2026: Sanjay Sharma, London, United Kingdom

"Exercise: Ideal therapy or bitter pill?"

Sanjay Sharma is a Professor of cardiology at City St George’s, University of London and St George’s NHS Foundation Trust and a Consultant Cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic London.  His interests include heart muscle disease, sudden cardiac death in the young, and sports cardiology, for which he has an international reputation.  He is one of the most prolific cardiologists worldwide in his field of research, with over 400 publications on PubMed (Google Scholar h-index: 104). He is the lead author for the International recommendations for ECG interpretation in athletes and co-chaired the 2020 European Society of Cardiology Guidelines in Sports Cardiology. 

Professor Sharma leads a large tertiary inherited cardiac diseases programme serving Southeast England. He is the director of the largest sports cardiology unit in the UK, responsible for athletes with potentially serious cardiac conditions from the English Football Association, rugby league, the Lawn Tennis Association, and the English Institute of Sport. He serves as the cardiology advisor and chairman of the English Football Association's expert cardiac committee. He is the medical director of the London Marathon Events and has been commended for providing one of the world's best medical services for endurance events. He was awarded membership of the Venerable Order of St John for his services to St John Ambulance in supporting the medical welfare of the runners.  Professor Sharma was the lead cardiologist for the 2012 London Olympics and provided medical services for all endurance sports.