Digital image of a heart
The first webinar was watched live by 800 scientists from 40 countries across the globe

A series of live webinars aimed at connecting the global community of cardiovascular researchers are attracting thousands of scientists and clinical doctors from around the world. The virtual seminars, streamed live via Zoom, are helping them share their research findings during the current COVID-19 lockdown.

Initiated by the heart health experts from University of Birmingham and King’s College London, Dr Davor Pavlovic and Professor Michael Shattock, a series of live webinars has received support of the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR). The first webinar, delivered by Professor Eduardo Marban discussing the effects of coronavirus on the heart, was watched live by 800 scientists from 40 countries across the globe.

Dr Pavlovic commented: “As remote working becomes the norm, many researchers will feel increasingly isolated, until the COVID-19 situation improves. We, therefore, need a new way of exchanging research findings, which is why we decided to launch this webinar series.

“We look forward to hearing all the wonderful science and to continuing exchange of ideas. And perhaps, although prompted by adversity, we may find that our new initiative has a life moving forward beyond COVID-19.”

There is already a daily schedule of webinars running until 26 June, featuring experts from 51 universities around the world, including: Stanford University, University of Oxford, National University of Singapore, University of Birmingham, King’s College London, Maastricht University, Heidelberg University, University of California, and many more. 

Webinars run daily and 60 heart disease world experts have already signed up to present and discuss their findings over the next three months. Over 2,925 researchers from Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia and Oceania have tuned in to watch the webinars live already.

The presentations are currently targeted for North American, Latin American and European time zones, but all webinars are recorded and made available online, so that researchers working in ‘less convenient’ time zones can still access the ideas and information. 

Some of the research areas covered by experts delivering the webinars include:

  • Atrial fibrillation and heart failure
  • Genome editing and gene therapy for heart disease
  • Metabolism in heart disease
  • Predicting the future with nuclear molecular imaginG
  • Systems pharmacology of cardiac fibrosis
  • Insulin resistance in heart failure
  • COVID-19 and inflammation