ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY CARDIOLOGISTS
49th Annual Meeting
Renaissance Vinoy Resort
St. Petersburg, FL
January 6-8, 2010
Minutes

The annual meeting of the Association of University Cardiologists was preceded by a Council meeting and an Emeritus meeting Wednesday, January 6th, 2010.

Council Meeting, Wednesday, January 6th, 2010: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Present: President, Ronald G. Victor, M.D.; Vice-President. Alice Jacobs, M.D., Secretary-Treasurer, Kim A. Eagle, M.D.; Councilors, Elizabeth McNally, M.D., and Joseph Hill, M.D., Ph.D.
Absent: Blasé Carabello, M.D., Peter Butterick, M.D.

The meeting was called to order by President Victor at 2:00 PM. 

The financial report for fiscal year 2009 was given by Secretary-Treasurer Kim Eagle.  The financial projection for year 2010 was also presented by Dr. Eagle.

Deaths of the following AUC members were noted:  James Alexander, Kenneth Baughman, Henry McIntosh, and Yang Wang.

Membership changes the Council voted positively on were the following:
The following members were accepted for Emeritus status:  Jeffrey Anderson, Robert Bonow, Jeffrey Borer, Blasé Carabello, Richard Devereux, James Marsh, and Joshua Wynne.

Of the 25 Active members in jeopardy for nonattendance, 16 were present at the meeting (Steven Bergmann, Samuel Casscells, Jamie Conti, John DiMarco, David Gutterman, David Kass, Bruce Lerman, Mandeep Mehra, Michael Mendelsohn, Michael Parmacek, Cam Patterson, Mark Pfeffer, Arshed Quyyumi, PK Shah, Richard Smalling, and David Wilber) and no further action was taken by the Council regarding these members.  One member (Glenn Fishman) whose membership was also in jeopardy had planned to attend the 2010 meeting but, due to extenuating circumstances, was unable to come.  Seven members (Luther Clark, Louis Dell’Italia, Sanjiv Kaul, Elizabeth O’Fili, Pamela Ouyang, Marshall Runge and Anne Taylor) whose membership was in jeopardy were unable to attend.  A letter will be sent to them continuing their membership contingent upon their presenting an abstract at the 2011 meeting January 6-7, 2011, at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, and having their dues up to date.  One member (Daniel Kelly) resigned his membership.

The Council reviewed eight candidates for membership.  At the AUC Business Meeting Friday, the Council will recommend the following seven candidates for membership: Brian Annex, Deepak Bhatt, Samuel Dudley, Chris Kramer, Jeffrey Olgin, Douglas Sawyer and Peter Stone.

Dr. Victor will appoint a Nominating Committee to fill the positions of President, Vice-President, and 2 Councilors.

Dr. Victor will appoint an Auditing Committee to review the AUC books and give a report at the Business Meeting on Friday morning. 

Discussion took place regarding the 2013 meeting site and dates.

There being no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. by Dr. Victor.

Emeritus Session – Wednesday, January 6th, 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Members present at the Emeritus Session included:

Emeritus members: Robert Adolph, William Barry, Gerald Berenson, Lawrence Cohen, Jay Cohn, John Fisher, Nancy Flowers, William Gaasch, Peter Gazes, Bernard Gersh, Donald Heistad, Leo Horan, Allyn L. Mark, Robert Marshall, James Scheuer, James Shaver, Arnold Weissler.

Active members:  Samuel Casscells, Mark Creager, Joshua Hare, Mandeep Mehra, Michael Mendelson, James Morgan, Lynne Stevenson, Douglas Weaver.

The meeting was presided over by Drs. Cohen and Scheuer.

The 2010 Emeritus session featured 2 presentations:

1. Dr. Bernard Gersh, “Forty Years After Framingham: Global Implications of the Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease in the Developing World”.

Discussion.

1. Dr. John Fisher, “Overview of Clinical Electrophysiology circa 2010”.

Discussion.

Old or New Business:  Nominations for planning the 2011and 2012 Emeritus Meetings
Nominees:  R. Wayne Alexander, Bernard Gersh, and Fran Klocke.  Lawrence Cohen asked for additional nominees.  Gerald Berenson made the motion to accept all three nominees.  Arnold Weissler moved to close the nomination and take a vote. Dr. Cohen requested a vote.  All in favor, vote passed.  Dr. Cohen will contact the newly elected.

 Reception – Wednesday, January 6th, 2010, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

The reception was held in the Mezzanine Terrace of the Renaissance Vinoy and was attended by approximately 118 members and guests (compared to 145 the previous year).

President’s Program – Thursday, January 7th, 2010, 8:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Dr. Victor, President of the Association, introduced Dr. Eric Olson, Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Science at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.  Dr. Olson presented the 24th George Burch Memorial Lecture, “MicroRNA Control of Cardiovascular Development and Disease”.

Dr. Victor then introduced Dr. Allyn Mark, Carver Professor of Medicine, University of Iowa in Iowa City.  Dr. Mark presented the Featured Lecture, “A Cardiologist Confronts Obesity”.

The President’s Lecture, “Muscle Ischemia in Muscular Dystrophy: Translational Research from Mice to Men”, was presented by Dr. Victor, Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.

First Scientific Session, Thursday, January 7th, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Dr. Victor presented those new members who were present and/or presenting abstracts:

Craig Basson                                       Steven Bailey
Anne Curtis                                         C. Noel Bairey Merz
Dan Roden                                          Lawrence Young

Dr. Ganz was unable to attend.

