Executive Committee

DANIEL JOSÉ PIÑEIRO • Full Professor of Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina • President, World Heart Federation • Former President, Inter American Society of Cardiology and Argentine Society of Cardiology • Former Board of Trustees, American College of Cardiology World Heart Federation, • Former Board Member, World Heart Federation • Former Roadmaps Liaison Officer, Science Committee, World Heart Federation Prof. Daniel José Piñeiro currently is a Full Professor of Medicine at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina (2005-). He is very active in different international organizations: Trustee at the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology (2018-2021), and Roadmaps Liaison Officer at the Science Committee of the World Heart Federation (2019-2020). Prof. Piñeiro has served twice as Member at the Board of the World Heart Federation (2011-2013 and 2017-2018), Member at Membership Committee of the American College of Cardiology (2016-2017), Chair of the Assembly of International Governors of the American College of Cardiology (2015-2017), President of the Inter American Society of Cardiology (2011-2013) and President of the Argentine Society of Cardiology (2005) He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association. Prof. Piñeiro graduated as a physician with honors at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. He is involved in academic and educational activities as well as clinical practice. He also has a great interest in Public and Global Health as WHF Roadmaps and roundtables. He regularly presents his work at international and national conferences. He has publications including books, book chapters, and articles in international and national journals. Some of these articles are guidelines, consensus, white papers, and roadmaps devoted to Global Health. He has earned deserved 8 national and international awards.

Kristina Sparreljung is currently Secretary General of The Swedish Heart Lung Foundation and has held this position since 2014, during which period the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation has increased its fundraising significantly with a revenue increase from 25 million to approximately 50 million EUR per year, a testament to the successful fundraising, marketing strategies, and her commitment to operational excellence. This has consequently doubled the grants for the cardiovascular and lung diseases research in Sweden during that 10 year period. Her tenure has been marked by fostering collaboration across government and non-government agencies, professional groups and civil society.
Being passionate about the research for cures for cardiovascular and lung diseases, Kristina also holds both domestic and international board positions. She has been a board member of WHF since 2019, where she previously also held the position as treasurer, and is also a board member of the European Heart Network, the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society and King Oscar the II jubilee foundation in Sweden.
Kristina has an Executive MBA from the Stockholm University School of Business as well as an IHM Master and several leadership program exams.

Jagat Narula, MD, PhD, MACC, FRCP is currently the executive vice president and chief academic officer at UTHealth Houston. He works with the six deans and members of the UTHealth Houston leadership team to advance the academic mission and promote excellence in education and research. This includes leading a diverse team of faculty and administrators to oversee strategic planning and implementation of the university’s education and research platform. 

Dr. Narula after completing his cardiology fellowship training and PhD (Cardiovascular Immunology) from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, relocated to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School in 1989. At MGH, after cardiology, heart failure & transplantation, and nuclear cardiology fellowships and he joined the cardiology faculty. In 1997, he moved to Hahnemann University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, where he was Thomas J. Vischer Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Cardiology, Vice-Chairman of the department of Internal Medicine, and Director of Heart Failure & Transplantation Center. He subsequently joined University of California, Irvine School of Medicine (2003) as Chief of the Division of Cardiology, Associate Dean for Research, and Director of the Cardiovascular Center of the UC Irvine’s Douglas Hospital. He was also the Director of Memorial Heart & Vascular Institute, Long Beach Memorial Hospital, and Medical Director of the Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology in UC Irvine’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering. He moved to Mount Sinai as the Philip J. and Harriet L. Goodhart Chair in Cardiology, and the Director of Cardiovascular Imaging Program in the Mount Sinai’s Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute in 2011.

Dr. Narula has the unique distinction of being able to combine molecular and subcellular pathology and imaging with clinical imaging of the failing myocardium and high-risk coronary atherosclerotic plaques to develop novel strategies for prevention of cardiovascular disease and promotion of cardiovascular health in developed as well as developing countries. He has specifically contributed to two major areas including heart muscle cell apoptosis in heart failure, and lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques that are susceptible to rupture and acute coronary events. He has brought novel experimental strategies to bedside and defined their applicability at the community level. He is currently actively involved in numerous population-based heart attack prevention programs including HAPPY [Heart Attack Prevention Program for You]. Based on his expertise in global medicine, he serves on the Advisory Council on Global Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences.

