The CathSHOCK Conference is a multidisciplinary event for physicians and allied health professionals. It showcases up-to-date approaches and management strategies for cardiogenic shock in the cath lab. Presentations focus on:
- The role of a Shock Team in the management of Cardiogenic Shock patients
- Percutaneous Mechanical Circulatory Support options
- MCS-assisted PCI - when and how to decide
- Support of the unstable patient in the cath lab
CathSHOCK provides a practice-based learning opportunity for the delivery of care when managing cardiogenic shock. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in simulations with dedicated Proceduralist and Allied Health simulation streams.
Learning Objectives
- To understand the frontier of percutaneous MCS options
- To review current approaches and management of cardiogenic shock in the cath lab
- To provide a practice-based learning opportunity when managing cardiogenic shock patients
Dr. Biswajit Kar, M.D.
Dr. Biswajit Kar, M.D., earned his Medical Degree from the University of Pune Armed Forces Medical College in India. He completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Subsequently, he completed a Fellowship in Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology at Texas Heart Institute/BCM where he later served as a faculty member.
He currently serves as Professor and Chief of the Cardiology Division at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). He is also the Co-Chair of the UTHealth Heart & Vascular Institute, Vice President of Strategy & Development for UTHealth Houston Heart & Vascular, and Director of the Heart & Vascular Service Line at Memorial Hermann. As well, Dr. Kar serves as Chief of the Medical Division of the Center for Advanced Heart Failure (CAHF) at the Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute in the Texas Medical Center.
Dr. Kar has been practicing medicine in the Houston area since 1995 and is Board Certified in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, Cardiovascular Disease, Internal Medicine and Interventional Cardiology. He specializes in cardiovascular disease, structural interventional cardiology, advanced heart failure and heart transplantation. His clinical interests include advanced structural and complex coronary peripheral intervention, and mechanical circulatory support for cardiogenic shock.
Dr. Kar is a member of the American College of Cardiology, American Society of Artificial Organs, American College of Physicians, Heart Failure Society of America and International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation. He has published over three-hundred original articles and book chapters in a variety of nationally known medical journals.
Dr. Ayaaz K. Sachedina
Chair, CathSHOCK Conference
Ayaaz is a Canadian Interventional Cardiologist at Foothills Medical Centre and the University of Calgary. He is the Director of CathSHOCK – Calgary Shock Symposium, the Lead for the Percutaneous Mechanical Circulatory Support Program in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, and the coordinator of the Cardiogenic Shock Team Initiative at Foothills. He completed his medical training at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Texas where he completed a fellowship in Interventional Heart Failure at the Center for Advanced Cardiopulmonary Therapeutics and Transplant, Texas Medical Center, Houston. His focuses include coronary intervention, percutaneous mechanical support in the management of cardiogenic shock, and TAVI.
Dr. Michael Tsang
Lead, Program Advisory Committee
Dr. Michael Tsang is an Interventional and Critical Care Cardiologist. He completed his Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and Critical Care Cardiology at McMaster University. He holds a MSc. in Health Science Education and is the Assistant Program Director for the McMaster Adult Cardiology Residency Program. His clinical, educational and quality improvement work focus is on Cardiogenic Shock, the Shock Team, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Complex coronary artery disease. He is the Catheterization Laboratory Lead on Cardiogenic Shock and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Hamilton Health Sciences. He co-led the McMaster Cardiogenic Shock Team model through which he continues to strive for excellence.
Samantha Morahan
Clinical Engagement Specialist
Samantha is a dedicated liaison to the Department of Cardiac Sciences, guiding clinical members in fostering collaborations and advancing impactful initiatives. She leads the planning and execution of the Clinical Innovation Initiatives such as Heart Failure, the Calgary Aortic Program, Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, and Cardio-Oncology.
Dr. Sanjog Kalra
Dr. Sanjog Kalra is an internationally recognized expert in advanced coronary revascularization, intravascular imaging, hemodynamic support, and care of critically ill cardiac patients. He previously served as Director of Complex Coronary Therapeutics and Associate Director of the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. He is now an Interventional Cardiologist and Cardiac Intensivist at Toronto General Hospital with a full-time academic role at the University of Toronto. Dr. Kalra has received numerous teaching awards and was recently appointed the Brompton Funds Professor in Interventional Cardiology by the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and the University of Toronto.
Dr. Derek So
Dr. Derek So, a professor at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, is an interventional cardiologist and director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto and completed residency in Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology in Ottawa. Dr. So holds a Master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. His research interests include: acute coronary syndromes, pharmacogenomics, personalized anti-platelet therapy and cardiogenic shock. He is the interventional cardiology lead at the UOHI Code Shock Program team. Dr. So also leads the Canadian Cardiovascular Research Collaboratory (C3) cardiogenic shock working group.
