World Heart Observatory Expert Group

Prof. Pinto graduated at Lisbon University Medical School in 1984. He did his Cardiology internship at Santa Maria University Hospital – CHLN, E.P.E. (Lisbon, Portugal), and Stanford University Medical School (CA, USA), where he was a Clinical Fellow. He was then Clinical Attending in the Echocardiography laboratory and underwent an Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at the same institution.

He is currently Full Professor of Cardiology, Head of the Cardiology Department and of the Heart and Vascular Department of Santa Maria University Hospital, CHULN E.P.E., President of the World Heart Federation (WHF) (2021-2022). Recently he finished his term as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal) (2015-2018)-(2018-2022).

National Coordinator of the Medical Schools Council (2018-2020) and President of the Executive Board of the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre (CAML) (2019-2021) and Director of Lisbon Cardiovascular Institute (ICVL) since 1999.

He was the President and founder of the European Association of Echocardiography (2002-04), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), Chairman of the CPC (Congress Program Committee) of ESC (2008-10), Chair of the European Heart Agency(2016-2018) and ESC President (2014-16). He is currently the President of the World Heart Federation (WHF) (2021-2022), and integrates the Board of the European Heart for Children.

He is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC), American College of Cardiology (FACC), American Society of Angiology (FASA), Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI) and the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE) and Honorary Member of several international societies, including Societé Française de Cardiologie, Sociedad Colombiana de Cardiologia, American Society of Echocardiography, Societá Italiana de Ecografia Cardiovascular, Hungarian Society of Cardiology, Japanese Circulation Society, Sociedad Peruana de Cardiologia, Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, Romanian Society of Cardiology, Russian Society of Cardiology, and Slovakian Society of Cardiology. Appointed by acclamation (29 November 2018) as Honorary Member of the National Academy of Medicine of Brazil. He is the Honorary President of the International Committee for Education and Cooperation of the Italian Society of Medical Science (SISMED). Honorary Member of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology(Nov 2020) and Dante Pazzanese Medal(Nov. 2020).

He was the Editor in Chief of the Portuguese Journal of Cardiology (1999-2015), and is currently Consulting Editor and Member of the Advisory and Editorial of Board of several international peer-reviewed journals, and Expert Reviewer for the European Commission. Prof. Pinto has published over 600 indexed articles and has presented over 1500 lectures/chairmanships at national and mostly international meetings.

Álvaro Avezum, cardiologist and epidemiologist, is the Director of the International Research Center at Oswaldo Cruz German Hospital and Research Director of São Paulo State Society of Cardiology in São Paulo, Brazil, Professor at São Paulo University and UNISA, International Research Associate at Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, and elect World Heart Federation At Large Member. He received his medical degree from the Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, MG, Brazil, in 1985; completed his residency in Internal Medicine, followed by the completion of 3-year residency in cardiology, at Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology in São Paulo, in 1990; did research fellowship training in cardiology and earned an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, from 1993 to 1995; and obtained his PhD in Cardiology from São Paulo University in 2002 and professorship at CardioPneumology Department, São Paulo University in 2016. His previous positions at Medical Societies in Brazil include: São Paulo Cardiology Society (Vice-President and Scientific Director) and Brazilian Cardiology Society (President, Cardiovascular Health Promotion- Funcor, President, Evidence-Based Cardiology Committee, President Spirituality and Cardiovascular Medicine Committee), InterAmerican Cardiology Society (Coordinator, Epidemiology Chapter) World Heart Federation (Member of the Cardiovascular Secondary Prevention Committee), and Research Director at Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology . Dr. Avezum´s selected contributions include the introduction and cardiologist´s training of evidence-based medicine, capacity building and clinical trials, epidemiological studies coordination, clinical practice evaluation and improvement in cardiovascular disease, and the cardiovascular health promotion initiative in Brazil. His main research interests include clinical trials in cardiovascular diseases, evidence-based practice, cardiovascular disease prevention, epidemiological studies, systematic overview, and knowledge translation interventions. Dr. Avezum has been a steering committee member of 70 studies (randomized clinical trials and epidemiological studies), adjudication committee member of more than 30 studies, and author/co-author of 252 peer-reviewed published scientific papers, including key articles in high impact journals. h-Index of 82 (Nov, 2019). He has been a reviewer of AHJ, AJC, EHJ, Circulation, JACC and Lancet. Recently, he was identified as one of the world´s most influential scientific minds, 2014 and 2015, in clinical medicine, by Thompson Reuters, and by Clarivate Analytics in 2019.

Mariachiara Di Cesare is a Professor in Population Studies and Global Health at 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. She is acting as scientific advisor for the development of the World Heart Observatory.

Naomi is currently Head of Health Analytics at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in London. Her work focuses on designing data visualisations for cardiovascular disease statistics, modelling cardiovascular disease burden and its risk factors, and analysing the effects of Covid-19 on cardiovascular health in the UK. Naomi has a background in health economics, and has regulatory experience in health technology assessment from epidemiological and policy perspectives in the US and UK.

Dr Angela Koh is a Senior Consultant Cardiologist and Clinician Scientist at the National Heart Centre Singapore and an Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. Dr Koh received cardiology training in Singapore and multimodality cardiovascular imaging clinical fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA. She also pursued a Master of Public Health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health majoring in clinical effectiveness.

Dr Koh’s work centres on studying how ageing affects cardiovascular disease pathogenesis in older persons, with an emphasis on examining possible strategies to prevent, retard or reduce cardiovascular disease burdens on our ageing population.

Dr Shakil is a cardiologist and early career investigator focused on the intersection between endemic infections and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in resource-limited settings. She is junior faculty at the University of Washington and has been awarded a Fogarty Global Health Fellowship to investigate drivers of coronary artery disease among Kenyan adults in Nairobi, with supplemental funding to examine transcriptomic signatures that predict cardiovascular disease in this population. She plans to engage in ongoing research that ultimately informs global health policy and expands her collaborative network to advance her broader vision.