PICS~AIC

A live PICS Society webinar, held virtually on Monday, November 9, 2026 at 4:00 PM US CST (75 minutes).

Moderators: Guru Hiremath, MD, Frank Ing, MD, Damien Kenny, MD

Invited speakers:

• Dr. Aimee Armstrong – Chief Pediatric Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
• Dr. Sarosh (“Shawn”) Batlivala – Associate Professor, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, OH, USA
• Dr. Eric J. Fernandez – Director of Clinical Affairs, Cordis, USA
• Dr. Tom Melvin – Associate Professor of Medical Device Regulatory Science, University of Galway, Ireland
• Dr. Hideshi Tomita – Showa Medical University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Target audience: Physicians and other stakeholders globally dedicated to minimally invasive treatment of congenital heart disease (CHD).

Program:

1. Welcome and introductions (Dr. Hiremath)
2. Why HPRA? Turning Individual Efforts into Coordinated, High-Impact Advocacy with Regulatory Agencies (Dr. Batlivala)
3. The Industry Perspective: Why Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease Devices Are Different – Challenges, Opportunities, and Paths to Collaboration (Dr. Fernandez)
4. Advocacy Through Collaboration: Expanding Indications Through Continued Industry Regulatory Collaboration (Dr. Armstrong)
5. Unintended Consequences of the EU MDR: Are Stricter Regulations Limiting Innovation and Access in Pediatric Interventional Cardiology? (Dr. Melvin)
6. U.S.–Japan Collaborative Synergies: Accelerating Global Innovation and Early-Stage Development in Pediatric Device Pipelines (Dr. Tomita)
7. Panel discussion
8. Audience questions
9. Wrap-up and conclusion (Dr. Hiremath)

Register Online

Questions? Contact Kimberly Ray at kimberly_ray@chdinterventions.org