The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is hosting the virtual workshop “Challenges and Solutions for Early and Accurate Diagnosis in Pulmonary Vascular Disease (PVD)” on November 2–3, 2026.
Background:
Currently, the deadly disease pulmonary hypertension (PH) is incurable. Overall, average survival rates of patients with PH are about 86% at one year after diagnosis, 67% at three years, and 54% at five years. The average age-adjusted PH mortality rate is 7.9 per 100,000 individuals and has increased by 1.9% per year.. Higher age-adjusted mortality rates are experienced by females and non-Hispanic Black people. One of the main reasons for this high mortality in people with PH is the difficulty in diagnosing PVD early and accurately. Therefore, the goals of this workshop are to advance the current knowledge of diagnosis of PVD and explore novel approaches for improvement of clinical diagnosis of PVD, with the long-term goal of prolonging the life expectancy of patients with PH. Specifically, in this workshop, we are interested in utilizing new technologies, novel imaging methods, and biomarkers for early detection and precision diagnosis of PVD.
PH research remains a high priority for NHLBI. Although the currently approved therapies for Group 1 PH are making a difference in the lives of people with PH, there is still no cure for this disease, and most of the people who die from PH have right heart failure—which is also one of the major causes of death in several other diseases, including left heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Many findings on the distinctive physiological, molecular, and imaging characteristics of PVD have not been translated to clinical diagnosis and treatment, nor has the success or failure of drug therapy amid early diagnosis and treatment of PH that is known to have a major impact on lowering the mortality rate in people with PH been monitored. Therefore, a workshop addressing this critical clinical challenge and exploring potential solutions for early and accurate diagnosis of PVD is urgently needed.
Goals and Objectives:
1. Discuss the current challenges in diagnosing PVD early and accurately.
2. Identify gaps in knowledge and critical unmet needs that have limited progress in clinicians being able to diagnose PVD early and accurately.
3. Discuss novel biomarkers, omics findings, clinical symptoms, imaging and statistical methods, and new devices, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology, that could be used to significantly improve clinicians’ ability to diagnose PVD early and accurately.
We are interested in exploring how novel technologies and new research findings could be used to improve the diagnosis of PVD and thus prolong the life expectancy of patients with PH by being able to treat them earlier. The workshop will generate recommendations to NHLBI for future research priorities in this area that are in line with the goals in the NHLBI Strategic Vision. Further, the workshop will help promote the translation of recently generated research findings and newly developed technologies to improve how early and accurately clinicians can diagnose PVD and to improve the PH survival rate.
Workshop Co-Chairs:
Roham T. Zamanian, M.D., FCCP
The James & Yvonne Wood Professor of Pulmonary Vascular Medicine
Director, Adult Pulmonary Hypertension Program
Associate Director, Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease
Division of Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine
Stanford School of Medicine
Bradley A. Maron, M.D.
Incoming Editor-in-Chief, Circulation
Senior Associate Dean for Precision Medicine
Melvin Sharoky, MD Professor of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Event Details:
📅Dates: November 2–3, 2026
💻Virtual Workshop: A link to join the virtual workshop will be sent closer to the meeting. Registration for the workshop is free but is required to attend.
Contact:
For questions or to request reasonable accommodations to participate in this event, please email Julia D’Albora at dalborajc@nih.gov.