Welcome Greeting

Toyoaki Murohara, M.D., Ph.D.

Congress Chairperson of the 89th Annual Scientific Meeting of
the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS2025)

(Professor, Department of Cardiology,
Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya)

The 89th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japanese Circulation Society (JCS) will be held over the three-day period from Friday, March 28 to Sunday, March 30, 2025 at PACIFICO Yokohama. It will be the 90th year since the Nippon Association of Clinical Angio-Cardiology, the predecessor of the JCS, was founded in 1935, and today the JCS has grown into one of Japan’s most important medical scientific bodies, with just under 28,000 regular members and over 9,000 associate members. To have been appointed Chairperson of the Annual Scientific Meeting of the JCS, with its long history and tradition, makes me feel both extremely honored and very nervous.

The most significant aspect of the Annual Scientific Meeting is that it provides the opportunity for members to gather and meet in person, find out the latest information on cardiology, and engage in in-depth networking. Due to COVID-19, for some years it was forced to be held online and on a smaller scale, but since the 87th Annual Scientific Meeting it has once again been held in person, and the venue is once again the scene of the lively exchange of information. Amid concern about the tendency of young doctors to turn away from internal medicine, and thus from cardiology, I have chosen “We Love CV Science” as the theme of the 89th Annual Scientific Meeting, to once again restore the spirits of young doctors aiming to become cardiologists. I hope we can share every detail of the appeal of the cutting edge of cardiology with young doctors, researchers, and medical staff in many different professions. Professor Kenneth Walsh (University of Virginia, USA), who has mentored so many Japanese students, has been invited to give the Mikamo Lecture, the most important event at the Congress, and Emeritus Professor Tatsuhiko Kodama (The University of Tokyo) has been invited to give the Mashimo Memorial Lecture. As a subtheme of this Annual Scientific Meeting, I would also like to focus on natural disasters, particularly earthquakes. Looking at the multiple major earthquake disasters that have hit Japan in recent years, I now always think about the possibility of a massive earthquake or tsunami warning occurring while the Annual Scientific Meeting is in progress. I hope to include events such as a simulated emergency evacuation during the Congress. Professor Nobuo Fukuwa (Nagoya University), a specialist in earthquake engineering and disaster mitigation, will also give a Special Lecture.

For JCS members, my hope is that you will return to your starting point of a love of cardiology and attend the 89th Annual Scientific Meeting of the JCS, where you will encounter cutting-edge cardiovascular medicine and enjoy lively discussions and networking. Let’s meet in Yokohama when spring is in full bloom in March 2025.