For the first time, a specialist from Uzbekistan has joined the education committee of the European Society of Cardiology

Uzbekistan's first representation on an ESC committee

Khafiza Yusupova, a cardiologist with a PhD in medical sciences and scientific secretary of the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Cardiology of Uzbekistan, has received an official invitation to join the European Society of Cardiology's education committee (Education and Professional Development Committee). As UzNews.uz reports, the invitation was issued on behalf of the ESC President for 2026–2028, Professor Cecilia Linde, and the committee chair, Emma Svennberg; the term of the new composition runs from September 2026 to August 2028.

What this appointment means

According to publicly available ESC data, Uzbekistan had not previously been represented on the central Education and Professional Development Committee, so Khafiza Yusupova's appointment is the first known case of a specialist from the country taking part in this body. The committee is responsible for shaping and implementing the European Society of Cardiology's educational strategy: continuing medical education, professional certification and accreditation, educational courses and webinars, and the coordination of educational projects of ESC subdivisions; it reports directly to the Society's Board. Thus, this is not about participation in a single scientific conference, but about involving a specialist from Uzbekistan in discussions on the development of professional education in cardiology at the international level.

Professional path

Khafiza Yusupova's main research areas are arterial hypertension, cognitive impairment, vascular remodeling, cardiovascular risk, and the molecular-genetic mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases. She earned her PhD in the specialty of Cardiology after studying the effectiveness of combination antihypertensive therapy in patients with essential hypertension and cognitive impairment; the dissertation topic was registered with the Higher Attestation Commission of Uzbekistan, and the abstract was published in 2024. In the 2024/2025 academic year she was admitted to the second-level master's program in cardiovascular pathology (Master in Patologia Cardiovascolare) at the University of Padua in Italy — her name appears in the official competitive list among 19 selected students.

Years of cooperation with international platforms

Her cooperation with the ESC began long before the current invitation: in her official ESC 365 profile, Khafiza Yusupova is listed as an ESC Professional Member, and the profile features her presentations — a study of uncontrolled arterial hypertension in the Aral Sea region at ESC Congress 2021, and a paper on the relationship between cognitive impairment and chronic heart failure in patients with arterial hypertension at Heart Failure 2023. Her research has also been presented in the Asia-Pacific region: in 2020 and 2022 at joint congresses of the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology and the Japanese Circulation Society (including in Kobe, Japan), and in 2024 at the 88th annual congress of the Japanese Circulation Society and at the congress of the International Society of Hypertension. In 2025, the journal Atherosclerosis published her paper on the relationship between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and cognitive function in patients with essential hypertension, which included 111 patients. In May 2026, she delivered a presentation, 'The use of cardiogenetic tests in arrhythmology,' at the XIII Forum of Young Cardiologists of the Russian Society of Cardiology in Ufa.

Current work

Currently, Khafiza Yusupova continues her clinical work as a cardiologist and her research activities at the Republican Center of Cardiology, while also working on her doctoral dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) and participating in international educational and research projects. Her invitation to the ESC committee expands Uzbekistan's representation in the professional structures of the European Society of Cardiology and creates an additional opportunity for exchanging experience in medical education and specialist training.