DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND MITIGATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST FOR STS CME ACTIVITIES

The STS recognizes that there are a variety of financial relationships between individuals and ineligible companies that require review to identify possible conflicts of interest in a CME activity. The STS Education Disclosure Policy is designed to ensure quality, objective, balanced, and scientifically rigorous STS CME activities by identifying and resolving all potential conflicts of interest prior to the confirmation of service of those in a position to influence and/or control CME content. The STS has taken steps to mitigate any potential conflicts of interest. The purpose of this policy is to ensure all potential conflicts of interest are identified and mechanisms to mitigate them prior to the CME activity are implemented in ways that are consistent with the public good. The STS is committed to providing learners with commercially unbiased CME activities.

All STS CME activities will strictly adhere to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. In accordance with these Standards, the following decisions will be made free of the control of an ineligible company: identification of CME needs, determination of educational objectives, selection and presentation of content, selection of all persons and organizations that will be in a position to control the content, selection of educational methods, and evaluation of the CME activity.

All STS 2026 CABG Academy conflict of interest disclosures can be found in the list of faculty below. Please note, there may be discrepancies in the provided list of disclosures compared to faculty/participant verbal disclosures in the session due to changes or relevance. All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.

Disclosure Information

As a sponsor of continuing medical education accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), The Society of Thoracic Surgeons requires that any individual who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity must disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This is to ensure that that all decisions related to the planning, faculty selection, delivery, and evaluation of accredited education are made without any influence or involvement from the owners and employees of an ineligible company. The ACCME defines ineligible companies as those whose “primary business is producing, marketing, selling, reselling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients.” The question of whether a disclosed conflict situation could represent undue influence on the educational activity by an ineligible company or whether the disclosed information is sufficient to consider an abstract, presentation, or other educational enduring material to represent potentially biased information must be mitigated prior to an individual’s involvement in STS educational programming.

Disclosure information is provided for each presenter at the beginning of the session and/or presentation. If applicable, the absence of relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies will also be disclosed to learners. Review the complete STS Education Disclosure Policy.

Course Directors, Faculty, Abstract Presenters, and STS Staff Disclosure Information

Refer to the STS Education Disclosure Policy. The individuals below have disclosed whether they have financial relationships with ineligible companies in the past 24 months. All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated. (Current as of August 27, 2026)

Course Directors

David Glineur, MD, PhD
Financial Relationships: Medistim (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria)

Sigrid Sandner, MD, MS
Financial Relationships: Nothing to disclose.

Mario Gaudino, MD, PhD, MSCE
Financial Relationships: Nothing to disclose.

Faculty

The following faculty have nothing to disclose:

Irbaz Hameed, MD
Robert Hawkins, MD
Christopher Lau, MD
Jennifer Lawton, MD
Patrick Myers, MD
Giuseppe Tavilla, MD, PhD

The following faculty have disclosed these financial relationships with ineligible companies in the past 24 months:

Chase Brown, MD
Financial Relationships: Intuitive (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria)

Ralph Damiano, MD
Financial Relationships: Atricure, Edwards Lifesciences (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria); Atricure (Research Grant); Atricure, Medtronic (Consultant/Advisory Board)

Kelsey Gray, MD
Financial Relationships: Intuitive, Atricure (Consultant/Advisory Board)

Michael Halkos, MD
Financial Relationships: Intuitive, Medtronic (Consultant/Advisory Board)

Alexandra Kharazi, MD
Financial Relationships: Becton Dickinson, Zimmer Biomet (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria)

Armin Kiankhooy, MD
Financial Relationships: Atricure (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria; Consultant/Advisory Board)

Nirav Patel, MD
Financial Relationships: Intuitive (Consultant/Advisory Board)

Vivek Rao, MD
Financial Relationships: Abbott; Medtronic (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria); Medtronic (Consultant/Advisory Board)

Marc Ruel, MD
Financial Relationships: Medtronic (Research Grant; Consultant/Advisory Board)

Joseph F. Sabik, III, MD
Financial Relationships: Abbott; Medtronic (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria)

Bobby Yanagawa, MD
Financial Relationships: Angiodynamics; Edwards Lifesciences (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria)

Abstract Presenters

The following abstract presenters have nothing to disclose:

Jacqueline Olive
AlleaBelle Bradshaw, MD
Janet Ngu
Aleksander Dokollari
Islam Salikhanov
Fabio Ramponi
Bilal Khan Mohammed
Yazan Aljamal

The following abstract presenters have disclosed these financial relationships with ineligible companies in the past 24 months:

Frans van Wagenberg
Financial Relationships: AtriCure (Research Grant)

Lucas Moskal
Financial Relationships: Getinge (Speakers Bureau/Honoraria – Terminated 04/29/2025)

STS Staff

The following STS Staff have nothing to disclose:

Scott Bradbury, MS, Vice President of Education
Amy Cacich, CMP, Senior Manager, Meetings and Conventions
Kasia Chalko, Associate Director of Marketing
Colleen Donohoe, CMP, DES, Vice President of Meetings and Conventions
Isabel de la Cruz, Education Coordinator
Meredith A. Herzog, Associate Director of Education
Melisa Puthenmadom, Senior E-Learning Coordinator
Michele D. Rush, Senior Manager for Education