September 29, 2026

Leadership Message: Improving cardiovascular outcomes for women

(SACRAMENTO)

Dear Colleagues,

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among women, yet important opportunities to prevent disease and improve cardiovascular health are too often missed. These opportunities begin early in life, become particularly important during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and extend throughout a woman’s lifetime.

A participant sits in a chair while a volunteer wearing a red shirt uses a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope to measure the participant’s blood pressure. Another volunteer in a matching shirt is seated at a table in the background. — A volunteer receives a blood pressure screening during a community heart health event. Participants learned about cardiovascular wellness through hands-on demonstrations and basic health assessments.

This year, the UC Davis Heart Failure Summit will place women’s cardiovascular health at the center of our conversation. Our focus reflects a simple but important principle: improving cardiovascular outcomes for women requires a life-course approach, one that begins with prevention, recognizes pregnancy as a critical window into future cardiovascular health, and continues through the prevention and treatment of heart failure and advanced cardiovascular disease later in life.

This commitment is closely aligned with California’s bold efforts to reduce maternal mortality and improve the health of women and families across the state. Maternal cardiovascular health provides a particularly important opportunity. Pregnancy can reveal previously unrecognized cardiovascular risk, while hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, peripartum cardiomyopathy, and other pregnancy-related complications can identify women at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart failure later in life. Connecting maternal health with longitudinal cardiovascular prevention offers an opportunity to intervene earlier and change lifelong trajectories.

It is in this spirit that we invite UC Davis Health faculty, staff, trainees, patients, community partners, and colleagues from across the region to join us for the 2026 Heart Failure Summit, Oct. 29-30 at Aggie Square.

This year’s theme, “Heart Failure in Women: Prevention, Cardiovascular Maternal Health, and Advanced Cardiac Care,” will explore cardiovascular health as a continuum, from prevention and maternal health to coronary disease, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and advanced cardiac therapies.

In addition to an exceptional team of UC Davis faculty, we are especially honored to welcome Dr. Diana Ramos, California Surgeon General, as a keynote speaker. Dr. Ramos leads California’s Strong Start & Beyond initiative, which seeks to improve maternal and infant health by addressing preventable maternal morbidity and mortality and creating healthier beginnings for California families. Her leadership provides an important framework for thinking beyond pregnancy itself: a strong start can create an opportunity for better cardiovascular health throughout life.

We are also privileged to welcome two nationally recognized leaders in cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Rajiv Gulati, an interventional cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, will bring his expertise in key aspects of coronary disease in women, and Dr. Afshan Hameed from the University of California, Irvine, will share her nationally recognized expertise at the intersection of cardiovascular disease, high-risk pregnancy, and maternal health.

Together, these perspectives will help us share knowledge across traditional disciplinary boundaries and develop new approaches to improving women’s cardiovascular health.

Whether you provide direct patient care, support clinical operations, conduct research, educate the next generation of health professionals, or work within our communities, we invite you to join us at the Heart Failure Summit.

Together, we can help advance California’s goal of reducing maternal mortality while building something even broader: a continuum of cardiovascular health for women that starts early, recognizes critical opportunities throughout life, and extends through every stage of prevention and care.