California Heart Center Foundation

The mission of the California Heart Center Foundation is to advance the field of cardiovascular medicine through clinical research initiatives and educational initiatives. Our efforts include the pursuit of collaborative research projects which promote a deeper understanding of disease progression and test the efficacy of new strategies for diagnosis and treatment. Areas of research currently being pursued include non-invasive methods to detect organ rejection, novel immunosuppressive agents, immune monitoring strategies, long-term complications such as cardiac allograft vasculopathy, (continued on schedule o)(continuation from form 990, page 2)novel methods for organ procurement and preservation, new mechanical circulatory support devices and pulmonary hypertension. The organization also supports important scientific symposia, which allow for the exchange of ideas among leaders in the field and provide a forum for experts to share their experience and knowledge with other practitioners. The organization resources are also leveraged to support a summer research internship program for undergraduate students with an interest in medicine and/or academic research. Following is a summary of projects and programs implemented in 2022: scientific forums and educational activities:* "consensus conference: the evolving use of biomarkers to personalize care in Heart transplantation" (virtual)endorsed by the american society of transplantation and organized and chaired by dr. kobashigawa, the consensus conference on the evolving use of biomarkers to personalize care in Heart transplantation was held virtually on january 27-28, 2022. Attended by 30 experts representing Heart transplant programs in all regions of the united states, the conference was designed to serve as a platform to further build consensus within the Heart transplant community regarding the optimal framework to implement biomarkers into management protocols and to improve biomarker development, validation and clinical utility. A white paper on the conference is currently pending publication in the american journal of transplantation. * "consensus conference on combined heart/liver transplantation" (virtual)endorsed by the american society of transplantation and organized and chaired by dr. kobashigawa, the consensus conference on combined heart/liver transplantation was held virtually on june 10th, 2022. Attended by 60 experts representing Heart transplant programs in all regions of the united states, conference was designed as a first step in developing needed guidelines for the interdisciplinary criteria for liver transplantation in the combined heart/liver transplant candidate, evaluating the current allocation of livers to follow the Heart for the heart/liver transplant recipient and recommending standardized care for the collaborative management of heart/liver transplant recipients. The conference was preceded by a series of monthly "expert work group" meetings with key thought leaders in both liver transplantation and Heart transplantation. The work group was tasked with identifying and elucidating important issues, including a review of current practices, a discussion of relevant published research and outlining recommendations for community discussion. Their work informed the virtual consensus conference which was open to the broader community. A white paper on the conference is currently being drafted for publication. * success with failure: beyond the basics - lectures series (virtual)planned as three 90-minute lunch-time forums during the month of february 2022, this virtual program featured presentations on topics related to the diagnosis and treatment of Heart failure, transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support using a case-based format and allowing for generous q&a time. Sessions had an average of 120 participants. * "thomas d. gordon visiting professor in advanced Heart disease"this annual visiting professorship has continued to be sponsored and organized by dr. kobashigawa. This year we had the honor of hosting dr. john wallwork, renowned cardiothoracic surgeon and chairman of the royal papworth hospital in the united kingdom. This visit, held october 10th-11th, 2022, included a grand rounds lecture, one to one faculty meetings and a fellows' professional development discussion. Dr. wallwork's lecture on "pigs might fly! History of xenotransplantation" was extremely well received. * summer research internships: under the supervision and mentorship of dr. jon kobashigawa, summer Heart transplant research internships have been offered to students for the summer of 2022. These internships provide students at all levels of training an opportunity to learn the clinical research process, including medical literature review, study design, chart review/data collection, data analysis, and abstract development and submission. Completed abstracts were submitted to the american federation of medical research, a forum for junior investigators. This year's group includes students from:central Michigan university, college of medicinepomona college, claremontuniversity of California, los angelesuniversity of California, riversideuniversity of chicagouniversity of Hawaii school of medicineuniversity of wisconsinwesleyan university* Heart transplant journal clubsjournal clubs continue to be held in a virtual format and have maintained strong participation, with an average attendance of 25 people at each session. The following session(s) have been implemented or scheduled: may 21st, 2022 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm "prevalence and cumulative risk of familial idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy" presenter: dr. hilary shapiro september 29th, 2022 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm "dapagliflozin in Heart failure with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction" presenter: dr. maxine stachel, md clinical research:this section is formatted by category; study name; principal investigator (pi).