His research has been funded, in part, by the grants from National Institutes of Health. He is considered to be a true translationist and one of the infrequent investigators who has distinction of publishing in the best basic science and the best clinical journals including Science, Nature Medicine, PNAS, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Circulation and JACC. With more than 1000 original research publications or presentations to his credit and more than 35 books or journal supplements edited, Dr. Narula has been awarded as ‘the best young investigator’ on several occasions for his research contributions. His mentoring prowess is exemplified by the fact that 20 of his fellows, working in his research laboratory, have been awarded young investigator awards. He was recently awarded as the Best Educator as also the Innovator in Cardiovascular Medicine by the American College of Cardiology in the year 2012, and was honored as the Master of the American College of Cardiology in March 2013. He has just received the Distinguished Scientist Award 2015 from the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Mbakwem is a professor of Medicine at the University of Lagos and a consultant cardiologist to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. She completed her residency training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and received a Fellowship of the West African College of Physicians. She underwent further training in cardiology at the Wolfson Heart Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel and Azienda Sanitaria, Tuscany, Italy. Dr Mbakwem’s research interest includes Heart failure, systemic and pulmonary hypertension, heart disease in women, effective communication in disease management and the psychosocial issues in cardiovascular diseases. She is a member of the Nigerian Hypertension society guidelines writing committee. She is the immediate past President of the Nigerian Cardiac Society and a member of the European Society of Cardiology working group on Peripartum cardiomyopathy. She is the treasurer of PASCAR

Prof. Pinto graduated at Lisbon University Medical School in 1984. He did his Cardiology internship at Santa Maria University Hospital – CHLN, E.P.E. (Lisbon, Portugal), and Stanford University Medical School (CA, USA), where he was a Clinical Fellow. He was then Clinical Attending in the Echocardiography laboratory and underwent an Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at the same institution.

He is currently Full Professor of Cardiology, Head of the Cardiology Department and of the Heart and Vascular Department of Santa Maria University Hospital, CHULN E.P.E., immediate Past President of the World Heart Federation (WHF) (2021-2022). Recently he also finished his term as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal) (2015-2018)-(2018-2022).

National Coordinator of the Medical Schools Council (2018-2020) and President of the Executive Board of the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre (CAML) (2019-2021) and Director of Lisbon Cardiovascular Institute (ICVL) since 1999.

He was the President and founder of the European Association of Echocardiography (2002-04), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), Chairman of the CPC (Congress Program Committee) of ESC (2008-10), Chair of the European Heart Agency(2016-2018) and ESC President (2014-16). He is immediate Past President of the World Heart Federation (WHF) (2021-2022), and integrates the Board of the European Heart for Children.

He is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC), American College of Cardiology (FACC), American Society of Angiology (FASA), Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI) and the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE) and Honorary Member of several international societies, including Societé Française de Cardiologie, Sociedad Colombiana de Cardiologia, American Society of Echocardiography, Societá Italiana de Ecografia Cardiovascular, Hungarian Society of Cardiology, Japanese Circulation Society, Sociedad Peruana de Cardiologia, Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, Romanian Society of Cardiology, Russian Society of Cardiology, and Slovakian Society of Cardiology. Appointed by acclamation (29 November 2018) as Honorary Member of the National Academy of Medicine of Brazil. He is the Honorary President of the International Committee for Education and Cooperation of the Italian Society of Medical Science (SISMED). Honorary Member of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology(Nov 2020) and Dante Pazzanese Medal(Nov. 2020).

He was the Editor in Chief of the Portuguese Journal of Cardiology (1999-2015), and is currently Consulting Editor and Member of the Advisory and Editorial of Board of several international peer-reviewed journals, and Expert Reviewer for the European Commission. Prof. Pinto has published over 600 indexed articles and has presented over 1500 lectures/chairmanships at national and mostly international meetings.

