ISHLT Elects New Board Members to Take Office in April 2022

ADDISON, Texas, Dec. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation has announced the results of the member election for the 2022 Board of Directors. The Society will welcome six members of the Board of Directors at the 42^nd Annual ISHLT Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions on 27-30 April, 2022.

Jason D. Christie, MD, MS, was elected President-Elect and will assume the Office of President in April 2023. Martin J. Goddard, FRCS, MRCP, and Peter M. Hopkins, FRACP, were elected as Treasurer and Secretary respectively.

Caron L. Burch, RN, MSN, FNP, CCTC; Jignesh K. Patel, MD, PhD; and Diyar Saeed, MD, PhD are the newly elected Directors of the Society.

"The Governance and Executive Committees congratulate the newly elected officers and members of the board of directors," says Joseph G. Rogers, MD, Chair of the Governance Nominating Committee and ISHLT Past President. "We are fortunate to have an outstanding group of emerging leaders in ISHLT who have vast experience in their local organizations and a deep understanding of the direction of our society. We have every confidence that those selected will make important contributions to ISHLT and continue to chart an exciting future for us as the premier global society focused on advanced thoracic disease and its treatment."

Jason D. Christie, MD, MSCE | President-Elect
Chief of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA USA

Dr. Christie is a world-recognized leader in transplantation and translational research, and he is the founder of the lung transplant outcomes group (LTOG). Dr. Christie's research interests focus on translational research studies of the risks, pathogenesis, treatment, and outcomes of lung injury and other complications in lung transplant recipients. He has served in numerous volunteer roles at ISHLT, including on the Board of Directors as Secretary, as Board liaison to the BSTR Council, and as current Chair of the Research Oversight Committee.

Martin J. Goddard, FRCS, FRCPath | Treasurer
Consultant Histopathologist
Royal Papworth Hospital
Cambridge, UK

Dr. Goddard is the clinical lead for cardiac pathology, including cardiac transplantation, at Royal Papworth Hospital. He is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Pathologists, and adviser in Cardiac Pathology to the Royal College of Pathologists. He has served on the ISHLT Board of Directors since 2018 and is on the ISHLT Finance Committee, as Board liaison to the PATH Council, and on the Pulmonary AMR Working Group.

Peter M. Hopkins, FRACP | Secretary
Director Queensland Lung Transplant Service
The Prince Charles Hospital
Chermside, Queensland AUS

Dr. Hopkins is the Executive Director of the Heart and Lung Clinical Stream Metro North Brisbane, and holds positions on numerous state-wide and national advisory groups. He holds membership with the Royal Australian College of Physicians Senior Examiners Panel and has in excess of 110 peer reviewed publications. Dr. Hopkins is the immediate Past Chair of the ISHLT Standards and Guidelines Committee, a Past Board Member, and was Scientific Program Chair of the ISHLT 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions.

Caron L. Burch, RN, MSN, FNP, CCTC 
Program Manager, Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies
Stanford Children's Health
Palo Alto, CA USA

Caron Burch's research interests include waitlist management, management of patients on MCS, and patient care after heart and lung transplantation. She is an active volunteer of ISHLT, currently serving as the Nursing and Allied Health PC representative to the AHFTX Interdisciplinary Steering Committee, as former member of a variety of councils, and as past Vice Chair of the NHSAH Council Operating Board.

Jignesh K. Patel, MD, PhD 
Medical Director, Heart Transplant
Director, Cardiac Amyloid Program
Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute
Los Angeles, CA USA

Dr. Patel's research interests are primarily focused on clinical outcomes of patients after transplantation and cardiac

amyloidosis. His research group's main goal is to identify therapies which abrogate the risk of allograft rejection and development of transplant vasculopathy, a chronic form of rejection, in heart transplant recipients. Dr. Patel serves on the ISHLT Leadership Advisory Forum, and is former chair of the HFTX Council Operating Board.

Diyar Saeed, MD, PhD 
Professor of Cardiac Surgery
Assistant Director of Cardiac Surgery
Director of the MCS and Heart Transplantation Program
Leipzig Heart Center
Leipzig, Germany

Dr. Saeed's areas of interest are heart failure surgery (MCS systems and heart transplantation), minimal invasive mitral and aortic valve surgeries, minimal invasive/off-pump coronary surgery, complex redo cardiac procedures. Dr. Saeed is the current Chair of the MCS Interdisciplinary Network Steering Committee, and former Chair of the MCS Council Operating Board.

The officers and directors will take office on 30 April, 2022, at the conclusion of the ISHLT Annual Meeting. At that time, the new composition of the Board will be:

President: Andreas Zuckermann, MD, Cardiac Surgeon, Austria (2024)
Past President: Lara Danziger-Isakov, MD, MPH, Infectious Diseases, USA (2023)
President-Elect: Jason D. Christie, MD, MS, Pulmonologist, USA (2025)
Treasurer: Martin J. Goddard, FRCS, MRCPa, Pathologist, United Kingdom (2024)
Secretary: Peter M. Hopkins, FRCAP, Pulmonologist, Australia (2023)
Director: Caron L. Burch, RN, MSN, FNP, CCTC, Transplant Coordinator, USA (2025)
Director: Edward Cantu, MD, MSCE, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, USA (2023)
Director: Marc de Perrot, MD, Thoracic and Lung Transplant Surgeon, Canada (2024)
Director: Daniel F. Dilling, MD, Pulmonologist, USA (2024)
Director: Mardi Gomberg-Maitland, MD, MSc, Cardiologist, USA (2024)
Director: Are Holm, MD, PhD, Pulmonologist, Norway (2023)
Director: Kiran K. Khush, MD, MAS, Cardiologist, USA (2023)
Director: Angela Lorts, MD, MBA, Pediatric Cardiologist, USA (2024)
Director: Tereza Martinu, MD, MHS, Pulmonologist, Canada (2023)
Director: Jignesh K. Patel, MD, PhD, Cardiologist, USA (2025)
Director: Diyar Saeed, MD, PhD, Cardiac Surgeon, Germany (2025)

About ISHLT
The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary professional organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical support and innovative therapies. With members in more than 45 countries, ISHLT is the world's largest organization dedicated to the research, education and advocacy of end-stage heart and lung disease. ISHLT members represent more than 15 different professional disciplines. For more information, visit www.ishlt.org.

SOURCE The International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation