Institut für Cardiomyopathien

International Scientific & Clinical Program on State-of-the-art Cardiomyopathy Care

In 2025, the Heidelberg Institute for Cardiomyopathies celebrates its 10th anniversary — a decade marked by remarkable progress, collaboration, and dedication to improving patient care. Over the past ten years, the field of cardiomyopathies has under gone significant transformation. Advances in diagnostics, personalized treatment strategies, and a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms have reshaped how we approach these complex conditions. Much of this progress has been driven by national and international collaboration and the ongoing exchange between research and clinical practice. 

To mark this special milestone, we invited leading experts from around the world for an international scientific symposium. Together, we reflected on past achievements, explore current challenges, and discussed future directions in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiomyopathies. 

On this page, you can access and watch all symposium presentations online. We hope these recordings will continue to foster scientific exchange and provide valuable insights for clinicians, researchers, and all those interested in the field of cardiomyopathies.

Download Programme 

 

Welcome

Prof. Benjamin Meder, Director Institut for Cardiomyopathies Heidelberg
Prof. Norbert Frey, Director Department Cardiology University Hospital Heidelberg
Session

RNA-splicing: pathogenesis and novel treatment

Titin as a therapeutic target
Prof. Michael Gotthardt
Charité - University Medicine
Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
High risk genes causing arrhythmogenic DCM
Ass. Prof. Dr. Victoria Parikh
Stanford Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford, USA
MYBPC3 missplicing
Prof. Maria Carmo-Fonseca
Instituto de Medicina Molecular Joao Lobo Antunes
Lisbon, Portugal
Unified evaluation of splice predictor models reveals hidden performance gaps
Young Investigator
Joshua Gillard, PhD
Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford, USA
Session

Arrhythmia & atrial cardiomyopathy: novel concepts

Engineered heart tissue to model atrial and ventricular pathologies
Prof. Thomas Eschenhagen
Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Institut of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology
Is the ICD overused?
Spotlights from our friends in Australia
Prof. Diane Fatkin & Collegues
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institut Sydney, Australia
Which VT is ablatable, which needs an ICD?
Prof. Thorsten Lewalter
Peter Osypka Heart Center, Munich, Germany
Clinic for Cardiology and Internal Intensive Care Munich South


















Session

The Leducq Keynote

AI & cardiomyopathy: the final frontier? - PART 1
Prof. Euan Ashley
Stanford Medicine
Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford, USA
AI & cardiomyopathy: the final frontier? - PART 3

AI & cardiomyopathy: the final frontier? - PART 2

AI & cardiomyopathy: the final frontier? - PART 4
Session

Myocardial inflammation - insights and novel treatments

Targeting myocardial inflammation
Prof. Stephane Heymans
Maastricht University - Centre for Heartfailure Research
Departement of Cardiology, Maastricht, The Netherlands
CAMK2D subcellular localization determines myocardial recovery with mechanical circulatory support
Young Investigator
Thomas Martin, PhD
University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Treatment of mitochondrial cardiomyopathy
Prof. Christoph Maack
University Hospital Würzburg
German Center for Heart Failure (DZHI), Würzburg, Germany
What is the treatment reality for myocarditis?
Spotlights from our friends in Brasil
Dr. Vagner Madrini
Heart Institut, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brasil
Session

Cardiac myosin inhibitors in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Myosin inhibition: possibilities beyond obstruction
Prof. Iacopo Olivotto
University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Myosin inhibition and arrhythmia burden - is there a link?
Prof. Perry Elliott
University College London
Institut for Cardiovascular Science, London, United Kingdom
Modulating sarcomere dynamics in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Prof. Johanna van der Velden
Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
MYBPC3 related disease mechanisms and treatment
Prof. Lucy Carrier
Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Institute of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology
Session

From mendelian disease to population genetics

Novel therapeutic targets by multitrait analyses
Prof. Connie Bezzina
Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The case of intermediate frequency intermediate-effect variants
Dr. Roddy Walsh
Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Atrial fibrillation - do we understand it by genetics
Prof. Stefan Kääb
Ludwigs Maximilian University Hospital, Munich, Germany
Polygenic risk scores: the evidence so far
Prof. James Ware
Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
Session

