President's Message
fall 2025

Hello my PaACC family,

I hope you had a lovely summer, and everyone managed to make some wonderful memories. Welcome to the fall and the busy months ahead.

Let us pause and take a moment to remember that our wellness matters, and this always comes first!

Local Notable PaACC Activities

PaACC’s Partnership with the Italian Federation of Cardiology (part of ACC’s International Outreach program, commonly called "twinning"). 

I wanted to share the personal musing from our early career physician, Dr. Victor Farah (Allegheny General Hospital) who you will recall, participated in an observership (with Dr. Joshua Levenson, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) across multiple hospitals in Italy. They also attended the annual Italian cardiology scientific conference in Rimini, Italy, in May 2025. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about this trip, and I would love to share Victor’s memories with you, in his own words:

Victor Farah, MD

“This May, I had the privilege of representing the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, alongside my colleague Dr. Joshua Levenson, at the ANMCO Annual Meeting in Rimini, Italy, through the “twinning” program between our Chapter and the Italian Federation of Cardiology. In addition to participating in the meeting, we were hosted at two hospitals in Rome—San Filippo Neri Hospital and San Camillo–Forlanini—where we experienced firsthand the Italian approach to cardiovascular medicine.

At San Filippo Neri, Dr. Stefania Angela Di Fusco, an expert in echocardiography and ANMCO’s newly appointed Secretary General, introduced us to a system where cardiologists themselves perform and interpret imaging studies, maintaining both precision and efficiency.

Pictured above are Dr. Victor Farah (left) and Dr. Stefania Angela Di Fusco (second to left).

At San Camillo–Forlanini, Dr. Geza Halasz shared his work in the cardiomyopathy clinic, including innovative use of cardiopulmonary stress testing and research in artificial intelligence. Both institutions exemplified a strong culture of clinical excellence, research, and education. 

Pictured above are Dr. Victor Farah (second from right) and Dr. Geza Halasz (third from left).

I was struck by the depth of training and skill of Italian cardiologists, as well as the emphasis on focused, patient-centered care. This experience highlighted the importance of international collaboration and knowledge exchange. I am deeply grateful to the ACC for supporting this opportunity and look forward to bringing these lessons back to my practice and to our shared mission of advancing cardiovascular health worldwide.

 

For the future participants in the PaACC international outreach program (Twinning), this is a great experience that I would do again in a heartbeat!”

 

Dr. Victor Farah

 

PaACC trivia break

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Of course, Victor and Josh also found time to do some sightseeing! How many of you recognize this landmark architectural and archeological wonder of the world? Here’s a hint...its name is derived from the ancient Greek word “kolossos”!

Pictured above are Dr. Victor Farah  (left) and Dr. Joshua Levenson (right)

PaACC Education activities

PaACC education section lead Dr Colin Craft joins the Italian Federation of Cardiology education team to present many of ACC.25’s most impactful LBCTs for ACC.25 late breaking clinical trials/LBCT webinar on September 22, 2025. Register here. We will present some important trials (BaxHTN trial, MAPLE-HCM, ZENITH, Semaglutide and Tirzepatide in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction, ALPACA, ALONE-AF Trial) in a very digestible and effective format, along with useful and practical commentary from our own experts, here in PA and from the perspectives of our Italian colleagues.

Mid-Atlantic Capital Cardiology Symposium (MACCS) 
The Mid-Atlantic Capital Cardiology Symposium (MACCS) is a one-day rapid fire format educational event with debates and panel discussions that are designed to be interactive and engaging. We begin on Saturday, November 15, 2025 with an evening Kick-off Cocktail Reception and follow with education on Sunday November 16, 2025 – all at Heart House! Register Here!

For our Fellows in Training (FITs) we have a special session designed just for them: FIT Forum on Saturday, November 15,2025 including non-clinical competencies, the FIT Poster Gallery and more – it will be a day FITs don’t want to miss. Register for FIT Forum today! 

PaACC FIT Jeopardy 2025

Our PaACC FIT Jeoparry competition take place in the morning of Saturday, November 15, 2025 at Heart House in Washington, DC. All PA cardiology fellowship programs should look out for email invitations to sign up in the next couple of weeks. Please contact us if you have any questions. 

Best Poster Competition @ FIT Forum

Fellows in Training (FIT) are invited to submit research abstracts and educational case reports to the FIT Forum @ MACCS Poster Gallery to be held on November 15, 2025. Submitted research abstracts will be considered for the Mid-Atlantic Capital Best Poster Contest. Complete rules and the submission site are here. Residents are also invited to submit for an online poster gallery.

 

PaACC Legislative updates

I hope many of you have already signed up, but if not, there’s still plenty of time to register here for the 2025 ACC Legislative Conference, on October 5-7, 2025, in Washington, DC. Please come join our PA delegation as we hear from ACC leaders, staff and other experts on health policy issues affecting patients and the profession. This is also a great occasion for them to hear directly from us. This signature three-day event also provides an important opportunity to speak directly to members of Congress and their staff, on the final day of the meeting. Come practice and/or learn advocacy skills! 

 

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 at the conference.

 

I hope to see many familiar and new faces at the 2025 ACC Legislative conference.

 

Remember to check out our website at www.pcacc.org, follow us on Twitter @PAChapterACC, 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.

 

Until the next time.

Marietta Ambrose, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACC

President, PaACC

Governor, Eastern PA