Dear Colleague

The British Cardiovascular Society Annual Conference is the UK’s leading and largest cardiovascular event. It attracts over 2,400 cardiovascular healthcare professionals, predominantly cardiologists, but also including basic and translational scientists, nurses, cardiac physiologists and scientists, and primary care staff. In 2026 our flagship event once again returns to Manchester Central for a face to face conference.

Sir James Mackenzie, the father of British cardiology, and for whom the Mackenzie Medal (the BCS’s highest honour) is named, published his pioneering textbook in 1908. He wrote that his main purpose had been to “obtain a guide for treatment” but that “my readers may be disappointed at the seeming barrenness of my work in this respect.” From the advances that have led to primary PCI for acute myocardial infarction to the triumph of modern therapy for heart failure, cardiology is one of the greatest success stories of medical science.

This year’s conference theme – ‘Staying Alive?’ – will celebrate our successes in managing cardiovascular disease, but also explore areas where progress is needed, and even ask whether we now need to move from merely staying alive to exploring other targets for treatment to the benefit of our patients. 

I look forward to welcoming you to Manchester in June 2026.

Professor Andrew Clark 

Chair, BCS Programme Committee