News on ESH, hFRenDs (Heart Failure, Renal and Diabetes) conference, a tribute to Professor Eugene Braunwald, ESC Congress 2026, and congratulations to new appointments .
European Society of Hypertension (ESH): those were the days…
This archive photograph showing the former President of Poland, Lech Walęsa, having his blood pressure taken was presented during a session at this year’s 35th ESH Meeting.
“This quite extraordinary meeting,” writes our editor, Professor Terry McCormack, “was opened in Gdansk, Poland, by Lech Walęsa, the President of Poland from 1990–1995 and the first freely elected leader of the country. He was leader of the ship builder’s union Solidarity and one of the architects of the downfall of the Iron Curtain. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.
“Lech Walęsa was welcomed to the stage by meeting co-chairs Professor Krzysztof Narkiewicz (a past ESH president) and Professor Andrzej Januszewicz (ESH Vice-President). His address was followed by a lecture on ‘Medicine, science, politics and politicians’, delivered by Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak (University of Glasgow) whose mother, Professor Joanna Muszkowska-Penson, is pictured with Lech Walęsa above.
“The meeting was dominated by two themes. For blood pressure measurement, this was developments in cuffless technologies e.g. the CART BP rings used in South Korea, a country which has now overtaken Canada as the most successful in terms of blood pressure control. It has recorded an impressive 87% reduction in stroke incidence as a result. For treatment, the theme was the emergence of a new class of drugs, predominately, the aldosterone synthase inhibitors.”
Diary date
- The 36th meeting of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) will be held in Basel, Switzerland, in 2027. The 2028 meeting, to be held in Glasgow, will be a joint meeting of the ESH, the International Society of Hypertension and the British and Irish Hypertension Society.
Professor Eugene Braunwald 1929–2026
Tributes from around the world have been paid to Professor Eugene Branwald (Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA), who passed away in April.
He was called the father of modern cardiology by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), for his groundbreaking work in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and other specialties. “He was a legend of all legends,” said ACC President Dr Roxana Mehran.” His contributions span decades and his legacy will live on with all of the many lives he touched through his work as a clinician, researcher, mentor and teacher.”
https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2026/04/23/22/08/in-memoriam-eugene-braunwald-md-macc
Professor Thomas F. Lüscher, President of the European Society of Cardiology said: “Professor Braunwald was the leading cardiologist of his time. His vision and innovation changed the trajectory of cardiovascular medicine. He had a rare ability to see what the field needed next, and then to build the science and rigorous evidence leading to better care. He created the Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) group that went on to deliver life-saving therapies across the cardiovascular spectrum. Just as importantly, he set a standard for intellectual honesty and mentorship, giving generations of clinicians and researchers the confidence to aim higher.”
https://www.escardio.org/news/press/press-releases/european-society-of-cardiology-pays-tribute-to-professor-eugene-braunwald-19292026/
hFRenDs: nurses urged to ‘be the change you want to see’
A total of 84 specialist nurses from across the UK braved record high summer temperatures to attend this year’s hFRenDs (Heart Failure, Renal and Diabetes) Season 5 conference in Birmingham. The event was held in collaboration with the British Society for Heart Failure Nurse Forum, Diabetes Specialist Nurse Forum UK and the Association of Nephrology Nurses.
Opening the day, keynote speaker, Beverley Bostock (Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Mann Cottage Surgery) delivered a rallying call for nurses to keep smashing cardiovascular-renal-metabolic (CVRM) silos and to collaboratively think across CVRM care. She described the overlapping conditions as “different sides of the same coin”.
Regarding kidney health, Beverley pressed the case for wider albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) testing saying: “We have two kidneys and we need two tests”. She warned that a ‘healthy’ estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) can mask a raised ACR, and patients are more likely to die from a cardiovascular event than to progress to dialysis, making early holistic protection essential.
To help structure patient reviews, Beverley shared her own mnemonic, LEMON-AID (Lifestyle, Empathetic education, Optimisation, Negotiation, and Aid) to self-manage these. On treatment, she was unequivocal about the expanding evidence base for the use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, statins and finerenone across CVRM conditions.
She closed with a challenge to delegates: “Don’t say ‘Nobody in our area runs these clinics’. Be the person that makes those things happen.”
ESC Congress 2026
As we go to press, we are anticipating the latest research to be presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2026 in Munich, Germany, where the theme this year is ‘Spotlight on artificial intelligence’. We will be following the clinical implications of some of the results from the 59 trials to be presented at this year’s Hot Line sessions. We will also report on the four new ESC evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to be published at the meeting. Professor Cecilia Marianne Linde (Consultant in Cardiology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden) will begin her two-year term as ESC President at the start of the Congress.
Congratulations to the following people on their new appointments
Professor Andrew Clark (Chair of Clinical Cardiology, Hull York Medical School) has been named President Elect of the British Cardiovascular Society and will succeed the current President, Professor André Ng (University of Leicester) in June 2027.
Dr Niall Keenan (Consultant Cardiologist, West Herts Teaching Hospitals Trust; Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College, London) has been elected President of the British Society for Cardiac Magnetic Resonance.
This autumn, HEART UK will welcome John Orchard as its new Chief Executive taking over from Jules Payne who is retiring. John has served as a charity executive for the past 11 years and has more than 17 years’ experience in the healthcare charity sector. We wish Jules a long and happy retirement.
