Almost 200 national and international cardiovascular researchers attended the DCAcademy summer meeting 2024 in Nyborg, Funen. Here, they spent three days learning more about the different aspects of Danish cardiovascular research and disease.

”Once again, this year, our summer meeting set the stage for some incredibly inspiring cardiovascular days. It's a pleasure to see new and familiar faces coming together for science and networking”, says Christian Aalkjær, Executive Managing Director, DCAcademy.  

This year’s programme contained 60 excellent talks from both clinical, basic, and translational perspectives. Besides the plenary and keynote talks, there were also three parallel sessions and 48 poster presentations.

New perspectives and opportunities within the cardiovascular field
 

Two participants at this year’s summer meeting were Karen Hvid, PhD Student and Anders Solitander Bohlbro, first-year resident.

Both Karen and Anders were participating in the DCAcademy summer meeting for the first time, and they were excited about this year’s programme.

“It is exciting to be able to listen to presentations from leading researchers within the cardiovascular field. You get to know about important aspects of cardiovascular research and how the field looks in a Danish context”, Karen says.

A new hot topic on the programme this year was AI and how to use it in cardiovascular research:

“The possibilities of AI are exciting, and I am really looking forward to the workshop with Jan Wolff. I hope to learn how I can use AI as a tool in my research”, Anders says.

Both Karen and Anders benefited from the diverse programme and its many possibilities:

“The diverse programme is exciting. There are atherosclerosis-specific sessions and a talk by Flemming Konradsen on cardiovascular disease and Global South – both the scientific programme and the possibility to network with other researchers are good aspects of the summer meeting”, Karen adds.

The networking for this year’s summer meeting consisted of activities such as stand-up paddleboarding, archery, and a guided mountain bike trip. In the afternoon of the first day, which is dedicated to younger researchers, there was also a “Meet the Professor event”. Here the young researchers could meet national and international researchers and hear about their career paths and get a piece of advice for their own career.

Awards for both young as well as experienced researchers
 

Another highlight of this year’s programme was the award ceremonies Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. On Friday, the DCAcademy Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 was given to Professor Emeritus, Henning Rud Andersen for his outstanding contributions to the research area. Professor Rud Andersen responded by giving an inspiring, humorous, and heartwarming talk on his invention: The TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation).

For the first time ever, the DCAcademy Rising Star Award was also awarded. The recipient was Caroline Espersen from Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. In her recommendation for the award, it said: Caroline's remarkable scientific achievements with 17 peer-reviewed articles, including 10 as first author, in several high-impact journals in cardiovascular medicine, her innovative research on a large RCT trial (the FIBCAG trial, and her collegiality makes her an ideal candidate for the DCAcademy Rising Star Award.

On Saturday, both oral presentations and poster presentations of young talents were celebrated. For the best oral presentation, Tobias Skjelbred, Rigshospitalet, was awarded a travel grant of 5000 DKK.

For the best poster presentations Kezia Jerltorp, University of Copenhagen and Tanita Drejer Jeppesen, Aarhus University were awarded travel grants of 5000 DKK.

Save the date
 

Next year’s DCAcademy summer meeting will be 22^nd – 24^th of June 2025 in Nyborg, Funen.