Keynote talk tentative title: "Cardiorespiratory Variability: 1971-2020 From Wizardry to Science to ???"
Keynote talk Abstract: The field often known as “Heart Rate Variability – HRV” began in the early 70s when the engineers Dick Kitney and Otto Rompelman first began to look at heart rate as a signal that could be processed. Since then heart rate, blood pressure and almost every relevant physiological signal have been analyzed with a wide variety of linear and non-linear methods. These studies when combined with various physiological interventions have yielded a vast array of functional and clinical insights, but continue to leave many areas of interpretation open, presenting technical and physiological challenges for the future. As with many fields, fun to review and as this group knows well, much more to do!
Short Bio: Dr. Saul is a Professor of Pediatrics at West Virginia University. After earning B.S. and M.D. from Duke University, he completed pediatrics residency, and clinical and research fellowships in Pediatric Cardiology at Children’s Hospital, Boston and MIT. His research interests have included control system analysis of the heart and circulation in health and disease, the focus of his keynote lecture, management of syncope and arrhythmias, and innovative techniques for interventional electrophysiology. As one of the early investigators in the study of oscillations, his work has been formative in the field. Dr. Saul also performed the first radiofrequency catheter ablation for WPW syndrome in a child in 1990, and the first catheter cryoablation procedure in a child in the U.S. in 2003. In recent years, his interests have included clinical trials in pediatric and congenital heart disease, preventive cardiology to address childhood obesity, sudden unexpected death in the young and the role of genetics in the new era of “personalized medicine”. He has published more than 300 articles, chapters and books, and holds 8 patents. Dr. Saul has lectured extensively, directed and organized numerous conferences, including the first on heart rate variability, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, honors and grants.