Cardiovascular Disease: Living with Multiple Conditions
Cardiovascular Disease: Living with Multiple Conditions
Global Heart Hub 4th Annual Unite Summit
Global Heart Hub 4th Annual Unite Summit
The Unite Summit 2024 brought together patient organisations, clinicians, and key stakeholders from around the world to address cardiovascular disease and interconnected conditions, including stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, liver disease and obesity.
With a focus on the challenges and innovations within the treatment and care of multiple long-term CVD-related conditions and the lived patient experience, the Summit explored actionable priorities to improve patient care and quality of life.
A Patient-Led Summit
The Unite Summit 2024 welcomed patient community leaders and representatives from across 65 patient organisations.
This included a strong presence from across the connected conditions of stroke, diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease and liver disease, as well as additional representatives focused on amyloidosis, organ transplants, and hypertension.
The Summit was uniquely shaped by the patient perspective, with nearly half of the delegates having lived experience as a patient or carer.
Unite Speakers
The Unite Summit welcomed 20 speakers across the fields of patient advocacy, clinical practice, research, policy and public health, as well as from across the disease areas.
Unite Summit 2024 Watch now!
Unite Summit 2024 Speakers
Karen Coleman
Moderator
– Unite Annual Summit
About the Moderator
Karen Coleman is a professional moderator and broadcast journalist from Ireland. Karen has moderated and been Master of Ceremonies of a significant number of high-level EU and national and International events over the last 20 years. In addition, Karen is the editor of EU News Radio (Ireland) which reports on EU news for Irish radio stations. Karen therefore has extensive experience reporting on EU and international issues spanning a wide range of topics from Health and Medical to Environmental, Political, Economic, EU Cohesion policy, Finance, Technology and Security and Defence issues.
Neil Johnson
Executive Director,
Global Heart Hub
About the Speaker
Neil Johnson is a founder and Executive Director of Global Heart Hub, the first international alliance of heart patient organisations. Neil has over 32 years of experience in cardiovascular health – working across prevention, education, patient engagement, service innovation & implementation, and patient advocacy.
Neil was Chief Executive of the Irish Heart & Stroke organisation, Croí from 1992–2023 and the Irish National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health from 2014–2023.
He holds a Master’s degree in psychology; is an Honorary Clinical Fellow of the School of Medicine, University of Galway, Ireland; and in 2023, University of Galway awarded Neil an Honorary Doctorate in Laws (LLD) in recognition of his work in cardiovascular health and patient advocacy.
Dr Susan Connolly
Consultant Cardiologist, Integrated Care, Galway University Hospital
About the Speaker
From 2006 to 2017 she was a Consultant Cardiologist in Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust where she led the Imperial Cardiovascular Health Programme. In 2017 she moved to the Western Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland where she set up the “Our Hearts Our Minds Programme for Cardiovascular Health”. In October 2022 she received a Healthcare Hero Award from the British Heart Foundation for her role in transforming this programme to a fully virtual one during covid.
She is a past member of the Council for the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation and a co-author of its 2012 Core Components and Standards. She was a member of the writing group for the 3rd Joint British Societies Consensus for CVD Prevention in Clinical Practice 2014 as well as a section editor for the preventive cardiology curriculum in Education in Heart.
She is a member of the advisory board of the National Institute of Preventive and Cardiovascular Health (NIPC) and was awarded an NIPC Honorary Fellowship in 2019.
Lynn Hedgecoe
Patient
Advocate
About the Speaker
Since her Cardiomyopathy diagnosis in 2008 resulting in having to give up her corporate career, Lynn has strived to improve the awareness, treatment, care and prevention of cardiovascular disease. A keen activist through many channels including a member of the Cardiomyopathy Change Maker team, the British Society for Heart Failure Patient Advisory Panel, the Governance team at ARC North–west Coast, and for over ten years is a Trustee of the Vital Signs heart screening programme.
