Christopher M. Kramer: Advances in Cardiac Imaging, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Research, and ACC Leadership

Citation: EMJ Cardiol. 2025;13[1]:xx-xx. https://doi.org/10.33590/emjcardiol/RROU4243 Christopher M. Kramer holds the George A. Beller MD/Lantheus Medical Imaging Distinguished Professorship of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Virginia Health in Charlottesville. He also serves as President of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Early in his training as a medical chief resident at the University of Pennsylvania, a Grand Rounds presentation on cardiac MRI by Nathaniel Reichek captivated him. Within two years he began formal research in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), with Reichek among his primary mentors, setting the course for his career. Kramer co-led the NIH-funded Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Registry (HCMR), a 44-site effort that enrolled 2,750 patients to improve risk prediction in HCM. Event adjudication is nearing completion, and the team expects to publish a predictive model for the composite primary outcome in early 2026. Analysis of baseline data published in 2019 revealed two predominant HCM phenotypes. About 40% were sarcomere mutation–positive with reverse curvature morphology, more myocardial scar, and less left ventricular outflow tract ...