Lectures and seminars KI South Distinguished Lecture Series: Mandeep R. Mehra
Prof. Mandeep R. Mehra, MD, MSc, FRCP (London), is an internationally recognized authority in advanced heart failure, heart transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support and serves as the William Harvey Chair in Advanced Cardiovascular Medicine, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Heart Disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Prof. Mehra is widely regarded as one of the field’s leading academic clinicians and investigators. Over the course of a distinguished international career, he has made major contributions to the understanding and treatment of heart failure and transplantation. His work has helped define mechanisms of heart failure, advance the science of cardiac transplantation, improve immunosuppressive strategies, introduce genomic biomarkers for rejection surveillance, and shape the evolution of modern left ventricular assist device therapy.
He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation from 2010 to 2020, during which the journal rose to the top rank in its specialty. He has also served as President of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation and President of the Heart Failure Society of America. He is one of the few international academics to hold the designation as a “Braunwald Scholar” and has specialized in healthcare economics and management from the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School. In 2025, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Heart Failure Society of America.
Prof. Mehra´s main research areas and contributions:
- Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS): Dr. Mehra is a pioneer in research into ventricular assist devices (VADs) and how these can improve survival and quality of life for patients with advanced heart failure.
- Biomarkers and translational genomics: He has been central in the development of non-invasive biomarkers to monitor allograft rejection, including the use of CARGO studies and gene expression profiling (GEP) to reduce the need for cardiac biopsies.
- Heart transplantation and immunosuppression: His research focuses on optimizing post-transplant treatment protocols, including novel immunosuppression strategies to improve long-term survival and reduce complications. He has recently led the international consensus on cardiac xenotransplantation.
- Coronary artery disease after transplantation: He studies the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), a form of chronic rejection, and how to treat this through advanced imaging and new therapies.
Prof. Mehra is also known for his ability to translate preclinical research into clinical applications that improve outcomes for patients waiting for or who have undergone a heart transplant.
Lecture: "Heart replacement therapy in 2026 and beyond"
Introduction by KI researcher Gianluigi Savarese, Docent at the Department of Clinical Science and Education at Södersjukhuset:
"Unmet needs in heart failure care"
The lecture will be followed by an afternoon reception in the Svalan entrance hall with possibility to interact and ask questions.
Early Career Researchers (e.g. PhD students, postdocs, assistant professors) interested in an exclusive opportunity to engage in discussions regarding career advice with Professor Mehrad at 13:00 before the lecture, pls. contact gianluigi.savarese@ki.se no later than Monday, May 18th.
Host: Gianluigi Savarese