PRACTICAL TIPS AND TRICKS SESSION

Angela McInerney is an Interventional Cardiologist at University Hospital Galway, Ireland. Following completion of her basic cardiology training in Ireland she was awarded the Brian McGovern Travelling Fellowship grant from the Irish Board for Cardiology Training in 2018 which allowed her to start her interventional fellowship in Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain. Following two years of coronary training including complex PCI, she was awarded an European Society of Cardiology Fellowship Training Grant and completed a further year of structural intervention also in Clínico San Carlos, Madrid. Her specialist interests are in intracoronary imaging, intracoronary physiology, calcium modification techniques and complex PCI. She has been keenly involved in various research projects pertaining to intracoronary physiology and intravascular imaging having authored and co-authored a number of research articles as well as review articles and book chapters on these topics. During her fellowship she also regularly partook in the preparation and delivery of educational courses in Clínico San Carlos and values the educational aspect of her role as a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist.

Dr Justin Davies is a board member of Monaco Cardio at the Princess Grace Hospital, Monaco, and an interventional cardiologist with over 15 years of experience as a leading educator in the field. His clinical and academic career was established at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, where he built an international reputation for innovation in cardiovascular medicine. Over the course of his career, he has successfully mentored 15 PhD students, published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers — including landmark studies in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet — and holds 20 patents in cardiovascular medicine and technology. He was the co-principal investigator of the DEFINE-FLAIR study, which helped establish iFR (Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio), a diagnostic technique he invented, as a globally adopted standard in coronary physiology. His work reflects a unique blend of scientific innovation, academic leadership, and clinical excellence. In addition to his research and academic commitments, Justin is CEO of Cerebria AI, where he leads the development of next-generation AI-powered cardiovascular imaging and physiology tools. Under his leadership, Cerebria AI is advancing cutting-edge solutions that integrate artificial intelligence with frontline cardiology to enhance clinical decision-making and patient outcomes. Combining deep clinical expertise with entrepreneurial vision, he continues to guide international ventures through funding, regulatory pathways, and commercialization, while remaining committed to transforming cardiovascular care on a global scale.

Dr. Marco Lombardi is an interventional cardiologist at the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Alessandria, Italy. He obtained his medical degree from Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome in 2018. He completed his cardiology residency at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Rome, Italy) and pursued an interventional cardiology fellowship at Hospital Clínico San Carlos / Complutense University (Madrid, Spain). Dr. Lombardi also served as a research fellow at the VCU Pauley Heart Center (Richmond, USA) and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Genoa (Genoa, Italy). His main research interests focus on complex PCI, intracoronary physiology and imaging.

Dr Nieves Gonzalo is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Clinico San Carlos University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. She obtained her Specialist Certification in Cardiology after training at Clinico San Carlos University Hospital in Madrid. Subsequently, she underwent a research fellowship at Thoraxcenter, Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands) focused mainly in intracoronary imaging and bioabsorbable stents. In 2010 she obtained her PhD with the thesis “Optical coherence tomography for the assessment of coronary atherosclerosis and vessel response after stent implantation”. Her track record includes over 170 articles indexed in PubMed, as well as book chapters in Interventional Cardiology textbooks. Recent research projects as principal investigator includes studies about neoatherosclerosis, vessel injury and healing after stent implantation and patterns of calcification in coronary disease. Dr Gonzalo is a dedicated educationalist with involvement in many areas of complex PCI. In 2022, Dr Gonzalo was appointed as a course director for EuroPCR, she also serves as a deputy editor of EuroIntervention, and as a co-chair of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) Scientific Documents and Initiatives Committee.

Dr Peter O’Kane graduated from Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School in 1995 with First Class Honours Bachelor of Science BSc degree in Physiology, Medical Degree and numerous prizes including the Llewelyn Prize for the second-best distinction in medical finals. After attaining membership of the Royal College of Physicians he was subsequently awarded a Doctorate of Medicine by the University of London for a thesis on the role of nitric oxide in coronary heart disease. Dr O’Kane was appointed as Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in July 2007. He has performed over 7000 PCI procedures as a Consultant. He routinely treats extensively calcified lesions, bifurcations including left main stem disease & chronic total occlusions. He is committed to teaching & education with local fellowship training program through to national & international proctorship of techniques & multiple adjunctive devices. He has trained Consultant colleagues from the UK, Europe, Asia & USA through local workshops and courses. He is regularly invited as faculty to National & International meetings as a presenter & live case operator. He has published over 70 manuscripts and authored 10 book chapters. He is a local principal Investigator for over 30 National & International multi-centre clinical trials & is dedicated to patient recruitment with over 900 patients recruited to trials he has managed. He has led numerous quality improvement programs, is PCI Lead, Cardiology Governance and Mortality Lead & has achieved National Bronze Clinical Excellence Award level 9. He was a nationally elected member to British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS) Council (2020-2023) and from March 2023 is a member of BCIS Research Working Group.

Dr Richard A. Shlofmitz, MD, FACC is the Chairman of Cardiology at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center®, in Roslyn, New York. A pioneer in interventional cardiology, Dr. Shlofmitz has worked to advance the field, with a focus on optimizing outcomes with the development of Precision PCI. He is a founding co-director of the annual Intravascular Imaging and Coronary Physiology Workshop. Performing over 1,000 coronary interventions annually, he has one of the largest volumes of experience in PCI. He has the most clinical experience with orbital atherectomy and OCT world-wide. His clinical research interests focus on optimizing coronary interventions and he serves on multiple scientific advisory boards and clinical trial steering committees to further this mission. Dr Shlofmitz has been one of the largest enrollers for multiple clinical trials, including TWILIGHT, ILUMIEN III, and Onyx, with more than 75 publications in peer-reviewed journals and was first to perform coronary intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in North America as part of the DISRUPT CAD III trial.

Dr Tim Schäufele is an interventional cardiologist with special interest in CTOs, coronary physiology and calcified lesions. He is owner of Kardiologie-Innenstad Bern private practice and Interventional Cardiologist at Lindenhofspital Bern. Prior to this, he served as Head of Cathlab and Interventional Cardiology at Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus Stuttgart, after serving as a Research Fellow in Cardiac Magnetic Imaging at the Department of Cardiology University Heidelberg. Dr Schäufele is a Co-Founding Member of Transradial Workingroup German Cardiac Society, a Board Member of the Interventional Working Group of the German Cardiac Society, and a Full Member EuroCTO Club.