Maura Murphy
Patient
Advocate
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Maura lives in County Mayo in Ireland. She is eager to continue learning and raising awareness about obesity and other non-communicable diseases. Her advocacy focuses on supporting individuals living with chronic relapsing conditions and aims to shift the blame, shame, and stigma associated with these issues towards management and prevention through understanding.
Diana Wong Ramos
Patient
Advocate
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Currently, Diana no longer works as a journalist. Instead, she has become a patient advocate, serving as a board member of the first Portuguese stroke survivors organisation and as the National Coordinator of the Stroke Action Plan for Europe. Happily married, Diana is a full-time mother and feels privileged to have given birth to her third child two years after her stroke. It has been a true blessing for her.
Penilla Gunther
Former Policymaker,
Patient Advocate
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
She was appointed by the European Commission 2022 as Member of the Cancer Mission Board for implementing the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
With her overarching knowledge and approach to healthcare and life science, Penilla is often invited to speak at national or international meetings, be part of steering committees, advisory boards and to consult on policy training.
Prof Roberto Bertollini
Advisor to the Qatar Minister
of Public Health
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Currently he is an advisor for public health to the Minister of Health of Qatar and has been heavily involved in the Qatar response to the Covid-19 epidemic by chairing the country’s Scientific Reference and Research Task Force which provided scientific evidence for the public health response to the pandemic. Roberto leads the Collaborative Qatar – WHO project on sport and health and in this role held responsibility for health monitoring during the Qatar FIFA World Cup in 2022. In addition, he is a Clinical Professor in Public Health at Qatar University, Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University and visiting lecturer at the Global Health Master Programme, University of Milan.
His main professional interests concern the determinants of communicable and non-communicable diseases, with special reference to the effects of emerging environmental threats such as climate change and air pollution, as well as lifestyle and socioeconomic determinants. He is also very involved in the translation of research findings for public health policy development and in the implementation and evaluation of public health programmes and practices.
Sarah Murray
National PPI Group Chair National Cardiac Surgery Clinical Trials Initiative, Leicester University
and British Heart Foundation
About the Speaker
In her spare time Sarah keeps goats, ponies, geese, hens and bees, and fences to relax.
Prof Raymond
Vanholder
President European Kidney Health Alliance
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Prof Vanholder published more than 900 papers, including reviews and book chapters, on adequacy of dialysis, uremic toxicity and various topics related to clinical nephrology. He serves as a member of the editorial review board of several journals and is subject editor of Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation and Toxins. Up until autumn 2010 he was chairman of the European Uremic Toxin Work Group (EUTox) and member of the Executive Board and treasurer of Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO). Until summer 2011 he held the role of chairman of the European Renal Best Practice (ERBP), and until autumn 2014 he chaired the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), participating in several international relief operations.
Prof Vanholder was founding president of the Belgian Society of Nephrology (BVN-SBN) and is past president of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO) and of the European Renal Association (ERA). He is now retired from his role of Professor at Ghent University and is president of the European Kidney Health Alliance and chair of the European Chronic Disease Alliance.
Beatriz Yáñez Jiménez
International Diabetes Federation Advocacy Manager
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
At the end of 2012, Beatriz moved to Brussels to join the European Public Health Alliance. She joined the International Diabetes Federation’s Advocacy team in 2013, where she has since managed the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) advocacy initiatives and the two IDF networks of people living with diabetes (Young Leaders in Diabetes and Blue Circle Voices).
Prof Jeroen Hendriks
Professor of Cardiovascular Nursing
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
He is an Academic Nurse and Health Scientist and his Doctoral studies at Maastricht University (The Netherlands) focussed on developing specialised nurse-coordinated atrial fibrillation (AF) clinics, based on the concept of integrated care, and proving improved outcomes and the role of specialised nurses to manage these clinics. With this landmark trial he initiated a paradigm shift in care – demonstrating significant reductions in hospitalisation and mortality – underpinned by international guideline recommendations, to which he contributed.