Dr. Daniel Kim
Dr. Daniel Kim is a Professor of Medicine and Interventional & Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist at the University of Alberta. He is the Medical Director of Advanced Heart Failure & Transplantation. He is a recognized educator, having received teaching awards for Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Peer Teaching. His clinical and research interests are on novel detection methods for rejection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy, cardiorenal physiology in heart failure, cardiogenic shock team implementation, invasive intracoronary imaging and coronary physiologic assessment. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications including guidelines and consensus statements from CCS and the ISHLT.
Dr. Jeff Shaw
Dr. Jeff Shaw is a cardiologist specializing in advanced echocardiography, critical care medicine, and critical care cardiology at the University of Calgary. Dr. Shaw completed internal medicine, cardiology, and critical care medicine residencies at the University of Calgary, where he was the Chief Cardiology Resident. He completed fellowship training in Advanced Echocardiography at the University of Calgary. Dr. Shaw’s research is published in national peer-reviewed scientific journals. Dr. Shaw leads the Cardiology Simulation program at the University of Calgary and has received teaching awards from the Division of Cardiology and the Department of Medicine. Dr. Shaw is a representative of cardiac critical care within the shock team.
Dr. Janine Eckstein
Dr. Janine Eckstein is an Interventional Cardiologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, SK. She completed her Internal Medicine and Cardiology training in Saskatoon prior to completing an Interventional/Structural Cardiology fellowship at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. She is Medical Director of the Structural Heart Program for Saskatoon and Northern SK. Her clinical interests include coronary intervention, structural heart disease and percutaneous management as well as percutaneous mechanical support. She is currently working on her MBA through Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Elissa Babe RN BN
Elissa Babe is the Unit Manager for the Cardiac Cath Lab, Electrophysiology and CPCR at Foothills Medical Centre. Elissa was a Cath Lab nurse for over 10 years, with experience in both the Foothills Medical Center and the Mazankowski Heart Institute Cath Labs. Her interest in team development and quality improvement inspired her to transition to a management role. The Cath Lab team consists of 70 staff (Nurses, MRT’s, Physiological Tech’s and support staff) that provide service to Southern Alberta. Our Cath Lab performs around 7000 procedures per year 25% of which are emergency procedures. Elissa leads her team with a commitment to excellence and continuous growth. She is also passionate about fostering a collaborative environment that prioritizes innovation.
Dr. Faizan Amin
Dr. Faizan Amin is a Heart Failure Cardiologist and Intensivist at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. He is an Associate Professor in the Divisions of Cardiology and Critical Care, Education and Innovation at McMaster. He completed is Cardiology and Critical Care training at McMaster, followed by a fellowship in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation at University Health Network in Toronto. He is the medical director of the CICU at Hamilton General Hospital, the Director of the ECLS Program at Hamilton Health Sciences, and the provincial co-Chair of the Ontario ECLS Network.
Dr. Amanda Bergeron
Dr. Amanda Bergeron earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Louisiana State University in 2003 and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas in 2013. She has practiced as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner since 2014 and currently serves as the team lead for the Advanced Heart Failure APPs at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. In her role, she works in the Heart Failure ICU, providing specialized care for patients with advanced heart failure and those in cardiogenic shock requiring mechanical circulatory support.
Dr. Raymond Yau
Dr. Raymond Yau, M.D. is an Interventional Cardiologist board certified in Interventional Cardiology and Internal Medicine. He completed his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Yau went to medical school at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. His residency was done at Loma Linda University Medical Center and his fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine.
After graduating his interventional cardiology fellowship in 2014, he is still at his first job as Heart hospital of New Mexico and leads the advanced heart failure and mechanical support (MCS) program. His passions are MCS utilization and cardiogenic shock program development.
Dale Wist
Dale is a graduate of the Cardiovascular Perfusion program at the Michener Institute. Dale worked as a Cardiovascular Perfusionist in Toronto, Halifax, and Sacramento, before settling down here at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.
Dr. Greg Schnell
Greg is from Saskatoon where he completed a degree in pharmacy and worked as a pharmacist before going on to medical school at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. He subsequently returned to the west and Calgary for his internal medicine and cardiology training. He has completed a fellowship in echocardiography in Calgary and at The University of Virginia. Greg has a general cardiology practice with a special interest in critical care cardiology in addition to providing echocardiography services in the Calgary Health Region. He is a clinical professor at The University of Calgary and was Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Foothills Medical Centre from 2008 - 2015.
Kevin McKenzie
Kevin McKenzie completed his graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario in 1992 before embarking on a 20-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, where he held diverse roles in sales, marketing, and management. In 2012, he was appointed Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology (CAIC-ACCI), a position he continues to hold. Alongside this leadership role, Kevin also serves as a consultant to the Atlantic Cardiovascular Society (ACS) in Atlantic Canada and the Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation (CCI-CIC) in Vancouver, contributing his extensive experience to advancing cardiovascular education and innovation across Canada.
