George Dangas, MD, PhD, a global authority on nonsurgical cardiovascular and valve intervention, in May 2023 was appointed president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). Dr. Dangas, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is the first Mount Sinai cardiologist to hold this position and is serving as the 46th president of SCAI.
Dr. Dangas, also the Director of Cardiovascular Innovation at the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute at Icahn Mount Sinai, and Chief of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Queens, is a leader in the study and practice of interventional techniques and treating endovascular thrombosis. In his work with SCAI, he has served as a key faculty and program committee member for a range of meetings and events, and is a former SCAI Trustee.
“I am deeply honored to serve as SCAI president this year,” Dr. Dangas says. “Our society is moving the interventional cardiology specialty forward in such impactful ways that are reflective of our current times and speak to the innovation required to advance patient care. I am excited to collaborate with our physician and associate members to address the needs of our profession and make an imprint on global health.”
In this one-year term as president of SCAI, Dr. Dangas acts as spokesperson, supports its development efforts, and helps manage its operations. Dr. Dangas completed medical and postgraduate studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, followed by his internship and residency in internal medicine at The Miriam Hospital and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He completed his cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology fellowships at The Mount Sinai Hospital, and has been certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology, and elected Master of the American College of Cardiology and Master of SCAI.
“Our society is moving the interventional cardiology specialty forward in such impactful ways that are reflective of our current times and speak to the innovation required to advance patient care.”
George Dangas, MD, PhD
One of Dr. Dangas’ priorities as president of SCAI is advocating for an effort to update and simplify the certification and maintenance of certification (MOC) process for interventional cardiologists. SCAI is working with the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, Heart Rhythm Society, and Heart Failure Society of America to file for a new American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine. This new entity would be independent, by and for cardiologists, and committed to a streamlined, transparent, and accountable process of initial and ongoing certification.
“Building broader coalitions among multiple societies with common interests is a central priority of my presidency,” Dr. Dangas says. For example, SCAI led a multi-society statement to raise awareness of the underserved diagnosis and treatment of peripheral vascular disease and its ominous sequelae, including limb amputations. The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, Society for Vascular Medicine, Society for Vascular Surgery, and the American College of Radiology all joined. “It was tremendously powerful to see so many professional societies in a united front against the underappreciated peripheral arterial disease that is literally crippling patients; people need to know about this and fight it along with their doctors.”
Wider international expansion with respect to members, fellows, and active participants in educational and professional programs is another key goal of SCAI this year, Dr. Dangas says.
Dr. Dangas, an active physician-scientist, presented late-breaking clinical research at the May 2023 SCAI conference, examining the criteria proposed by the European Society of Cardiology to prescribe long-term treatment with more than one blood thinner after percutaneous coronary intervention. The study indicated how to stratify high-risk heart attack patients, who are more likely to experience complications due to blood clotting in the coronary arteries. These patients may indeed benefit from treatment with more than one blood thinner in the absence of significant bleeding risks.
“We see an inherent need to provide individualized cardiology care using precision medicine principles adjusted by patients' unique risk factors,” Dr. Dangas says. “With this study, we are working to find the best way to provide the right blood-thinner therapy to the right patient. Evaluating these criteria offers an important step toward the creation of a more personalized tool to identify high-risk patients who would benefit from a long-term treatment with more than one blood thinner."
George Dangas, MD, PhD, describes his goals and priorities as president of the society.