Myocardial Recovery from Chronic Heart Failure With Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Emma Birks, MD, PhD

University of Louisville

Dr. Emma Birks is a heart failure, transplant and artificial heart cardiologist. She is also a physician-scientist. She is a Professor of Medicine, and the Director of the Heart Failure, transplantation and mechanical circulatory support program in the Cardiovascular division at the University of Louisville. She directs the well-known heart failure, transplant and artificial heart programs at Jewish hospital in Louisville. She first became interested in heart failure and transplant cardiology, focusing on the care of patients with advanced heart failure undergoing heart transplantation and receiving ventricular assist devices in 1996. She completed a basic science PhD in the field of ventricular assist devices and heart transplantation under the supervision of Professor Sir MH Yacoub. She became interested in using left ventricular assist devices to induce myocardial recovery and now leads clinical trials and research in this area. She has performed extensive clinical studies on myocardial recovery and has an international reputation in this field. She has lectured nationally and internationally and published widely in the area of heart failure, left ventricular assist devices and transplantation. Her research focuses on inducing myocardial recovery and on the underling molecular mechanisms in recovery, i.e., in the reversal of heart failure. She has published widely, including in the New England Journal of Medicine and numerous manuscripts in Circulation. She became an Attending Consultant Cardiologist in transplantation and mechanical support in 2004 at Harefield Hospital, London, England and Director of the VAD program there in 2005 and also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial college London. She teaches numerous medical students, residents and cardiology fellows. In 2009, she moved to the University of Louisville to be Director of the Heart Failure, Transplantation, and Mechanical Support program which is a growing and successful program. She has now developed a myocardial recovery program there and the burgeoning VAD and transplant programs in Louisville are the outcome of a highly successful and growing heart failure program. She is actively involved in several clinical trials in this patient population there. She currently teaches cardiology fellows and residents and started a heart failure fellowship program. She works closely with Cardiothoracic Surgery and with Biomedical Engineering and is involved in translational studies.

Dr. Birks was Chair of the Mechanical Circulatory Support Council of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation and is on the operating board of the Mechanical Circulatory Support Council of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation. She led the mechanical circulatory support section of the planning committee for the 2015 International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation meeting. She was Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on assisted circulation. She is a reviewer for over 13 journals and is a member of the Editorial Board of Congestive Heart Failure and JACC Heart Failure.