Inside Access: The AATS Mitral Conclave in New York City
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: December 16, 2025
It’s not every day that I get invited to attend a meeting of the world’s leading mitral valve surgeons. So, when I received an invite to attend the AATS Mitral Conclave, I quickly booked a flight to New York City.
If you didn’t know, the AATS Mitral Conclave is an extraordinary conference that brings together over 800 physicians from around-the-world to discuss the best practices for mitral valve therapy. In this video, Dr. David Adams, a program director of the AATS Mitral Conclave and the Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief at Mount Sinai Health System, explains the importance of this meeting for mitral valve disease patients.
Experts Unite at the Mitral Conclave
It was great to see many new and familiar faces who were in attendance at the AATS Mitral Conclave. Here is Dr. Toby Cosgrove, the former President and Chief Executive Office of the Cleveland Clinic from 2004 to 2017. This was my first time meeting Dr. Cosgrove who is a living legend in the field of cardiac surgery.
Below is Dr. Steve Bolling from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Bolling has performed of over 4,000 mitral valve repair operations. Amazing!
Here is Dr. Niv Ad and Dr. Marc Gillinov (Cleveland Clinic) who specialize in both mitral valve surgery and atrial fibrillation. Fyi, up to 35% of patients with mitral valve disease also have atrial fibrillation.
Here is a picture from the Grand Ballroom where mitral valve experts gathered to discuss and debate many topics specific to the lifetime management of mitral valve disease.
That is Dr. Mario Castillo-Sang from St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky. As you might recall, Dr. Castillo-Sang recently hosted the Endoscopic Cardiac Surgeons Club meeting which addressed minimally-invasive approaches for mitral valve surgery.
You can see Dr. Dominic Emerson from Cedars-Sinai proctor a “Mitral Valve Repair Wet Lab” hosted by Medtronic. At this special wet lab, the attendees were able to practice mitral valve repair techniques in real-time.
Surprise! Surprise! Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy, who is an aortic valve and Ross Procedure specialist from Mount Sinai Health, also attended the Mitral Conclave. It was great to connect with Dr. El-Hamamsy and Dr. Yannik from China.
That is Dr. Tom Molloy, a robotic mitral valve repair specialist from Adventist Health Portland.
Here is Dr. Michael Ibrahim, who is the Director of Mitral and Reconstructive Valve Surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
That is Dr. Percy Boateng, another leading cardiac surgeon from Mount Sinai who has a specific focus in treating mitral valve disease and coronary artery disease.
The MedTech Exhibit at Mitral Conclave
In addition to learning from physicians about the latest research for treating mitral valve disease, I was fascinated by all the medical technology that was on exhibit at the Mitral Conclave.
As you can see below, the AtriCure team brought a simulator to the Mitral Conclave so that attendees could practice surgical ablation techniques which reduce the risks of stroke for patients with mitral valve disease.
Here is Melissa Byrd from AtriCure. We have been fortunate to work with Melissa on educational initiatives for both physicians and patients.
That is the new Fiber Tape by Arthrex, which is a fascinating new technology for sternal closure.
While spending time learning about Fiber Tape at the Arthex booth, I was very fortunate to meet Scott Ramsey. It turns out that Scott has had four heart valve surgeries since he was 19 years old. First, Scott had a homograft. Then, Scott had a mechanical valve which got infected. For his third procedure, Scott got another homograft. Lastly, Scott received another mechanical valve replacement for his fourth open-heart operation.
Here is the On-X mechanical heart valve replacement device made by Artivion.
Many Thanks to the AATS Mitral Conclave Attendees!
On behalf of our patient community, thanks so much to each and every person who attended the AATS Mitral Conclave. From the physicians to the audio/visual team, it takes a village to coordinate and execute an event like this. We are so thankful for your support of patients with heart valve disease.
A special “Thank You!” goes out to Dr. David Adams, Gideon Sims, Leemor Selitto and Rihanna Bakkar for including me in this special event.
Keep on tickin!
Adam
P.S. For the hearing impaired members of our community, please find below a written transcript of my interview with Dr. David Adams.
Adam Pick: Hi everybody, it’s Adam with HeartValveSurgery.com. We’re in New York City at the Mitral Conclave. I am thrilled to be joined by Dr. David Adams, who is a program director of the Mitral Conclave. He’s the president of the Mitral Foundation and he’s the Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief at Mount Sinai Health in New York City.
Dr. Adams, you and I have known each other for a long time. It is great to see you again and thanks for being with me today.
Dr. David Adams: It’s good to see you too. We go way back
Adam Pick: This is an extraordinary event. Can you share with the patients in our community what is happening here and why it’s so important for them to know about?
Dr. David Adams: The Mitral Conclave is a big meeting, Adam. As you know, we started this idea in 2011. The goal of this meeting was to bring the world experts together to talk about every aspect of mitral valve disease management guidelines, indications for interventions, types of interventions, very nuanced discussions about repair strategies, replacement strategies, and complex scenario strategies.
And that’s what this meeting is an exploration about. I just saw the registrations number. We have over 800 people here. We’ve had 32 concurrent sessions, seven plenary sessions, and the multiple lunch sessions. And honestly, every topic at mitral valve management intervention has been covered by the real world experts and all these young surgeons that are trying to get a foundation.
Adam Pick: On behalf of the patients in our community and patients all over the world, thanks to you and your entire team for your commitment, your dedication, and your outcomes for patients with mitral valve disease. Thanks for everything you’re doing.
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
Adam's Newest Blogs
Adam's Newest Posts
Adam's Video Library
Learn about heart valve surgery and patient success stories at Adam’s video library.