Presentation of abstracts:

Pleiotropine (PTN) Reprograms Macrophages into Functional Endothelial Cells and is Expressed in Vascularized Human Atherosclerotic Plaques: IFN-y/JAK/STAT1 Signaling is Critical for the Expresswion of PTN in Macrophages
P.K. Shah., MD, Director, Division of Cardiology and Atherosclerosis Research Center, Cedars-Sinan Heart Institute

Statin Therapy for the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation
Anne B. Curtis, MD, , Professor of Medicine, Chief, Division of Cardiology, Director, Cardiovascular Services, University of South Florida

Transcription Regulation of Coronary Blood Vessel Development
Craig T. Basson, MD, Professor, Director, Cardiovascular Research, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Molecular and Cellular Imaging Using Ultrasound Contrast Agents
Flordeliza S. Villaneuva, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, NonInvasive Cardiovascular Imaging , Director, Center for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging & Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Sex/Gender Differences in CVD – A Model for Translation to Improved Outcomes
C. Noel Bairey-Merz, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Medical Director, Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center, Women’s Heart Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Role  of the Epicardium in NonIschemic Ventricular Tachycardia
David J. Wilber, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Director, Division of Cardiology& Cardiovascular Institute, Loyola University Medical Center

Rethinking Resynch:  It More than Meets the Eye
David A. Kass, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Reception and Black Tie Dinner, Ballroom
Thursday, January 7th, 2010, 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

There were approximately 140 members and guests who enjoyed a reception and black tie dinner (157 last year).

Business Meeting, Friday, January 8th, 2010, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Dr. Victor called the meeting to order. The minutes of the 2009 meeting in Carmel, California, were submitted as mailed to the membership and approved by those present at the Business Meeting.

Memorial minutes were presented as follows:

      Dr. James Alexander – memorial given by Dr. William Gaasch
      Dr. Yang Wang – memorial given by Dr. Robert Marshall
      Dr. Henry McIntosh – memorial given by Dr. C. Richard Conti
      Dr. Kenneth Baughman – memorial given by Dr. Joshua Hare

Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Kim Eagle gave a financial report for 2009. He reported that the AUC had a beginning 2009 balance of $151,135.40 and an ending balance of $151,623.02

Dr. Eagle gave a short slide presentation showing the meeting attendance for the last several years.  Attendance for the 2010 meeting was 95 members.

The next two meetings will be as follows:

January 6-7, 2011:  Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, AZ (AUC 50th anniversary meeting)
January 12-13, 2012: Carmel Valley Ranch, Carmel, CA

Dr. Heistad gave the Auditing Committee report after reviewing the books for 2009. Everything was in order.

The Nominating Committee presented the following list of candidates to fill the Council vacancies:

President – Alice Jacobs
Vice President – Joseph Hill
Councilors – Jeffrey Bender and Ivor Benjamin

Nominees were accepted by acclamation of the members present.

Ballots were passed out to the Active members so they could vote on the 7 nominees recommended by the Council for acceptance into membership of the AUC.  A count of the ballots showed that all 7 nominees had at least a ¾ majority vote of the Active members present, and they will be accepted as new members.  The new members are: 

There being no other business, the leadership was transferred to Dr. Alice Jacobs, who presented Ronald Victor with a gavel in appreciation of his tenure as AUC President for 2009-10, and the meeting was adjourned.

Total meeting attendance of AUC members (as taken from the sign-in roster book) was as follows:

Active Members -     67
Emeritus Members -  27
Inactive Members -     2

The officers for 2010 are:

President: Alice Jacobs, M.D.
Vice President: Joseph Hill, M.D., Ph.D.
Secretary-Treasurer: Kim Eagle, M.D.
Councilors:
Past President: Ronald Victor, M.D.
Jeffrey Bender, M.D. (year 1 of 3)
Ivor Benjamin, M.D. (year 1 of 3)
Peter Buttrick, M.D. (year 2 of 3)

2009-2010 AUC Membership:

Second Scientific Session, Friday, January 8th, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Continuation of presentation of abstracts

Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Vascular Tone and Blood Pressure
Michael E. Mendelsohn, M.D., Elisa Kent Mendelsohn Professor of Molecular Cardiology and Medicine, Tufts Unversity School of Medicine

Dabigatran versus Warfarin in PatientsWith Atrial Fibrillation
Michael Ezekowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Vice President, Clinical Research, Main Line Hospitals

Dsyregulation of G-Protein Signaling and Right Ventriular Outflow Tract Tachycardia
Bruce B. Lerman, M.D., Chief, Division of Cardiology, Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Intrinsic Cardiac Nerve Activities and the Spontaneous Onset of Atrial Tachycardia
Peng-Sheng Chen, M.D., Medtronic-Zipes chair of Cardiology, Director, Krannert Institute of Cardiology, Chief, Division of Cardiology

Increased Left Ventricular Mass is Associated with Long-Term Blood Pressure Variability beginning in Childhood in Black Adults: The Boglusa Heart Study
Gerald S. Berenson, M.D., Emeritus Boyd Professor, LSA Medical Center, National Center for Cardiovascular Center, Tulane Center for Cardiovascular Health

The 49th Annual Scientific Session of the Association of University Cardiologists was then concluded by Dr. Eagle.

Respectfully submitted, 
Kim A. Eagle, M.D.
Secretary-Treasurer
Association of University Cardiologists