming soon...
Members of the ISHLT Board of Directors convened in April 2011 at the Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. Standing L to R: Florian Wagner, Susan Chernenko, Mandeep Mehra, Jayan Parameshwar (outgoing), George Wieselthaler, John Dark, Allan Glanville, Lori West, Duane Davis, David Taylor, Ray Benza, Richard Kirk, Amanda Rowe. Sitting L to R: Jim Kirklin, Marshall Hertz, Heather Ross, Geert Verleden, Marisa Crespo-Leiro, Stuart Sweet, Jim George, Patty Uber, and David Vega.