Aug 26, 2026 · 13 min · 8 segments
TCTMD journalists discuss QI for intracoronary imaging, women at the helm of structural heart trials, the value of waist vs BMI, and the recent loss of two cardiology leaders.
Caitlyn CoxHost
Laura McEwenPanelist
Yael MaxwellPanelist
Todd NealPanelist
Before I did, we had a bit of a one-two punch earlier this month with me writing two different obituaries for two very different men, but both connected to the cardiology community.
I never had the privilege to work under him, but I always heard amazing stories of the kind of leader that he was, and it was really a pleasure to dig into his story and learn about all that he spearheaded over the course of his very long career.
So that was the first one that I, I worked on, and then the next week, uh, we found out that David Taggart had died at sixty-nine.
He was a cardiac surgeon known for igniting a bit of controversy over his career.
Namely, he pulled out of authorship of the EXCEL trial a few years back that led to kind of a domino effect of different things that I don't need to go into here.
But in speaking with colleagues and friends of his for writing this article, I learned so much about him and have even more respect for him and all that he was able to accomplish over the course of his career.
In addition, obviously, to the controversy that he ignited, he was a very accomplished cardiac surgeon and did a lot of mentoring and making people think differently, which I do think is potentially undervalued in this field.
Before I did, we had a bit of a one-two punch earlier this month with me writing two different obituaries for two very different men, but both connected to the cardiology community.
I never had the privilege to work under him, but I always heard amazing stories of the kind of leader that he was, and it was really a pleasure to dig into his story and learn about all that he spearheaded over the course of his very long career.
So that was the first one that I, I worked on, and then the next week, uh, we found out that David Taggart had died at sixty-nine.
He was a cardiac surgeon known for igniting a bit of controversy over his career.
Namely, he pulled out of authorship of the EXCEL trial a few years back that led to kind of a domino effect of different things that I don't need to go into here.
But in speaking with colleagues and friends of his for writing this article, I learned so much about him and have even more respect for him and all that he was able to accomplish over the course of his career.
In addition, obviously, to the controversy that he ignited, he was a very accomplished cardiac surgeon and did a lot of mentoring and making people think differently, which I do think is potentially undervalued in this field.
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