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Broader advocacy efforts are needed to address workforce, payment challenges
Innovation in vascular surgery goes beyond new devices and procedures. It also requires new approaches to advocacy in a health care system increasingly shaped by consolidation, workforce shortages and shifting employment models. That was the central message from Margaret Tracci, MD, JD, during a session at VAM 2026, where she argued that vascular surgeons need…
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Study links clopidogrel genetic variants to cardiovascular risk after PAD intervention
Genetic variants that reduce the effectiveness of clopidogrel may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients undergoing peripheral artery disease (PAD) interventions, according to research presented at VAM 2026. The study found that around one in five patients carried single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that impair the body’s ability to convert clopidogrel into…
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Peter Lawrence receives SVS Lifetime Achievement Award
A career that nearly began on the football field instead of in the operating room culminated at VAM 2026 in the highest honor of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), as Peter Lawrence, MD, received the SVS Lifetime Achievement Award for a body of work spanning more than four decades in vascular surgery, education and…
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‘Treat the water, not just the pipes’: Addressing prevention in vascular care
“The artery is ours and it should be all of it,” said Lily Johnston, MD. “Trying to reroute the blood flow without changing what runs through it is like changing the pipes in a house without addressing the toxic wastewater that corroded those pipes in the first place.” During a session at VAM 2026, Johnston…
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Subspecialty certification: Solution or added burden?
Should vascular surgeons receive additional certification in specific areas of practice? That question was explored at VAM 2026, where Kellie Brown, MD, professor of surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, discussed the potential benefits and challenges of formal subspecialty certification. Brown noted that vascular surgery itself emerged from general surgery after advances in the…
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‘We are all family’: Calligaro calls for unity and innovation during VAM presidential address
During his presidential address at VAM 2026, Keith Calligaro, MD, called on vascular surgeons to think beyond today’s clinical challenges and outlined a vision for the specialty built around unity, innovation, education and patient advocacy. Speaking before a record-breaking attendance at the annual meeting, Calligaro framed his address around the theme of “family and future,”…
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Can tailored thromboprophylaxis reduce amputation risk?
One in five endovascular procedures fails within six months and for decades vascular surgeons have answered that statistic with the same blunt toolkit: aspirin, clopidogrel, or whatever combination a given surgeon prefers. This year’s Frank J. Veith Distinguished Lecture at VAM 2026 argued that guesswork is no longer good enough and that a simple blood…
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Finding common ground begins with shared experiences
During the keynote address at VAM 2026, author and political commentator Michael Smerconish argued that one of the greatest challenges facing the United States is not political disagreement itself, but the steady erosion of shared experiences that once connected communities. Drawing on examples ranging from childhood school bus rides to volunteer organizations, Smerconish contended that…
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SVS election results announced during Annual Business Meeting
During the Annual Business meeting at VAM 2026, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) announced it elected William Shutze, MD, as the incoming vice president and Bernadette Aulivola, MD, as the new treasurer. As vice president, Shutze will help coordinate the activities of SVS councils and committees. His term as vice president will be followed…
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Ascher urges specialty to take active role in developing new technologies
The E. Stanley Crawford Critical Issues Forum at VAM 2026 focused on innovations in vascular surgery and served as the setting for the launch of the Enrico Ascher Vascular Innovation Institute, a new entity under the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation’s research and innovation portfolio. The institute, named after Enrico Ascher, MD, clinical professor…