European Union
Introduction – Florian Mueller
VAD Coordinator | University Hospital of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
Global Ambassador for EUROPE – Building International Networks in Mechanical Circulatory Support (VAD)
My name is Florian Mueller, and I work as a VAD Coordinator at the University Hospital of Saarland in Homburg, Germany. In this role, I support patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs) throughout all stages of their therapy, working closely with multidisciplinary teams to ensure high-quality care.
As a Global Ambassador, I am responsible for fostering international collaboration across the following countries:
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Hungary, Switzerland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, the African continent, Madagascar, Italy, Portugal, Egypt, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, and Moldova.
My goal is to build a sustainable international network of professionals, clinics, and institutions involved in mechanical circulatory support. This network aims to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing, promote best practices, improve patient care, and support joint educational initiatives across borders.
I look forward to meaningful collaboration, open exchange, and advancing VAD care together on a global level.
Feel free to contact me !
florian.muller@vadcoordinator.org
It is both an honour and a duty as a VAD coordinator to extend a message that is, in essence, universal. In our daily practice, each of us carries the profound responsibility of guiding patients and their families through the complexities of mechanical circulatory support. Yet this task is rarely straightforward. It demands not only clinical expertise, but also resilience, compassion, and the ability to navigate systems that are often as complex as the devices we manage.
It is for this reason that I commend to you the International Consortium of Circulatory Assist Clinicians—ICCAC. This body represents not simply a professional association, but a coalition of expertise, a forum of ideas, and, above all, a community bound by shared purpose.
The benefits of ICCAC membership are manifold. Foremost, it enables us to connect—across continents, across health systems, across the varied landscapes in which we practice. By engaging with colleagues from every corner of the globe, we are reminded that the challenges we face are not ours alone. Indeed, they are echoed in Europe, in the Americas, in Asia, Middle East and beyond. And in recognising this, we discover that solutions too can be shared—adapted, refined, and made stronger through collaboration.
Secondly, ICCAC serves as an unparalleled platform for education and professional development. Our field does not stand still; new devices, new therapies, new approaches emerge with remarkable pace. Through ICCAC’s resources—its webinars, its committees, its publications—we remain not merely informed, but prepared. We ensure that our patients, wherever they may be, receive care that is at once current, evidence-based, and holistic.
Equally significant is the role ICCAC plays in advocacy. Too often, the unique contribution of the VAD coordinator risks being overlooked within the wider discourse of advanced heart failure care. ICCAC provides us with a collective voice—measured, authoritative, and respected—ensuring that our profession is not only recognised, but also represented in shaping the future of mechanical circulatory support worldwide.
ICCAC membership is not passive; it is participatory. It invites each of us to lend our voice, our experience, and our leadership. Whether through working committee subgroups or international initiatives, ICCAC offers us the means to contribute to something greater than ourselves—to the strengthening of a profession and, ultimately, to the betterment of patient care.
Ours is a discipline that is technical in practice, but human in essence. We care not only for the failing heart, but for the whole person and for those who stand beside them. ICCAC embodies this ethos on a global scale, uniting us in purpose and amplifying our collective impact.
I extend, therefore, not merely an invitation, but a call to action. Let us, as VAD coordinators from every nation, stand together within this consortium. Let us lend our expertise, share our challenges, and forge solutions that transcend borders. For in unity, there is strength; and in collaboration, there is the promise of a brighter future—for our profession, and most importantly, for our patients.
I will be delighted to hear from you, please feel free to get in touch with me @ shishir.kore@vadcoordinator.