His program of research focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of novel models of care delivery for patients with chronic cardiac conditions, in particular atrial fibrillation, which includes engagement and guidance of patients in secondary prevention to cardiovascular comorbidities, risk factors and lifestyle modification.
Prof Hendriks is the immediate Past-President of the Australian Health and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Association (ACRA) for South Australia and the Northern Territory. He is the Chair of the Science Committee at the Association on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (ACNAP)- European Society of Cardiology (ESC), a member of the ACNAP Communication Committee, and a member of the ESC Scientific Program Committee. He is actively involved in the American Heart Association, the Heart Rhythm Society (USA), and the Asia Pacific heart Rhythm Association.
He is the Deputy Editor of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, an international advisory board member for Heart, and member of the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Care Coordination, European Heart Journal Digital Health, European Heart Journal Imaging, Methods and Practice, and Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Review.
In 2023 he was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the American Academy of Nursing, and in 2022 he was inducted into the SIGMA International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.
A Prof Rani Khatib
Associate Professor & Consultant Cardiology & Cardiovascular Research Pharmacist
About the Speaker
Based at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK, Prof. Khatib leads multiple local and national Cardiometabolic Risk and Medicines Optimisation projects and is a visiting Associate Professor at the University of Leeds. He is the National Clinical Champion for Lipids Optimisation at NHS England and lead author of the Accelerated Access Collaborative lipid management & statin intolerance pathways. He is a member of the ESC Cardiology Allied Professionals Task Force, NICE Heart Failure Guidelines & Quality Standards Committee member, Chair of UKCPA Cardiac Group. Prof Rani’s areas of interest include Post Myocardial Infarction Care, Medicines Adherence, Person-centred Care, Prevention, Ischaemic Heart Disease, Lipid Management (including PCSK9i & Statin intolerance), Cardiometabolic Clinics, Heart Failure, Atrial Fibrillation, Anticoagulation, and Hypertension.
Dr John de Verteuil
GPwSI (GP with Special Interest) Cardiology
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
From June 2022 until January 2023, in collaboration with Wilmington Healthcare, Chapel Pharmacy and E-murmur, dr de Verteuil set up and ran a community-based pilot looking at the ability of Digital auscultation with the help of artificial intelligence to detect murmurs and therefore heart valve disease in the community.
Prof Martha Gulati
Cardiologist
Unite Annual Summit
2024
About the Speaker
Dr Lilian Mbau
Executive Director, Centre
for Cardiovascular Prevention
and Rehabilitation, Kenya
About the Speaker
Following her Medical training from the University of Nairobi, she completed a Master’s degree in public health (MPH) from Moi University and a Master of Science in Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine from the University of South Wales. She holds a certification in Cardiac Rehabilitation from the University of Wisconsin and the International Council for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (ICCPR) and is a member of ICCPR and the Advocacy Committee of the World Heart Federation.
Dr Mbau’s passion is to provide a holistic approach to improving heart health and quality of life to patients with heart disease and those at risk. This includes promoting self-management by ensuring individuals are equipped with information to manage their health conditions in collaboration with their health providers, and can adopt healthy behaviours, adhere to their medication and perform their activities of daily living.
Prof Ariane Vieira
Scarlatelli Macedo
Cardiologist and Professor
of Medicine
About the Speaker
Dr Macedo is a recognised cardiologist with a Master’s in Health Sciences from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a Ph.D. in Translational Medicine from the Federal University of São Paulo. She is an expert in cardio-oncology, cardiovascular complications of cancer treatments, heart failure, valvular heart disease, thrombosis, and amyloidosis. Dr Macedo has led significant advancements in cardio-oncology, serving as the Scientific Director of the Cardio-Oncology Study Group at the Brazilian Society of Cardiology and coordinating the establishment of Latin America’s first Center of Excellence in Cardio-Oncology at Samaritano Hospital, São Paulo, which received the International Cardio-Oncology Society’s Gold Seal of Excellence in 2022.
