The Baird Institute recently provided me with a generous Travel Grant to attend Tromsø Aorta 2024, a biennial international meeting of aortic physicians and surgeons, scientists, and geneticists with a shared passion for improving the lives of patients and families affected by conditions of the aorta. This three-day conference was a joint meeting from the IRAD (International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection) and the GenTAC Alliance (Genetically Triggered Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Cardiovascular Conditions).
Delegates from across the globe travelled to the Arctic Circle and convened in Tromsø Norway. During the IRAD Program, we heard about novel CT and MRI imaging techniques, evidence-based models of care for patients with acute aortic dissection, and surgical and endovascular approaches to aortic dissection management. Three important prospective clinical trials currently running in Scandinavia, the UK and the USA, studying the early use of endovascular treatment of uncomplicated type B aortic dissection were also presented.
In the GenTAC Program a large focus was on the research into and growing understanding of the genetic landscape of aortic disease, the importance of genetic testing and its vital role in the provision of personalised care. Important aspects of clinical practice were also covered, including exercise after aortic dissection and pregnancy in women with aortic disease. Burgeoning technologies were explored such as the emerging role of AI in risk prediction for aortic dissection, and facial recognition technologies to assist physician assessment of patients with undiagnosed aortic clinical syndromes.
The meeting also provided me the unique opportunity to create connections with like-minded health providers, with whom new international collaborations have already begun. It was also a great pleasure to catch up with my teacher, mentor and friend Professor Alan Braverman (pictured), who trained me in aortic disease during a Fellowship at Washington University, and colleagues from other leading aortic institutions in the USA, including internationally renowned aortic geneticist Dr Dianna Milewicz (also pictured).
I’m grateful to The Baird Institute for their generous support and am excited to continue my work here in Sydney and across Australia in improving the health care and lives of patients and families affected by aortic conditions.
