Finance & Audit Committee

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.

DANIEL JOSÉ PIÑEIRO • Full Professor of Medicine, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina • President, World Heart Federation • Advisor for HEARTS, Pan American Health Organization • 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), Advisor for HEARTS at the Pan American Health Organization (2018-), 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.

EMPLOYMENTS
Secretary General, The Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, 20141001 – ongoing
Assistant Secretary General, The Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, 2012 – 2014
Fundraising and Marketing Manager, Member of the management. The Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, Stockholm, October 2004 – 2014
Project Manager and Fundraising Manager, The Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, Stockholm, August 1996- October 2004
Previous employments include teaching positions at junior high schools and high schools in Sweden as well as sales district manager for products to opticians.
PROPERTIES
Communicative, curious, motivated, open-minded and innovative.
EDUCATION
Lindberg & Göthberg, Executive senior program, 2015 – 2017
LPU, leadership through personal development – 2013
Executive MBA from Stockholm University School of Business at the Department of Business Administration, Executive MBA – 2010-2012
– Financial Analysis
– Strategy in Practice and Marketing Management
– Corporate Social Responsibility
– Change management
– Global Cross-Cultural Business Behavior
– Ethical leadership
– Corporate Governance
– Essay – Does the SFC-code support donor’s interest?

IHM MASTER – 2008-2009

DIHM – 2005-2007
– Operations Management
– Business Development
– Personal Leadership

DIHM, Business Communication – 2001-2003
– Business Acumen
– Business of Communication grounds
– Communication management and change instruments
– The company’s reputational capital
– Communication with the market
– Shareholders’ thesis

TRUST
WHF, board member and treasurer 2019-2022, board member 2023 – Oct 2023, board member and Vice-President from Oct 2023 – ongoing
The European Heart Network, board member and treasurer 2015 – ongoing
Swedish Pharmaceutical Society, board member 2018 – ongoing
King Oscar the II jubilee foundation, board member 2014- ongoing
Research Sweden, board member 2015 – 2020
The Swedish Fundraising Council (SFC), board member 2012 – 2018
The Swedish Fundraising Council European certification training (EFA) for fundraisers at Berghs School of Communications, 2009 – 2015
The Swedish Fundraising Council Volunteer Fundraising. Course Leader for The Swedish Fundraising Council, annual course in collection, 2007- 2014
Swedish Fundraisers; board member 2004 – 2008.
Non-profit association for the industry fundraisers (collector) with a mandate to pursue knowledge between different fundraisers.
OTHER
Engaged as lecturer, for instance at
– Bonnierförlagen AB
– European Heart Network,
– DR Academy
– Berghs School of Communication
– SFC seminar, NGO Fundraising

LANGUAGE
Swedish – Native.
English – Fluent.

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

Alejandro Ramos Carbajales  is an Independent consultant and researcher in tobacco tax and other health policies, demand for tobacco products, Illicit tobacco trade. Background in the economic evaluation of health policies and reform and cost effective analysis of investment in health infrastructure for the IDB and World Bank as a part-time consultant.

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.