TCT Remembers Liliana Grinfeld, MD, PhD


Liliana Grinfeld
This May the interventional community was heartbroken by news of the death of Liliana Rosa Grinfeld, MD, PhD, chief of interventional cardiology at Hospital Español de La Plata, and former chief of interventional cardiology at Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Through the years she was a familiar presence at TCT and a dear friend to many of the meeting’s organizers and attendees. 

At TCT 2015, Grinfeld is being remembered in numerous ways. TCT Radio in Spanish, a project that she spearheaded, is dedicated in her honor, as is the live case transmission in the Main Arena from Institute Dante Pazzanese, São Paulo, Brazil. Additionally, a program in the
Presentation Theater—Complex PCI Case-Based Review, hosted by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Women in Innovations (WIN)—is recognizing her “as one of the female legends in our field,” said TCT Co-Director Roxana Mehran, MD, of Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, N.Y.

Diego Grinfeld, MD, of Hospital Español de La Plata-IDYTAC La Plata, who is a TCT faculty member, said his aunt “was a great inspiration to me and many interventional cardiologists, especially for women, in a profession run by men.”

As a teacher, Grinfeld shared her knowledge not only as a professional but as a person, he told TCT Daily. “Her interest in TCT and CRF was tremendous over the last years despite her disease and respiratory difficulties, and she never ceased to participate in any meeting actively. She died as she lived, working and leaving everything for her patients and science. We are going to miss her.”

In addition to being the first woman to perform angioplasty and to implant stents in Argentina, Grinfeld was the first female president of both the Argentina Society of Cardiology and the Argentine College of Interventional Cardiologists (CACI). She was a founding member of Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology (SOLACI) and WIN as well as a co-founder of Trials Argentina Group Organization Coordinating Center.

Fighter Against Obstacles 

TCT Director Martin B. Leon, MD, of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, New York,  N.Y., described her as “a loyal friend, an indomitable spirit, beyond courageous, and fiercely independent—a true pioneer and a role model as a physician and a person.” 

Jorge A. Belardi, MD, of the InstitutoCardiovascular de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, recalled Grinfeld’s fierce dedication to her medical career and her desire to continue to work throughout her illness. 

“Over the last years, she worked in conjunction with young interventional cardiologists in order to help them access new developments in this field around the world, particularly in connection with TCT,” he added. 

Oscar A. Mendiz, MD, of Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, recalled first meeting Grinfeld in 2010, when she was president of SOLACI-CACI. “Although we had never worked together before, she invited me [to be] scientific chair,” he said. “It was a significant experience for me, and we felt proud of our work together.”

TCT Radio in Spanish, which debuted at TCT 2014,“was perhaps the project where I could most appreciate what she was as a professional: an enthusiastic and extremely hard worker, an innovator and a pioneer,” Mendiz said.

Mehran recalled being a fellow and seeing Grinfeld in action at meetings.“I remember seeing this woman who was extremely knowledgeable, who was very determined and very strong on panels,” she recalled. “Liliana was up there, and she was able to respond to her male colleagues on an equal footing with a lot of determination and incredible enthusiasm and passion for cardiovascular care.”

 

 

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