ECHSA ANNUAL MEETING 2026
June 18-20, 2026 - Leuven, Belgium
Invited Speakers
Robert H. Anderson
Robert H. Anderson is now recognized as the foremost expert Worldwide currently researching the structure and development of the normal and the congenitally malformed heart, with special emphasis on the disposition of the cardiac conduction tissues. Throughout his career, when he was based first at Royal Brompton Hospital, and subsequently at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, all his studies had been directed towards clinicians, with the aim of stimulating surgical techniques, improving the management of children born with congenital heart defects, and contributing to the understanding of the various fields of diagnosis. On his retirement, he was made Emeritus Professor at University College, London. Subsequent to this alleged “retirement”, he has remained deeply involved in collaborative research, now using episcopic microscopy and molecular biological techniques to follow the fate of tissues, and thus tracing the development of both normal and abnormal hearts. To this end, he has been appointed as Professorial Fellow at the Biosciences Institute of Newcastle University. He has also been granted an Honorary Consultant appointment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Until recently, he retained his direct involvement in education, particularly in the United States of America, where he worked with colleagues at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago to produce teaching programmes. He collaborated in comparable fashion with his colleague Andrew Redington in Cincinnati and, prior to the pandemic, he had established similar collaborations in Houston, Milwaukee and Denver. Now working remotely, he has retained his long-standing connections with the University of Pittsburgh, where he continues to be involved in regular masterclasses in cardiac anatomy. In 2018, he visited India, establishing strong connections with fetal cardiologists in Chennai, with pathologists and pediatric cardiologists in Mumbai, and with the team working at the All India Institute of Medical Studies in New Delhi. During the pandemic, he was asked to coordinate webinars on behalf of the Indian Association of Cardio-Vascular and Thoracic Surgery, and the Congenital Heart Academy. The collaboration has continued with the Congenital Heart Academy, and an extensive series of webinars relating to cardiac anatomy is now maintained on their YouTube website. He was particularly thrilled, in 2017, to be elected an honorary fellow of the European Congenital Heart Surgeon’s Association, and to be granted an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy by the Nova University in Lisbon, Portugal. This was then matched when, in 2019, when he was also accorded honorary membership of the Congenital Heart Surgeon’s Society of North America. He is currently ranked at 245 in the Research.com Rankings for Medicine in the United Kingdom, with a D-Index of 128. His H-Index now stands at 142.
----------------------
Werner Budts
Werner Budts is an adult congenital cardiologist, director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) program at University Hospitals Leuven, and a full professor at the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. As an adult cardiologist, he began his clinical career by taking over the care of paediatric congenital heart disease patients transitioning into adolescence and adulthood. Under his leadership, the ACHD program has grown significantly, now handling over 4,000 outpatient visits and 200 catheterizations annually, with regular referrals to electrophysiologists and congenital cardiac surgeons. He has been instrumental in advancing non-invasive imaging for congenital heart disease and performing structural and congenital interventions in adults. Since 2024 he is chairperson of the clinical Department of Cardiovascular Diseases at University Hospitals Leuven.
In 2001, he completed his PhD thesis on pulmonary hypertension and ACHD, leading to his appointment at the University of Leuven. He teaches congenital heart disease at the School of Medicine and conducts research at the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, where he served as chair for eight years. His research interests include heart failure, advanced cardiac imaging, congenital cardiac interventions, and exercise in congenital heart disease, resulting in over 400 peer-reviewed papers and an H-index of 62 (Web of Science).
He founded the Belgian Working Group on Adult Congenital Heart Disease and served over a decade as a nucleus member and two years as chair of the Working Group on Adult Congenital Heart Disease of the European Society of Cardiology. He is currently a council member and scientific secretary of the Association for European Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology, and co-chaired for several years the examining committee of the European Society of Cardiovascular Imaging. He has served as an associate editor for the European Heart Journal and currently holds an associate editor position in the International Journal of Cardiology, Congenital Heart Disease.He has actively contributed to several European Society of Cardiology guidelines, including the latest on Adult Congenital Heart Disease, and regularly reviews for high-impact journals.
----------------------
Yves d’Udekem
Yves d'Udekem, M.D., Ph.D., joined Children's National Hospital as division chief of Cardiac Surgery in September 2020.
Dr. d'Udekem is Belgian-born with Canadian and Australian citizenship and received his early training in cardiac surgery in Belgium and Toronto. He worked as a cardiac surgeon in Belgium, operating on both adults and children with congenital heart disease. Dr. d'Udekem then worked with internationally-recognized heart surgeon professor Marc de Laval and others in London to train in congenital heart surgery at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.
From there, he was recruited as a pediatric heart specialist to The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, an institution that has been a leader in advancing the field of congenital heart disease. In Melbourne, Dr. d'Udekem built an outstanding reputation for clinical excellence and an exceptional academic career. To date, he has authored over 500 publications and is highly cited and respected for his work in pediatric cardiovascular surgery. He has also established a strong reputation for clinical and academic excellence, playing a leading role in the development of the Australia and New Zealand Fontan Registry, which has advanced knowledge of single-ventricle heart conditions.
At Children’s National Hospital, Dr. d’Udekem directs the Children’s National Heart Research Institute, where he organizes an annual research symposium to share advancements and foster collaboration. Clinically, he is advancing the field as chief of cardiac surgery, pioneering techniques in single ventricle procedures, valve repairs, and partial heart transplantation. Additionally, he initiated the Surgical Boot Camp Series, which brings together leading pediatric surgeons from around the world for hands-on education and training. Dr. d’Udekem has also been named The Baier Family Distinguished Professor of Cardiac Surgery and serves as a professor at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, contributing to the education of future cardiac specialists.
He is committed to multidisciplinary collaboration and emphasizes providing comprehensive care throughout the patient journey, from outpatient visits and inpatient care to surgery and recovery. His efforts continue to support innovation and education in pediatric cardiac surgery, benefiting patients and advancing the field on a global scale.
----------------------
David Overman
Dr. David M. Overman grew up in Chicago and Minneapolis. He completed hisundergraduate education at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR, attended medicalschool at the University of Minnesota, and took a general surgery residency at HennepinCounty Medical Center. He completed vascular surgery and cardiothoracic surgeryfellowships at Rush Presbyterian – St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago and afellowship in pediatric cardiac surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Uponcompletion of his training Dr. Overman joined The Children’s Heart Clinic, where heremains in practice today.
Dr. Overman is Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Children’s Minnesotaand staff surgeon for the Mayo Clinic-Children’s Minnesota CardiovascularCollaborative, with appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Surgery at MayoClinic Medical School. He is Immediate Past-President of the Congenital Heart SurgeonsSociety, serves as a Senior Editor of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and on the EditorialBoard of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the International Journal ofCardiology – Congenital, and the Annals of Pediatric Cardiology. He served as the SeniorAuditor for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database for overten years, is a member of the STS CHSD Workforce, and is an examiner for theAmerican Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is Medical Director of Children’s HeartLink, anon-governmental organization that builds capacity for sustainable congenital heartdisease programs in the developing world through partnerships between volunteerinstitutions in North America and Europe and partner institutions across the world.Dr. Overman’s clinical interests include the surgical management of neonates, childrenand adults with congenital heart disease. He has specific expertise with hypoplastic leftheart syndrome, complex neonatal repairs, and the Ross Procedure. His research interestsinclude unbalanced atrioventricular septal defect, measurement and optimization ofclinical outcomes, and regional and national systems that optimize delivery of congenitalheart surgery.