I am delighted to inform the members of the Society for Heart Valve Disease that at the recent HVSA/SHVD Joint Valves in the Heart of the Big Apple Meeting in New York, HVSA President Dr. Jeffrey Borer and I announced the future planned merger of our two societies. We have been collaborating on strong educational meetings for almost ten years, and the time is right to bring these two unique and special organizations together.

As formal merger of the two groups will take time, we are looking to establish the newly merged society at the conclusion of the 2013 SHVD/HVSA Joint Biennial Congress, which will be held 22-24 June 2013 in the beautiful city of Venice, Italy. In the meantime, cooperation between the two societies will continue to increase, with the renaming of our SHVD working groups as Joint Working Groups of the SHVD and HVSA, and increased participation by members of both organizations.

As always, the SHVD continues to foster its mission – to advance the practice, science and art of treating heart valve disease through a multi-disciplinary approach with the ultimate aim of reducing the global burden of the disease.

Jose Pomar, MD, Ph.D
President