The University of Kentucky’s 11^th Healthy Hearts for Women Symposium will feature a prominent cardiac surgeon and cardiovascular researcher at this year’s event.

The symposium is an effort to raise awareness and warn women about the dangers of heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year, according to the American Heart Association. Yet only 44% of women recognize that cardiovascular disease is their greatest health threat.

The symposium will also feature the following expert speakers:

• Jennifer S. Lawton, M.D., the Richard Bennett Darnall Professor of Cardiac Surgery, chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery and director of the Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory at Johns Hopkins Hospital

• Paul Ridker, M.D., the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine, a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Harvard Medical School

The UK research community has to opportunity to deepen their understanding of heart disease and its impact on women’s health through the groundbreaking cardiovascular research of these distinguished experts.

The event will be held on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 3-4:30 p.m. in room 127 of the Charles T. Wethington Building.

The Healthy Hearts for Women Symposium is sponsored by the UK College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, Saha Cardiovascular Research Center and Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS).