The University of Kentucky’s biennial Aortic Symposium was held Sept. 27, 2025, at the Healthy Kentucky Research Building and hosted a variety of students, staff, and faculty from around the country sharing their expertise in aortic research, surgery, and education. Featured speakers of the day included:
Nicholas Burris, MD, Associate Professor, David A. Bluemke Professor of Radiology, Director of Aortic Imaging at the University of Wisconsin
Scott Cameron, MD, PhD, Section Head of Vascular Medicine in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic
Mark Farber, MD, Chief in the Division of Vascular Surgery, Program Director of the Vascular Surgery Fellowship, Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina
Michael Fischbein, MD, PhD, Thelma & Henry Doelger Professor in Cardiovascular Surgery, Director of Thoracic Aortic Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University
James Hamilton Black, III, MD, Chief of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at Johns Hopkins Medicine
David Minion, MD, Professor of Surgery at the University of Kentucky
Sherene Shalhub, MD, MPH, FACS, DFVS, Professor and Head of Vascular Surgery, Co-Director of the Heart and Service Line at Oregon Health and Science University
Jessica Wagenseil, DSc, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the Center of Regenerative Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis
The Saha Aortic Center Awards were presented by Mary Sheppard, MD, to the following recipients:
Award for Research: Lisa Cassis, PhD
Award for Education: Anthony Sertich, MD
Award for Clinical Care: Preeti Ramachandran, MD
Early career presentations were given by Fahad Alkhalfan, MD, a postdoctoral fellow at Cleveland Clinic, William Schwartzman, a medical student at Ohio State University, and Tyler Benson, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Cincinnati.
This year’s event was sponsored by the Saha Aortic Center, Cook Medical, Gore, and Medtronic.