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Programme

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND | 17-18 MAY 2025

Join us for the 10th edition of the World Heart Summit, set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, the epicenter of global health diplomacy, on 17 – 18 May 2025, ahead of the 78th World Health Assembly.

Summit venue: Biotech Campus, Geneva

Saturday, 17 May
Sunday, 18 May

Saturday, 17 May

Time Sessions
8:30-9:00 Welcome & Registartion
9:00-9:20 Welcome to World Heart Summit 2025
Speakers:
Jagat Narula
Jagat Narula
President
World Heart Federation
Finn Jarle Rode
CEO
World Heart Federation
Daniel Pineiro
Daniel Piñeiro
Past President
World Heart Federation
9:20-10:15 Welcome to WHS & Farewell speech welcome (Exchange of Livery Collar) Introduction to WHS 2025


Speakers:
Srinath Reddy
Past President
Public Health Foundation of India
Jagat Narula
Jagat Narula - moderator
President
World Heart Federation
Portrait image of Prof Dorairaj Prabhakaran
Prabhakaran Dorairaj
WHF President-Elect, Executive Director
Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi
portrait image of Prof Pablo Perel
Pablo Perel
Senior Science Advisor
World Heart Federation
Daniel Pineiro
Daniel Piñeiro
Past President
World Heart Federation
Bente Mikkelsen
WHF Advocacy Committee Chair and Director, Global Engagement Strategies
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
George Mensah
Director
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, USA
10:15-11:15 UN High-Level Meeting 2025 Ministerial Panel
Speakers:
Bente Mikkelsen - moderator
WHF Advocacy Committee Chair and Director, Global Engagement Strategies
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
H.E. Dr Ahmadou Lamin Samateh
Minister of Health
Gambia
11:15-11:45 Break
11:45-12:30 Addressing multimorbidity in the context of CVD
Speakers:
Portrait image of Prof Dorairaj Prabhakaran
Prof. Prabhakaran Dorairaj
WHF President-Elect, Executive Director
Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi
Taskeen Khan
WHF Advocacy Committee Member
World Heart Federation
Bruce Neal
Executive Director
The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Sarah LeBrocq
Obesity Advocate and Public Speaker
Prof. Gemma Figtree
Professor of Medicine
University of Sydney
Dr José R. Gonzalez Juanatey
Dr. José Ramon Juanatey
Head of the Cardiology Service and CCU
University Clinical Hospital, Santiago de Compostela
12:30-13:15 Primacy of primary care in combating CVD
Speakers:
Portrait image of Prof Dorairaj Prabhakaran
Prabhakaran Dorairaj - moderator
WHF President-Elect, Executive Director
Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi
Prof. Jérôme Salomon
Assistant Director General ADG SDG
World Health Organization
Prof Amam Mbakwem
Prof. Amam Mbakwem
WHF Vice-President and Professor of Medicine
University of Lagos
Dr. Rony Shimony
Director of Cardiology at Atria Institute
Mount Sinai – New York
Dr. Eliezer Lappots-Abreu
President and Executive Director
Health Horizons International Foundation
13:15-14:15 Lunch Break
14:15-15:00 PrimInnovations in Drug Interventions for CVD at Primary Healthcare Level
Speakers:
Dr. Lutz Hegemann
President of Global Health and Swiss Country Affairs
Novartis Global Health
Dr. George Mensah - moderator
Director
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, USA
Tazeen H. Jafar
Professor, Program in Health Services and Systems Research
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore
Jagat Narula
Jagat Narula
President
World Heart Federation
Andrea Araujo Brandao
Prof. Andrea Brandão
Full Professor of Cardiology
State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sameer Bansilal
Vice President- Global Head - TTR Medical Affairs
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
15:00-15:45 Financial protection from catastrophic costs of CVD: What does it take to reduce CVD by 50%?
Speakers:
Dr. Payal Kohli - moderator
Founder and Medical Director
Cherry Creek Heart 
Bente Mikkelsen
WHF Advocacy Committee Chair and Director, Global Engagement Strategies
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Hyvelle Ferguson-Davis
Ms Hyvelle Ferguson-Davis
Founder
Heart Sistas
Dr. Lillian Mbau
WHF Advocacy Committee member and CEO
Kenya Cardiac Society
Mr Jeremiah Mwangi portrait image
Jeremiah Mwangi
Director of Policy and Advocacy
World Heart Federation
Dr. Athena Poppas
Chief of Cardiology and Director
Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute
Dr. John Harold
Past-President, American College of Cardiology and Cardiologist
Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles
15:45-16:15 Break
16:15-17:00 Launch of the WH Report
Speakers:
Mariachiara di Cesare
Professor in Population Studies and Global Health
University of Essex
Johanna Ralston - moderator
CEO
World Obesity Federation
Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez
Chair, Division of Preventive Cardiology
Mayo Clinic
Fausto Pinto
Diretor Dept Coração e Vasos do CHULN
Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Norte

