21 May 2026
Jon DeHaan Foundation and the Michele Pighi Young Investigator Awards 2026
Recognising excellence at EuroPCR 2026
At EuroPCR 2026, two awards highlighted innovation and emerging talent in interventional cardiology. Lene Andreasen received the Michele Pighi Young Investigator Award for her research on coronary bifurcation PCI from the OCTOBER trial, while Susheel Kodali and the Nyra Medical team were honoured with the Jon DeHaan Foundation Award for the first-in-human experience with the CARLEN System in functional mitral regurgitation.
Discover how these award-winning projects aim to advance research, innovation, and patient care in the years ahead.
Winner of the 2026 Michele Pighi Young Investigator Award: Lene Andreasen
The Michele Pighi Young Investigator Award is more than just an award – it pays tribute to a very special colleague and provides the opportunity for a young professional to spend time at a European interventional centre of their choosing.
Open only to young physicians under the age of 40 years, the winner of the abstract competition was announced during EuroPCR 2026. Hear from Lene Andreasen who was awarded this year’s prize:
What was the topic of your submission?
My submission focused on outcomes and predictors of 1- vs. 2-stent techniques in true coronary bifurcation PCI using data from the OCTOBER trial. We also looked into how OCT guiding may improve procedural outcomes.
What does it mean to you to win the award?
Winning the Michele Pighi Award is a huge honour and very meaningful to me as a young female researcher in interventional cardiology. It is incredibly motivating to have my work recognised in an academic field where women remain underrepresented among researchers and operators, and it encourages me to continue working to improve both patient care and clinical research in interventional cardiology.
Do you have a destination in mind for your European visit?
I would love to visit Imperial College London, where Rasha Al-Lamee and her work have been a major inspiration to me. I greatly admire her ability to combine innovative clinical research with leadership as a woman in interventional cardiology.
What will this award mean for your future in research?
This award motivates me to continue building an academic career within interventional cardiology and to develop international collaborations. I also hope to help inspire and support more women entering the field in the future.
Winner of the 2026 Jon DeHaan Foundation Award: Susheel Kodali
Susheel Kodali from the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, USA received the Jon DeHaan Foundation Award and a $200,000 grant.
At PCR Innovators Day, he presented the first-in-human experience with the CARLEN System to treat functional mitral regurgitation.
What does it mean to you to win the Jon DeHaan Foundation Award competition?
Winning the Jon DeHaan Foundation Award is an incredible honour for Azeem Latib, Edwin Ho and myself, as well as for the team at Nyra Medical. We have been fortunate to have worked closely with co-founders, Murali Padala and Eric Sarin, as well as CEO Lori Chmura over the last several years to bring this technology forward. It is especially meaningful because the award recognises innovations with the potential to fundamentally change the treatment paradigm for patients with functional mitral regurgitation, advancing therapies that can meaningfully improve outcomes, quality of life and the overall standard of care.
How will your innovation help to address an unmet need?
Our innovation is focused on addressing the significant unmet need in patients suffering from functional mitral regurgitation. CARLEN is designed to treat a broader patient population with a more predictable approach that minimises transmitral gradients, preserves native anatomy and maintains future therapeutic options for transcatheter interventions. By expanding access to therapy while preserving treatment flexibility over a patient’s lifetime, we believe CARLEN has the potential to establish a new paradigm in the management of functional mitral regurgitation and meaningfully improve patients’ quality of life.
How do you plan to use the award to progress your innovation?
The award will help accelerate critical development and clinical activities as we continue advancing our technology. It also lends vital visibility and validation to our programme, backed by the prestigious endorsement of our peers and the Jon DeHaan Foundation. Most importantly, it reinforces momentum behind our mission to bring a potentially transformative therapy forward.
