HFSA Cancels Annual Scientific Meeting Due to Hurricane Helene

The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) has made the difficult decision to cancel its 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting and the Devices in Heart Failure Meeting, originally scheduled for September 27-30 in Atlanta, Georgia. This decision follows an emergency meeting by the HFSA Board of Directors in response to Hurricane Helene and the State of Emergency declared by Georgia’s governor.

Prioritizing the safety of attendees, staff, and local workers, the Board determined it was in the best interest of all involved to call off the in-person events. “The safety of our attendees, exhibitors, and the hotel and conference center staff is our top priority,” HFSA shared in a statement. “We understand the inconvenience this decision will cause, and we are grateful for your patience as we navigate this unexpected situation.”

While the full in-person event has been canceled, HFSA is committed to delivering its cutting-edge content to attendees. Virtual sessions will be held for the Late Breaking Clinical Research presentations, which contain some of the most highly anticipated updates in heart failure research. These sessions will be livestreamed at their originally scheduled times on Sunday, September 29, and Monday, September 30, at 9:00 AM ET, and recordings will be made available afterward.

“The Program Committee received incredible and cutting-edge late-breaking research this year, and we know that our registrants are eager to hear these trial results and research updates,” said Dr. Mitchell Psotka, Chair of the 2024 ASM Program Committee. “We want to honor our commitment to the investigators and share their findings with attendees without delay.”

HFSA is also exploring other virtual options to deliver the broader educational content planned for the meeting.

HFSA will uphold its abstract embargo policy, with the embargoes for late-breaking research lifting the day of the livestreamed presentations, while general abstract embargoes will be lifted on Friday, September 27 at 6:00 PM ET.

Reference: Hurricane Helene Updates. HFSA. 2024. Available at: https://hfsa.org/asm/hurricane-helene-updates. Last accessed: September 27, 2024.

Anaya Malik | AMJ