Sunday, 18 May

Time Sessions
8:00-8.30 Coffee & Mingle
8:30-9:15 Risk Factors: Of Inflammation, Added Inflamation and Out-of-Proportion Inflammation in CAD
Speakers:
Dr. Payal Kohli - moderator
Founder and Medical Director
Cherry Creek Heart 
Y. Chandrashekhar
Professor of Medicine
University of Minnesota
Portrait image of Prof Amitava Banerjee
Amitava Banerjee
Professor in Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist
UCL and Barts Health
Dr. Athena Poppas
Chief of Cardiology and Director
Brown University Health Cardiovascular Institute
Daniel Pineiro
Daniel Piñeiro
Past President
World Heart Federation
Dr. Antonio Ribeiro
Professor of Internal Medicine and Vice-Director of the Center of Artificial Intelligence for Health
University Hospital of the Federal University of Minas Gerais
9:15-10:00 Risk promoters and potentiators: Indoor air pollution
Speakers:
Dr. Nupoor Narula
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
Annie Griffiths
Photographer
National Geographic
Dr. Sumi Mehta,
Vice-President
Vital Strategies
Dr. Poornima Prabhakaran
Director, Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends
Trivedi School of Biosciences
Fernanda Carvalho
Director of Institutional & International Affairs
Instituto Lado a Lado pela Vida
Dr Bente Mikkelsen
WHF Advocacy Committee Chair and Director, Global Engagement Strategies
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
10:00-10:45 Unveiling Hidden Drivers of Cardiovascular Disease: Sugar in childhood & Beyond
Speakers:
Dr. Nupoor Narula - moderator
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
Dr. Tadeja Gracner
Senior Scientist, Economist, Center for Social and Economic Research
University of Southern California, USA
Prof. Amanda Adler
Professor of Diabetic Medicine and Health Policy
Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford
H.E. Dr Pakishe Aaron Motsoaledi
Minister of Health
South Africa
Dr. Roberto Bertollini
Public Health Advisor
Ministry of Health of Qatar
10:45-11:15 Break
10:45-11:30 CVD in the Aftermath of War & Conflicts
Speakers:
Finn Jarle Rode
CEO
World Heart Federation
Dr. Slim Slama
Chief Executive Officer
World Innovation Summit for Health, Qatar Foundation
A portrait image of Rick Chazal
Richard Chazal
Senior Cardiologist and Medical Director for Quality, Transformation, Innovation
Lee Health Heart Institute
Rossella Miccio
President
Emergency
12:00-12:45 Navigating the opportunities and challenges of AI in cardiovascular health
Speakers:
Anthony Estrella
Lead, Health Equity and Access
World Economic Forum
Ann Aerts
Ann Aerts
Head
Novartis Foundation
Prof. Julia Bielicki
Full Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases
St George’s, University of London
Marjaana Lahti-Koski
Managing Director
Finnish Heart Foundation
Dr. Christopher Kramer
Chief, Cardiovascular Division and George A. Beller MD Distinguished Professor of CV Medicine
UVA Health
12:45-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-14:45 Building Healthy Hearts: Promotion of Cardiovascular Healthy from Childhood
14:45-15:30 Cardio 4 Cities: Measuring and Transforming Urban Cardiovascular Health
Speakers:
Ann Aerts
Ann Aerts - moderator
Head
Novartis Foundation
Jagat Narula
Jagat Narula
President
World Heart Federation
Prof. Greg Hunt
Former Minister for Health and Aged Care
Australia
Prof. Hilal Lashuel
Ass. Prof. of Life Sciences, Director of the Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Neurodegeneration
Brain Mind Institute, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland
15:30-16:45 Joint Session with NCD Alliance / NCD Action in a Changing World: Priorities for the fourth UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health
16:45-17:00 Wrap up and Summit Closure
Register Now for the World Heart Summit 2025!

Register Now for the World Heart Summit 2025!

Be part of the World Heart Summit 2025 and join global leaders, experts, and advocates shaping the future of cardiovascular health. Different registration fees apply based on your category, so be sure to check the details and secure your spot on time.

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THE WORLD HEART SUMMIT IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FOLLOWING PARTNERS

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