Chris Landon joined Philips in May, 2019 as the Business Leader for Image Guided Therapy Devices (IGTD), the global medical device franchise of the Philips Image Guided Therapy business. Chris brings over 25 years of leadership experience spanning Medical Devices and Management Consulting and is responsible for the overall leadership of the business which serves the interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery and electrophysiology markets.

With a focus on innovation, market development, financial stewardship and patient outcomes, Chris’ most critical objective is to scale IGTD into a business that serves patients and the physicians who treat them by building off the strengths that Philips enjoys in the worlds of Medical Technology, Diagnostics and Imaging, and Healthcare Informatics.

Prior to Philips, Chris spent 16 years in the Medical Devices industry through various developmental and leadership roles at Medtronic, the world’s largest pure-play Medical Devices manufacturer. In his most recent assignment, Chris served as the Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic’s Cardiac Diagnostics division. With an unwavering commitment to sustaining investment in innovation, clinical evidence and market development, the size of the business doubled under his stewardship.

In addition to his general management roles, Chris has served in a variety of positions advancing the interests of the medical technology field and the patients they support. He is currently holds a Director position with Medical Alley where he serves as the Secretary for the Executive Committee. In addition, he served five years on the Executive Leadership Committee for the American Heart Association Twin Cities Heart Walk. Before entering the Medical Devices business, Chris spent nearly seven years in Management Consulting working primarily with Fortune 500 companies in the financial services and high technology sectors. He holds an MBA from the prestigious International Institute of Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and a BA in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Ernest Spitzer is the CEO and medical director at Cardialysis, Dutch-based, quality-oriented, independent Imaging Core Laboratory and cardiology-focused Contract Research Organization. Dr Spitzer is a cardiologist passionate about innovation and clinical trials, and is Board Member at the Academic Research Consortium (ARC), the European Cardiovascular Research Institute (ECRI), and the EU-MDR Cardiovascular Collaboratory (EU-MCVC). He has contributed 80+ articles in peer-reviewed journals and currently participates in multiple European clinical trials as executive committee member.

Friedhelm Beyersdorf received his medical degree at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1981. His work was driven by a research stay at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, where he worked with Gerald Buckberg on crucial work on blood cardioplegia of the heart, which is now the standard cardioplegia at most cardiac surgery centres. He was appointed full professor at the Clinical Centre of the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany in 1994 for cardiovascular surgery, and he was the Chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital in Freiburg from 1994‒2022. He has been a member of the Council of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS) since 2002. Between 2009 and 2011 Friedhelm was President of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (DGTHG). In 2013, he was appointed “Membre correspondant étranger de l’Académie nationale de Médecine”. In 2000, he was awarded the title of Professor honoris causa by the University of Marilia (Brazil) and in 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the National University of Laos (Ventiane). Prof Beyersdorf holds more than 700 publications and patents.

Ian Meredith has over 25 years of experience as a clinical and interventional cardiologist, most recently as a director of Monash Heart and Monash Health and as executive director of the Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. He also has experience in the medtech sector, having served as global chief medical officer of Boston Scientific 2016–2023.

Professor Meredith has been a member of the Board of the National Heart Foundation (Australia) and a member of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand National Board. Professor Meredith received a PhD from the Baker Institute in Melbourne and an Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division for service to medicine in the field of Cardiology as a clinician and researcher. In 2019, Professor Meredith received a Doctor Laws honoris causa from Monash University for distinguished and exceptional service to the field of medicine and healthcare.

Indra Mackevica serves as the Marketing Director for the Medtronic Structural Heart business unit for Western Europe and brings a decade of experience in the medical device marketing field. She currently oversees marketing strategy for the TAVI and Congenital TPV product portfolios that are market-leaders in multiple European countries. Before joining medical device industry, Indra spent nine years at world-leading consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, where she served in various marketing and brand-building roles across different geographies. This diverse experience has equipped her with a deep understanding of consumer behaviour and brand management. Indra's passion lies in driving innovation, building strong brands, nurturing talent, and contributing to product advancements that enhance healthcare. This commitment is reflected in her thoughtful and strategic marketing efforts, aimed at making a positive impact in the lives of patients and supporting healthcare professionals in their critical work.

Michael Reardon is the professor of cardiovascular surgery at the Academic Institute Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center (Houston, USA), and is known for his ground breaking contributions in the treatment of cardiac tumour surgery, as well as pioneering work in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), which includes involvement in the CoreValve, SURTAVI, Reprise III TAVR and Evolut Low Risk trials. Reardon attended the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), where he was trained by two giants in the field of cardiovascular surgery, Michael DeBakey and Denton Coo-ley, later becoming the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the same institution.