Rare cardiomyopathies and novel RNA ans DNA therapies

Genome editing - from rare to common
Prof. Simon Lebek
University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
RNA therapies in cardiomyopathies
Prof. Yigal Pinto
Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Deciphering new disease mechanisms in genetic cardiomyopathies
Prof. Eva van Rooij
University Medical Center (UMC), Utrecht, The Netherlands
Are Europeans overcautious with gene therapies?
Spotlights from our friends in the US
Prof. Leslie Leinwand, Ass. Prof. Victoria Parikh, Prof. Lars Steinmetz
Session

New technologies for cardiomyopathy care

Single-cell transcriptomics in the study of cardiac disease
Prof. Michela Noseda
Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
.
Artificial Intelligence: how to advance and implement
Prof. Folkert Asselsberg
Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tackling spatial information and cellular heterogeneity
Prof. Norbert Hübner
Charité - University Medicine Berlin
Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, Germany
Mulitmodality imaging in the cardiomyopathies
Prof. Elena Biagini
IRCCS Sant`Orsola Polyclinic, Bologna, Italy
Session

Modern heart failure therapy - any more need for ICD and etiology-based treatments?

From phenotype to genotype: important lessons from the clinics
Prof. Eloisa Arbustini
Foundation IRCCS Policlinic San Matteo
University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Towards precision medicine in cardiomyopathy and heart failure
Prof. Bettina Heidecker
Charité Heart Center, Berlin, Germany
Clinic for Cardiology, Angiology and Intensive Care Medicine
Sex-differences in heart failure
Prof. Sabine Steffens
Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
Institute for Prophylaxis and Epidemiology of Circulatiory Diseases
A decade full of heart failure innovations
Prof. Lars Maier
University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
Clinic and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine II
Special Session: "10 Years Cardiomyopathy Revolutions"

Cardiac amyloidosis - time for cure!

Diagnosis as the foundation of therapy: an advanced cookbook approach
Prof. Fabian Knebel
Sana Clinic Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany
Internal Medicine II
State-of-the-art treatment of amyloidosis with cardiac involvement
Prof. Ute Hegenbart
Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
Amyloidosis Center
Amyloidosis, more frequent than thought!
Prof. Peter van der Meer
Univerity Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Departement of Cardiology
Long-term treatment outcomes in TTR amyloidosis
Prof. Ali Yilmaz
University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
Heart MRI Center
Session

Keynote Lecture

Be brave and start your company! - PART 1
Prof. Leslie Leinwand
University of Boulder, Colorado, US
Be brave and start your company! - PART 3

Be brave and start your company! - PART 2

Be brave and start your company! - PART 4
Session

Sudden cardiac death and crazy ion channels

High risk cardiomyopathies - novel insides into RBM20
Prof. Lars Steinmetz
Stanford Medicine
Departement of Genetics, Stanford, US
Genetic testing strategies
Prof. Linda Gerull
University Hospital Würzburg
German Center for Heart Failure (DZHI), Würzburg Germany
new therapeutic options in right ventricular cardiomyopathy
Prof. Larissa Fabritz
University Center of Cardiovascular Science, Dept. of Cardiology
University Heart & Vascular Center, UKE, Hamburg, Germany


















Session

Cardiamyopathies: what was achieved in ...

... specific RNA- and protein-targeting - cardiac amyloidoses as a principle
Dr. Stefanie Schwarting
Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital (LMU)
Medical Clinic and Polyclinic, Munich, Germany
... modelling cardiomyopathies by in vitro systems
Prof. Katrin Streckfuss-Bömeke
University Hospital Würzburg
Institut of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Würzburg, Germany
... realizing genotyping as a standard of care
Prof. Peter van Tintelen
University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Clinical performance and readability evaluation of LLM for patient communication in HI and cardiomaypathies
Young Investigator
Dr. Christoph Reich
University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
Clinic for Cardiology, Angiology and Pneumology