By Kristina Sauerwein / Washington University School of Medicine
George F. Van Hare III, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Cardiology and Co-Director of the St. Louis Children’s and Washington University Heart Center, has been named president-elect of the Heart Rhythm Society, a global research and education group focused on cardiac rhythm disorders.
Dr. Van Hare, the Louis Larrick Ward Professor of Pediatrics, will become president of the organization in May. The Heart Rhythm Society is the international leader in science, education and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients, and the primary information resource on heart rhythm disorders.
The first pediatrician to lead the organization in three decades, Dr. Van Hare will serve a one-year term as president and then two years as past-president. Dr. Van Hare will be the society’s third president from the School of Medicine since the organization’s founding in 1979.
“As a pediatrician, I am always interested in pointing out the importance of interdisciplinary partnership in caring for patients with heart rhythm disorders,” said Dr. Van Hare. “We all have lots to teach and learn from each other. In particular, in this era of genomic medicine, we are increasingly caring for families, rather than individual patients. All my patients have parents, and partnerships between pediatric and adult electrophysiologists, allied professionals and basic scientists are key to advancing the care of families.”