Dr. Rajiv Tayal
Dr. Rajiv Tayal is a board-certified interventional cardiologist and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Structural Heart Program for The Valley Hospital, Paramus, NJ. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Seton Hall University of Heath Sciences and completed fellowship training in Advanced Heart Failure, Cardiac Transplantation, Interventional and Structural Cardiology at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an affiliate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey. Dr. Tayal’s mission is to provide patients with personalized, high-quality, and comprehensive care and offer a broad array of services geared to address even the most complex cardiovascular illnesses in a personalized and attentive manner.
Dr. Anoop Mathew
Anoop Mathew serves as a structural interventional cardiologist at the Mazankowski Heart Institute within the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. In his role, he serves as the Interventional Cardiology lead of the Edmonton transcatheter aortic valve replacement program and Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Interventional program. Dr. Mathew specializes in providing catheter-based treatment solutions for patients with complex structural heart conditions and heart valve disease, including adults with congenital heart disease.
Within the Western Canadian Adult Congenital Heart Disease Network, he contributes to a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach, ensuring access to complex structural heart interventions and better outcomes for individuals with Adult Congenital Heart Disease. The program successfully executes highly intricate structural interventions such as recanalizing totally occluded coarctation of the aorta segments, addressing occluded Mustard baffles, pulmonary valve replacements, and coiling complex collateral channels.
In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Mathew is actively involved in clinical research, with a keen interest in translational medicine. He also take great pride in mentoring medical students and residents.
Steve Menzies
Steve has been a member of the cardiovascular perfusion team at FMC since 2007 and became the clinical lead of the program in 2016. This team of 11 perfusionists is responsible for the safe operation of the heart lung machines for approximately 1700 open heart cases annually as well as the bedside management of 30-35 ECLS patients in the CVICU. Steve and his team are also responsible for the initiation and troubleshooting for the various ventricular assist devices utilized at FMC. In 2009 Steve began work at the Alberta Children’s Hospital to help develop a rescue ECLS program alongside the PICU team. Despite the challenges related to starting an ECLS program in a tertiary center with no cardiac surgery program, this initiative was launched in late 2010. Critical to the success of ECLS at both ACH and FMC, Steve helped create a high and low fidelity sim doll in collaboration with the eSim departments and is planning to continue to develop and strengthen this education platform.
Marina Shields
Marina Shields RN, BN is a Nurse Clinician at the Foothills Medical Centre Cardiac Cath Lab. Marina has 15+ years of experience as a Cath Lab nurse at FMC. Her organizational and leadership skills keep our lab running efficiently and smoothly. Her dedication to excellence in patient care and compassion for our patient population has helped to shape our team culture. She enjoys photography, boxing class, walking her dog, and time with her adult children.
Dr. Daniel Holloway
Dr. Daniel Holloway is a cardiac surgeon at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the Cardiac Surgery Residency Program Director at the University of Calgary. He received his medical education at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and his cardiac surgery training at the University of Calgary. He underwent fellowship training in cardiac transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and TAVI at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. His clinical practice includes minimally invasive valve and coronary surgery, mechanical circulatory support, TAVI, and open-heart surgery.
Dr. Bryan Har
Dr. Bryan Har is an interventional cardiologist at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, AB. He completed his medical training at Western University and his cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowships at the University of Calgary. He is a Clinical Associate Professor and is the Lead of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab Research Program at Foothills Medical Centre. His clinical interests include high-risk coronary interventions, intracoronary calcium modification, and intravascular imaging.
Dr. Christopher Overgaard
Dr. Christopher Overgaard is inaugrual Chief of the Department of Cardiac Health and the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory director at Southlake Regional Health Centre. He obtained his MD and postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology from the University of Toronto. He worked at the University Health Network from 2007 to 2019, where he held multiple leadership positions including Director of the STEMI program, Director of the Coronary Intensive Care Unit, and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.
Dr. Juan Russo
Dr. Juan Russo is an interventional cardiologist and clinician investigator. He earned his medical degree at McMaster University in 2011. He completed residencies in internal medicine at the University of Toronto, and adult cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He then completed his fellowship training in interventional cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and subspecialty training in complex higher-risk interventions and advanced hemodynamic care at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Russo has a clinical interest in higher-risk coronary interventions and cardiac critical care. His primary research focus is developing neuroprotective strategies for the early management of comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Dr. Nakul Sharma
Dr. Nakul Sharma completed his undergraduate medical training at the University of Saskatchewan before pursuing Cardiology at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. In 2011 Dr. Sharma became the first Cardiac Transplant/VAD Fellow in Alberta and pursued a Masters in Public Health from the University of Alberta. Dr. Sharma continues to participate in both local and national workshops in Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation. His current research interests are in Advanced Heart Failure and Mechanical Support. He is the Director of Heart Failure Clinics at the Rockyview General Hospital and Program Director for the Adult Cardiology Residency Program in Calgary. He also enjoys playing competitive basketball, building Lego, and collecting sports memorabilia.
