Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Cardiology was launched in 1985. It is part of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of cardiology is divided into 14 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Section Editors for this issue. Section Editors Alan BravermanAlan BravermanDr Braverman is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, School of Medicine, USA. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA and Harvard Medical School, USA and served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr Braverman also completed cardiology fellowship training at Brigham and Women's Hospital. In 1991, Dr Braverman joined the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA where he is currently the Alumni Endowed Professor in Cardiovascular Diseases and Professor of Medicine. Dr Braverman is actively involved in the education of students, house staff and fellows at Washington University and serves as Director of the Inpatient Cardiology Firm at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He has been awarded Teacher of the Year Award by the Internal Medicine Residents on four occasions and the Clinical Teacher of the Year Award by the Washington University Medical Students Class of 2004. In 2010, Dr Braverman was awarded the E. Grey Dimond Take Wing Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr Braverman is a Clinical Cardiologist and has a particular interest in diseases of the aorta and Marfan syndrome and related disorders. He is the Director of the Marfan Syndrome Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis and serves on the Professional Advisory Board of the National Marfan Foundation. Dr Braverman is actively involved in clinical research on Marfan syndrome and aortic diseases. Thierry MesanaThierry MesanaDr Thierry Mesana is Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Canada and Professor and Chairman of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He received his MD degree at University of Méditerranée, Marseille, France where he achieved his training in thoracic and cardio-vascular surgery. He also received a PhD degree in biophysics at the same university after extensive experimental work on artificial heart and ventricular assist devices. He was full professor of Cardiac Surgery, Chairman of Adult Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Marseille, France and was appointed at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in October 2001. Dr Mesana has been particularly active in the field of valve surgery with specific emphasis in mitral valve repair. His leadership has led significant changes in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, particularly with the development of complex mitral valve repair in degenerative or ischemic disease, and the development of AF surgical ablation. He is a strong advocate of basic science research in the field of myocardial regeneration. In the last few years, his group in Ottawa has published papers extensively on studies related to basic research related to stem cells and angiogenesis, clinical research papers on long-term follow-up of patients with heart valve prosthesis, as well as studies on aortic prosthesis mismatch and predictors of long-term outcome such as stroke, heart failure and reoperation. Peter StonePeter StonePeter H. Stone, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, USA, Co-Director of the Samuel A. Levine Cardiac Unit, and Director of the Clinical Trials Center and Co-Director of the Center for Clinical Investigation at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr Stone's research interests are in evaluating and managing patients with acute and chronic coronary artery disease. He is using new in-vivo methodologies to identify areas where human coronary disease will progress to determine if pre-emptive therapeutic strategies may avert adverse cardiac events. He also directs the BWH Research Ambulatory ECG (Holter) Core Laboratory to investigate the significance of myocardial ischemia and heart rate variability in patients with coronary syndromes. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, USA and his Medical Degree from Cornell University, USA. He completed internal medicine training at the University of California, San Francisco, USA and then did a clinical cardiology fellowship at Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, USA. He came to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital as a Cardiology Research Fellow and he has remained at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is past President of the Boston Chapter of the American Heart Association, and is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.