Houston Aortic Symposium 2008

The Houston Aortic Symposium was an international meeting held here in April 2008 to commemorate the grand opening of the Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute.  It was a joint program of the UT faculties of Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery and the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine. It featured a faculty of 49 international experts in all aspects of aortic diseases, ranging from genetics to anatomy to surgical technique. 

In its inaugural year, the Symposium hosted a registered attendance of more than 300, along with dozens of guests, technical personnel, and others.  Our keynote speaker this year was Amy Yasbeck, a working film and television actor, and widow of actor John Ritter.  Ms. Yasbeck is founder of the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health.  She is a supporter of aortic disease research and awareness, and we are happy to have formed a relationship between the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery and the John Ritter Foundation.

Opening remarks were given by pioneers in the field of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, Dr. Michael DeBakey on Friday and Dr. Denton Cooley on Saturday. 

2008 faculty, and their institutions, are listed below (Alphabetical order)

• Azizzadeh, Ali: UT-Houston
• Bavaria, Joseph: University of Pennsylvania
• Berguer, Ramon: University of Michigan
• Bharati, Saroja: Heart Institute for Children, Chicago
• Bonow, Robert: Northwestern
• Buja, L. Maximilian: UT-Houston
• Cambria, Richard: Harvard
• Cameron, Duke: Johns Hopkins
• Cheshire, Nicholas: St. Mary’s, London
• Chuter, Timothy: University of California San Francisco
• Clagett, Patrick: University of Texas Southwestern
• Coogan, Sheila: UT-Houston
• Cooley, Denton: Texas Heart Institute
• Dalman, Ronald: Stanford
• DeBakey, Michael: Baylor College of Medicine
• Denktas, Ali: UT-Houston
• Elefteriades, John: Yale
• Estrera, Anthony: UT-Houston
• Gloviczki, Peter: Mayo
• Gotlieb, Avrum: University of Toronto
• Gould, Lance: UT-Houston
• Greenberg, Roy: Cleveland Clinic
• Griepp, Randall: Mt. Sinai
• Hamilton, Andrew: UT-Houston
• Hiratzka, Loren: CV Surgeons, Cincinnati

• Kazui, Teruhisa: Hamamatsu First School of Medicine, Japan
• Khalil, Kamal: UT-Houston
• Laing, Susan: UT-Houston
• Lytle, Bruce: Cleveland Clinic
• McPherson, David: UT-Houston
• Milewicz, Dianna: UT-Houston
• Miller, Charles: UT-Houston
• Mitchell, R. Scott: Stanford
• Pearce, William: Northwestern
• Porat, Eyal: Rabin Medical Center, Israel
• Safi, Hazim: UT-Houston
• Sandmann, Wilhelm: University of Dusseldorf, Germany
• Sdringola, Stefano: UT-Houston
• Sheimbaum, Roy: UT-Houston
• Shine, Kenneth: University of Texas Austin
• Sicard, Gregorio: Washington University, St. Louis
• Sundt, Thoralf: Mayo
• Svensson, Lars: Cleveland Clinic
• Taylor, Peter: Guy’s & St. Thomas, London
• Thompson, Robert: Washington University, St. Louis
• Tsai, Thomas: University of Michigan
• Walkes, JC: UT-Houston
• Willerson, James: UT-Houston
• Wolfe, John: St. Mary’s, London

Interested in attending again? Download the PDF...

The Houston Aortic Symposium 2009: The Second in the Series