CSANZ 2021 is on this week and although COVID-19 restrictions have forced the conference online, attendees can expect a rich and well-rounded program with plenty of networking opportunities, according to the organisers.
Originally intended to be held in Adelaide, the conference was hoped to be the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand’s (CSANZ) first “fully live” Annual Scientific Meeting since the pandemic began in early 2020, the limbic reported earlier this year.
Scientific Program Committee Chair, Associate Professor James Chong said CSANZ had managed to preserve most of the meeting when pivoting to a virtual event, including Professor Helen Hobbs’ RT Hall Lecture on human genetics and therapeutic targets for cardiometabolic disorders and the Ralph Reader Prize sessions.
Associate Professor Chong said he was most looking forward to Professor Hobbs’ session, as well as Professor Charles Murry’s podcast on how stem cells could be used to treat heart failure and Professor Peter MacDonald’s Victor Chang Memorial Lecture on increasing donor heart availability for cardiac transplantation.
Attendees can also look forward to improved virtual interaction and networking opportunities this year, according to conference co-organiser, The Conference Company Manager Asia Pacific, Stephen Noble.
“All live sessions will provide interactivity through a Q&A text box, which allows presenters to respond after their session is completed, open chat, polling and rating systems,” he said.
Users can access research, abstracts and discussion forums with abstract authors via a poster gallery and mini-oral library and chat or video call peers via the interactive Meeting Hub and Sponsor Hub, he added.
Mini oral presentations across the interventional, arrhythmia, clinical/surgery, heart failure, imaging, multidisciplinary and paediatric streams are already available via the CSANZ 2021 platform.
The limbic will be bringing coverage of CSANZ 21 next week in news reports, podcasts and webinars.
Follow @thelimbiccardio and #CSANZ2021 for news and highlights from the conference.