PaACC / Italian Federation of Cardiology

It was our turn to host a visiting delegation of Italian cardiologists via PaACC’s Partnership with the Italian Federation of Cardiology (part of ACC’s International Outreach program, commonly called "twinning"). They came from all over Italy and  were able to observe medical care at a number of different PA healthcare institutions. They also had a chance to learn about the history and culture of both Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Their trip culminated with the Mid-Atlantic Capital Cardiology Symposium (MACCS) in Washington, DC before they returned home.

PaACC at MACCS

I hope many of you were able to attend the Mid-Atlantic Capital Cardiology Symposium (MACCS) which took place at Heart House in Washington, DC November 15 -16. If you recall, MACCS is a one-day rapid fire format educational event with debates and panel discussions. PaACC had an outstanding representation of attendees, invited faculty and guest lecturers participating in this symposium. It was wonderful to witness our local cardiology experts on a regional stage.

PaACC Jeopardy

PaACC education section lead Colin Craft, MD, FACC guided the 2025 PaACC FIT Jeopardy Competition at Heart House on November 15th. It was a well fought, lip biting battle which was closely contended until the end. However, only one could prevail and at the end our Fellows from Main Line Health’s Cardiovascular Diseases Fellowship won the battle.

They will represent us at the Jeopardy Competition in New Orleans during ACC.26. Please make a note to come out and support them on March 28th from 3:15-3:45 CT on the exhibit floor.

Upcoming PaACC 2026 Events

Our committees have been working extremely hard to organize a ton of fun, creative and informative programming for you. We hope these will be useful and impactful. Please join us for these upcoming events!

NEW PROGRAMMING: PaACC Early Career Series

Your PaACC Early Career Representatives, Doctors Mahesh Vidula (Eastern rep) and Matthew Lander (Western rep) have teamed up with member Dr. Oby Ibe to create a new PaACC Early Career series called CardioLaunch: Your Early Career Playbook! This is a novel, innovative, exciting, and stimulating webinar program which will cover diverse topics that affect our professional career growth and development, in the cardiovascular profession. Although the focus is on early career physicians, all of our members will discover content in this series which is relevant to any stage of your career, practice setting and your role in cardiology.

The series begins with the first session titled “Finding your Place in your State/National ACC” on Tuesday, January 20th at 6:30pm. The series is free to PaACC members, but you will need to register.

I have previously introduced you to Mahesh and Matt, but you have not met Oby before. Please join me in welcoming and thanking Oby for contributing to this PaACC chapter activity!

Dr. Oby Ibe, MD, MPH is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, specializing in preventive cardiology, lipidology, and cardiovascular imaging, focused on advancing health equity and lifestyle medicine for diverse communities.

PaACC Multimodality Imaging Series

We are absolutely thrilled to continue our PaACC multi-modality imaging series with the next installment “Assessment of Myocardial Viability: The Who, Which, When… or Should We Bother?” on Tuesday, January 27 at 6:00pm. Please join us for this interactive and CME webinar exploring this clinically important, and often debated, topic. It will include reviews of key concepts, evidence shaping current practice, thought-provoking cases, and insights from a multidisciplinary expert panel. The program is free, but you must register to receive the Zoom link. Special thank you to Dr. Jonathan Wolfe, MD, FACC, FSCAI for helping us to organize this session and collaborating with Dr. Mahesh Vidula Early Career Representative (Eastern) and co-founder of this series. You have not met Jon before so please join me in welcoming and thanking him for contributing to this PaACC chapter activity!

Dr. Jonathan Wolfe, MD, FACC, FSCAI is an Assistant Professor of Cardiology and Critical Care Medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

CVTeam Educational Series

Our CVTeam’s Educational Series continues on January 29th at 12:00pm with a great discussion with genetic counselor Victoria Bacon, MS, MPH, CGC from the University of Pittsburgh Heart & Vascular Institute. As with our other programming, participation is free but you will need to register.

ACC.26 – New Orleans, LA

In addition to supporting our FITs during Jeopardy, we are in the process of organizing different events for our PaACC community at ACC.26. We want to facilitate and encourage those rare opportunities to meet up in person and experience the magic that occurs when our entire PA community comes together. Our popular PaACC Mixer & Networking Event returns on March 29th from 5-7:00pm at the Hilton Riverside New Orleans. An invitation will be sent closer to the event.

Our favorite cardiologist, Dr. Katie Berlacher MD, MS, FACC (PaACC past governor and president) is once again leading this gargantuan task of chairing the ACC.26 Annual Scientific Sessions. So, we know it’s gonna be DYNAMITE! Congratulations Katie!

 

OK, IT’S A WRAP FOLKS!

Please email us to let us know if you will be attending, so we can make sure you are included in our PA chapter activities. I hope to see many familiar and new faces at the ACC.26! Dare I say it’s gonna be a fun time?!

Remember to check out our website at www.pcacc.org and please reach out any time via president@pcacc.org with questions, ideas, needs or if you would like to get involved in PaACC activities.

Best wishes for the new year! Until the next time.

Marietta Ambrose, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACC

President, PaACC

Governor, Eastern PA