Richard A. Chazal, MD, MACC

Rick Chazal is a senior cardiologist and the Medical Director of the Heart and Vascular Institute for Lee Health, a four hospital, not-for-profit system in Fort Myers, Florida.  Dr. Chazal is the Past President of the American College of Cardiology.   He has practiced clinical cardiology in Fort Myers since 1983 with expertise in echocardiography, diagnostic catheterization and coronary computerized tomography angiography. During his tenure, he has been a participant in multiple clinical trials.

Chazal received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and went on to complete medical school and Internal Medicine training at the University of South Florida.  Subsequently, Chazal completed a fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology at Indiana University, where he spent one year working under Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, FACC as a designated echocardiography fellow.

Chazal served as councillor, treasurer and president of the ACC’s Florida Chapter. Subsequent to his stint as president and governor for the Florida Chapter, he was elected Chair of the ACC Board of Governors.  He has also been ACC Treasurer and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. In combined capacities, Chazal has spent thirteen years on the ACC Board of Trustees.  Nationally, Chazal has served as a member and/or chair of over 50 committees and workgroups for the College.

He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and Omicron Delta Kappa honoraries through the University of South Florida.  He is the recipient of multiple awards from the ACC Florida Chapter, including the Special Achievement Award, the Presidential Citation, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Founder’s Award. In 2011, the Southwest Florida Affiliate of the American Heart Association awarded him their Golden Heart Award, and in 2014 he was designated Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He received the inaugural Community Teaching Award from the Family Medicine Residency Program via Florida State University School of Medicine Fort Myers Program in 2015. The Lee County Medical Society honored Chazal with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He serves as Professor of Clinical Sciences, Florida State University School of Medicine.

He and his wife Linda have three children and four grandchildren.

Thomas A. Gaziano M.D., M.Sc. is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). He is Director of Global Health and Economic Evaluations within Cardiovascular Innovations at BWH where he evaluates prevention programs in clinical services. He is currently a principal or co-principal investigator on three NIH-funded grants in Argentina and South Africa, the main focus of which are the implementation of effective cardiovascular therapies or policies in low-income settings. His Harvard CVD PREDICT model is used to evaluate health outcomes, financial impacts, and the cost-effectiveness of CVD intervention strategies. He serves on the Board of the World Heart Federation.

I have enjoyed along career in education, research, health promotion and with the National Heart Foundation of Australia, as Director Cardiovascular Health and as National Director Physical Activity. I have extensive experience in community-wide programs, media, advocacy and applying evidence to interventions at local, national and global scales. I have current adjunct appointments at Curtin University and University of WA Schools of Public Health where I am engaged in various research studied in public health and have 100 publications. I have been awarded Life Membership of the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) and a Fellow of the International Society for Physical Activity (ISPAH) and Executive Board member of the Australasian Society for Physical Activity (ASPA). I serve of the WHO Civil Society Working Group for NCDs, which provides advice to DG Tedros on NCD matters. I am a member of the WHF Advocacy Committee and currently leading the WHF Policy Position on Physical Activity. My main motivation in engagement with the WHF is to improve global cardiovascular health (CVH) and contribute to closing the gap between the evidence for CVH and its risk factors and robust implementation of policies and interventions with proven efficacy.

Jean-Luc Eiselé has worked in the field of medical association management for almost 20 years. He was trained as a biochemist working at the Biozentrum in Basel and the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In 1999, he joined the European Respiratory Society as Scientific Affairs Manager in charge of the Annual Congress and was offered to develop the educational activities, in particular the online portfolio. In 2001 he was nominated Deputy Executive Director and in 2007 ERS Executive Director. In 2011, he was appointed by FDI World Dental Federation as Executive Director, developing in particular its advocacy work and launching successfully the World Oral Health Day. He joined the World Heart Federation (WHF) as Chief Executive Officer in May 2017, strengthening the business model, the focus on communication and advocacy and membership engagement.