Dr. Mirvat Alasnag first female interventional cardiologist in the Gulf region. She is current-ly the Director of the Catheterization Laboratory & Deputy Head of the Adult Car-diology Division at King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia. She has represented women in multiple committees and boards including the Saudi Ara-bian Cardiac lnterventional Society (SACIS), Saudi Commission for Health Specialties Verification Committee (SCFHS), Saudi National Health Council (Saudi CDC) and the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties Cardiology Fellowship Committee (SCFHS). Internationally, she serves on steering committees and boards of numerous international societies including the American College of Cardiology's lnterventional Leadership Council (ACCIC), Society of Cardiovascular Angiograhy & Interventions (SCAI), ACC Women in Cardiology Working Group chair and the EAPCI Women s Steering Committee and Asian Pacific Society of lnterventional Cardiology (APSIC). Dr. Alasnag is currently the Editor in Chief of Current Cardiovascular Imaging Re-ports, an Associate Editor for the Open Heart, Cardiovascular Revascularization Med-icine Journals and PCROnline. She is an Editor for Circulation: Cardiovascular Inter-ventions, Journal of Society of Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (JSCAI), Radcliffe Cardiology. Dr. Alasnag is an author and reviewer of several expert opinion and society state-ments locally and internationally including the Saudi Lipid Management Guideline. Internationally, she served as a reviewer for several ACC guideline and statements in-cluding: • 2020 ACC Clinical Competencies for Nurse Practitioners and Physician As-sistants in Adult Cardiovascular Medicine. A Report of the ACC Competency Management Committee. • 2018 AHA/ACC/AACVPR/AAPA/ABC/ACPM/ADA/AGS/APhA/ASPC/NLA/PCNA Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol. A Report of the Ameri-can College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines • 2017 ACC/AHA/HFSA/I SHLT/ACP Advanced Training Statement on Ad-vanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology (Revision of the ACCF/AHA/ACP/HFSA/I SHLT 2010 Clinical Competence Statement on Management of Patients With Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant} She led the first TAVR and MTEER registries in the Gulf regions which were published & presented including sub-analyses reporting outcomes in women.

Nigel Job is the CEO of Remtec Talent Management Ltd, a specialised HR consultancy service to the life science sector. Nigel started his career in diagnostics and then moved into the cardiovascular field within Medtronic, specialising in Implantable Defibrillators/ICDs where he was part of a small European team that worked on the early commercialisation of ICDs in UK and Europe. During this time Nigel supported the first pectoral implant of an ICD in Europe and also the implant of an ICD into the youngest patient outside the USA. This initiated a lifelong fascination with cardiovascular medical devices and although his career moved him into a focus in HR and leadership, he maintained his networks in the cardiovascular markets through advising numerous companies in the field and set up the Cardiovascular Medical Device Group on LinkedIn that now has 67000 members worldwide.

Dr. Peyman Sardari Nia, MD, PhD, serves as a Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, with a specialized focus on minimally invasive cardiothoracic procedures. He spearheads the Mitral Valve Program in Maastricht, positioning the center at the forefront of innovative surgical techniques. A pioneer in his field, Dr. Sardari Nia has significantly contributed to surgical simulation, 3D printing, and endoscopic mitral valve repair training. He received the esteemed EACTS Techno-College Innovation Award in 2014 for inventing a high-fidelity endoscopic mitral valve surgery simulator. Beyond his clinical and academic contributions, Dr. Sardari Nia is the founder and course director for the EACTS programs focused on minimally invasive adult cardiac surgery and endoscopic mitral valve repair. Since 2011, he has directed over 80 international courses, training more than 900 surgeons worldwide in advanced cardiothoracic procedures. Currently, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of ICVTS, one of the flagship journals of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS). In addition, he is the CEO of Simurghy, a tech-health startup devoted to surgical innovation. His most recent initiative is the establishment of the Heart Team Academy, a global organization aiming to foster multi- and interdisciplinary collaborations in the field of cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Sardari Nia leads this groundbreaking venture as its Chairman and CEO.

Ruggero De Paulis is the Director of the Cardiac Surgery Department of the European Hospital in Rome, a position he has held since 2006. After graduating from the University of L’Aquila and completing his residency at the University of Torino, he spent two years in the Artificial Heart Programme at the University of Utah, and then two years as staff surgeon at the VI and XII University of Paris. Since then, he has been working in Rome, at the University of Tor Vergata, where he was appointed Associate Professor in 2002. In 2006 he became the Director at the Cardiac Surgery Department of the European Hospital in Rome. In 2018 he has been appointed Associate Professor at the Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbiterian Hospital. In 2020 he has been appointed at the Unicamillus Medical International University in Rome. His main interest is in aortic and mitral repair surgery and he is the designer of the “Valsalva” graft, currently used in most aortic root surgeries and the co-designer of the new “Physioflex” ring for mitral repair. He is currently serving as Associate Editor of the ICVTS. He has been EACTS Chairman of the Vascular Domain from 2014 to 2017. He has served as EACTS President in the period 2018-2019. He is currently the Chairman of the Francis Fontan Fund at the EACTS. He has authored more than 250 scientific articles in peer reviewed journals.

Wil was appointed Executive Director of Heart Valve Voice on the 1st January 2016. Since his appointment, Wil has worked tirelessly with patients, clinicians and policymakers to raise awareness of heart valve disease, and improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of the condition. In his 6 years as Executive Director he has grown the charity’s influence and reach, forming an Advisory Group made of the heads of the UK’s major cardiovascular Professional Societies and providing the Secretariat for the APPG for Heart Valve Disease. Wil was a founding member San former Chair of Global Heart Hub’s Valve Council, supporting international organisations in developing their strategies, and he was instrumental in launching the first global Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week campaign, which is now supported by over 40 organisations around the world. Wil is an experienced public speaker, speaking at major Conferences, in Parliament for the APPG for heart valve disease, as well as providing the patient voice for UK Cardiac Networks, MTG, ABHI and World Heart Federation.