World Heart Observatory Management

Daniel José Piñeiro
Full Professor of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Immediate Past President, World Heart Federation
Former President, Inter-American Society of Cardiology
Former President, Argentine Society of Cardiology
Former Trustee, Board of Trustees, American College of Cardiology
Former Board Member, World Heart Federation
Former Roadmaps Liaison Officer, Science Committee, World Heart Federation
Prof. Daniel José Piñeiro has been a Full Professor of Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 2005. He is actively involved in several international organizations, having served as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology from 2018 to 2021, and as the Roadmaps Liaison Officer on the Science Committee of the World Heart Federation from 2019 to 2020.
Prof. Piñeiro has held significant roles within the World Heart Federation, including two terms as a Board Member from 2011 to 2013 and from 2017 to 2018. He was also a member of the Membership Committee of the American College of Cardiology from 2016 to 2017 and served as the Chair of the Assembly of International Governors from 2015 to 2017. He was the President of the Inter-American Society of Cardiology from 2011 to 2013 and the President of the Argentine Society of Cardiology in 2005.
He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association. Prof. Piñeiro graduated with honors in medicine from the University of Buenos Aires. His work encompasses academic and educational activities, as well as clinical practice, with a strong interest in Public and Global Health, which is evident through his involvement with WHF Roadmaps and roundtables.
Prof. Piñeiro regularly presents his research at international and national conferences and has an extensive publication record, including books, book chapters, and articles in both international and national journals. His publications include guidelines, consensus statements, white papers, and roadmaps focused on Global Health. He has received more than ten national and international awards in recognition of his contributions to the field.

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.

Mariachiara Di Cesare is a Professor in Population Studies and Global Health and Director of the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing at the University of Essex. She has interdisciplinary work experience in both academia and international organisations. Her research in population health uses and integrates concepts, data and methods from demography, epidemiology, statistics, and social science. Her work has focused on the epidemiology and public health of obesity and undernutrition, the role of early nutrition on child development, whether, and how much, changes in metabolic risk factors have contributed to the decline in cardiovascular mortality, and the extent of within and between countries inequalities in non-communicable diseases mortality and associated risk factors. Her research on global trends in obesity is used by the World Health Organisation (Global Health Observatory) as official estimates. In 2018 she led the successful application to the WHO Essential Medicine List for the inclusion of non-vitamin K anticoagulants for the treatment of atrial fibrillation to prevent stroke.

Dr Vilma Irazola is a cardiologist and epidemiologist. She is the Director of the Department of Research in Chronic Diseases at the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS), an academic institution affiliated to the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the Director of the South American Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Health (CESCAS). She is also senior researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina (CONICET).
She is a recognized expert in Implementation Science. Her research and professional efforts concentrate on public health initiatives related to health promotion, cardiovascular health, diabetes, and aging.
Dr Irazola is the Director of the Master’s Degree Program in Clinical Effectiveness at the University of Buenos Aries, She is faculty of the Implementation Science School run by the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) and Visiting Professor at New York University Harvard University.