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EDITORIAL
Message From the President
Volkmar Falk, MD
Dear Colleagues,
O
n behalf of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery
(ISMICS), it is my pleasure to invite you to our 18th Annual Meeting in Berlin, Germany,
3Y6 June 2015. This will be an opportunity to see some of the exciting new developments in
cardiac, vascular, and thoracic surgery. ISMICS, from its inception, has been committed to
presenting the latest innovations in our field. This meeting will be a forum for the direct exchange of the technology, techniques, and new ideas that are changing our specialty.
A renowned program committee, under the direction of Cardiac Chairs Dr. Tomislav
Mihaljevic of the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Hendrik Treede of the University Heart Center in
Hamburg, and Thoracic Chairs Dr. Richard Lazzaro of Lenox Hill Hospital and Dr. Jens
Ruckert from the Charite´ in Berlin, has put together an outstanding program of scientific
presentations, posters, and panel discussions. I am also delighted to announce that this year’s
program includes live surgery, which will be broadcasted from the Berlin Heart Center.
All presenters are expected to prepare manuscripts of their presentations for submission
to Innovations, our official journal, which is indexed in MEDLINE. Manuscripts submitted
in advance of the Berlin meeting are eligible for a cash prize ‘‘Best Manuscript’’ award. We
will also offer a prize for the best manuscript submitted within 60 days after the meeting ends.
We start on Wednesday with a full day Masters Day Program. There are a total of 6 cardiac
masters courses as well as a thoracic course track, and we again are offering a concurrent
simulation-based training program for the young surgeons track. All sessions feature expert
international faculty. Following on the success of last year’s masters courses, we again are
offering more time for interaction and discussion.
The welcome reception in the exhibition hall will be followed by what has become one
of our most popular course offerings, the Technical Challenges, Pitfalls and Disasters course
chaired by Drs. Mani Subramanian, Alex Zapolanski, and Ramchandra Reddy.
We commence our opening session on Thursday, 4 June, with concurrent cardiac and
thoracic tracks. Thursday also features our introduction of new members, the announcement of
the INNOVATIONS 2014 Manuscript Awards, and my presidential address. Our international
fellows and residents luncheon on Thursday will focus on the topic of ‘‘Trainees to Consultants.’’
Thursday evening concludes with another exhibit hall reception, and the first round of our interactive poster competition chaired by Dr. Stanbridge. Friday continues concurrent scientific
cardiac and thoracic tracks, as well as the Kit Arom Lecture, which will be given by ISMICS
past president, Professor Herman Reichenspurner of University Hospital Eppendorf, our keynote
address by Professor Wendelin Stark of the Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering in Zurich,
Switzerland, and our poster competition finals. The evening ends with our traditional offsite
attendee reception and partyVwith musical entertainment and collegial socializing.
As always, our industry partners will be offering a series of breakfast and luncheon
symposia on both Thursday and Friday. Please be sure to take advantage of these opportunities for a firsthand look at the latest innovations in the field.
On Saturday, we conclude our 2015 Annual Meeting with the thoracic track movie day
and rapid-fire cardiac abstract sessions.
On behalf of ISMICS, I give you my warmest welcome to Berlin for what will surely be an
experience you will remember! I wish you the fullest value for your professional endeavors and
the greatest appreciation of the beauty and charm of this great city.
Herzlich Willkommen
Volkmar Falk, MD
President
International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery
From the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, German Heartcenter Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Volkmar Falk, MD, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, German Heartcenter Berlin,
Augustenburger Platz 1,13353 Berlin, Germany. E-mail falk@dhzb.de.
Copyright * 2015 by the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery
ISSN: 1556-9845/15/102S-00S2
S2
Innovations & Volume 10, Number 2S, 2015