She is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (2019) and currently serves as an ex-officio member of the 2024-2026 Board of the ESC Council on Cardio-Oncology, contributing to research, education, and knowledge dissemination aimed at reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease through a multidisciplinary approach involving oncology, haematology, and cardiology.
Dr Macedo is also certified by the International Cardio-Oncology Society (2021) and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology CardioOncology. She is dedicated to advancing cardiovascular health through leadership, research, and education.
Anu Gomanju
Patient
Advocate
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Rhonda Monroe
Patient
Advocate
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Rhonda E. Monroe has overcome five coronary artery dissections, 3 heart attacks, 2 strokes, congestive heart failure, 3 defibrillator implants, a hematoma evacuation, a failed quadruple bypass surgery, failed stents, repeat bypass surgery, a pericardial window, an ejection fraction of 21 percent and more. She now advocates for others. In 2019, Rhonda launched BOOST – Better Outcomes Optimal Scientific Therapies™ to shift the culture of care and promote evidence-based therapies to improve patient outcomes. She partners with researchers, the government, health systems, patient organisations, and pharmaceutical and device companies to achieve results.
Rhonda’s work has garnered media attention including US News & World Report, WebMD, and CNNHealth.com. She appeared on the Today Show and has been featured in TIME magazine for Look Good, Feel Good: A Heart and Hair Affair, which addresses disparities in healthcare. Rhonda has published in three peer-reviewed journals and sits on advisory boards for several clinical trials, including the role of Chair of the Patient and Stakeholder Advisory Board of RECHARGE (REvascularization CHoices Among Underrepresented Groups Evaluation) and its associated Trials. Rhonda is a native of Washington, D.C. residing in Boone, NC.
Dr Apoorva Gomber
Associate Director of Advocacy, Center for Integration Science, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
About the Speaker
Dr Gomber has worked on various advocacy initiatives with global organisations to improve access to insulin and to increase the understanding of childhood diabetes. Her research interests focus on overcoming health disparities in diabetes care globally, strengthening patient advocacy as a catalyst for change, and looking for solutions to complex problems using evidence-based data and cross-sectoral collaborations. She also serves as a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Diabetes.
Dr Gomber served as the South East Asia Regional Representative-elect from 2017 to 2019 for the Young Leaders in Diabetes Program by the International Diabetes Federation and for the Young Leadership Program at NCD Child. Her unwavering dedication to advocating for overcoming health disparities and stigma among people living with diabetes and redefining the influence of patient advocacy is profoundly grounded in her personal journey living with diabetes, and her role as a physician.
Lucas Xavier
Young Leader
in Diabetes
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
Len Crispino
Patient Advocate
Unite Annual Summit
About the Speaker
His instrumental contributions include founding the Ontario Economic Summit and Hang Tough, an initiative in support of the University Health Network (UHN). Hang Tough aims to address the unintended consequences of medical treatments and create a new integrated model of care for patients. Hang Tough has raised $1.2 million dollars to date.
Len has held senior leadership roles in the Business, Entrepreneurship, Public Service, and Not-for-Profit sectors. He holds an ICD.D designation – a designation given to individuals who demonstrate extensive knowledge of board governance. He also has 15 years of experience serving on various boards, including as the co-chair of the William Osler Health Centre Foundation, and chair, of Niagara College.
Unite Summit 2024 Photos
Supportive materials
Access restricted to registered summit attendees.
John de Verteuil
- Unite 2024 Supportive video 1 – Dr John De Verteuil
- Unite 2024 Supportive video 2 – Dr John De Verteuil
Dr Susan Connolly
Dr Lilian Mbau
Prof Ariane Macedo
Neil Johnson
Collaborators
Global Heart Hub would like to acknowledge and extend our appreciation to our collaborating organisations across the connected disease areas.
Supporters
This summit was made possible with support from
