Robert Califf, MD

Counting down the biggest news from major medical meetings, it's the HCPLive Five!

HCPLive Five at Heart in Diabetes 2025

 is a medical conference bringing together world-renowned clinical leaders in 

. Designed to evaluate state-of-the-art clinical data and research while focusing on the management of the heart and 

 in diabetes, the meeting’s goal is to align cardiologists, endocrinologists, diabetologists, 

, nephrologists, and all other interested clinicians in their understanding and development of appropriate comprehensive clinical management plans for high-risk patients.

’s on-site coverage, the editorial team conducted expert interviews and reported on timely topics across implementation science, cardiometabolic health, combination therapy, and more. In this edition of the HCPLive Five, the team highlights key conversations on barriers to evidence-based cardiometabolic care, recognizing 

 as a chronic disease, data on cardiovascular disease trends, the CONFIDENCE trial of combined finerenone plus empagliflozin in patients with both 

 and type 2 diabetes, and data accessibility issues in an era of unprecedented technological innovation.

Improving Evidence-Based Cardiometabolic Care, with Neha Pagidipati, MD, MPH

While innovation in cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic care often centers around emerging therapies, the underuse of established, evidence-based treatments in clinical practice remains a major and under-discussed challenge. In this interview with 

 at HiD, Neha Pagidipati, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine and cardiovascular disease prevention specialist at Duke University School of Medicine, reviews different barriers to implementing guideline-directed medical therapy as well as facilitators and potential avenues for improvement moving forward.

Classifying Obesity as a Chronic Disease with W. Timothy Garvey, MD

Given the limitations surrounding BMI measurement of obesity, a recent Lancet Commission aimed to better define obesity as a condition of illness that comes as a direct result of excess adiposity and its effect on the function of tissues and organs. In this interview with 

 at HiD, Timothy Garvey, MD, breaks down some of the key points from the paper and how they will influence the treatment of obesity and its complications moving forward.

Moving the Needle on Cardiovascular Disease, with Seth Martin, MD, MHS

Despite decades of progress and innovation in cardiovascular care, recent data from the American Heart Association (AHA) suggest that the momentum has stalled—and in some cases, reversed. At HiD, Seth Martin, MD, MHS, a professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and co-founder at Corrie Health, offered a data-driven overview of the current state of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the United States and globally, based on the AHA’s 2024 statistical update. In this interview with 

, he reviews key trends and calls for urgent action to improve implementation of prevention and treatment strategies at scale.

Don’t Miss a Beat: CONFIDENCE Trial and Combination T2D, CKD Therapy at Heart in Diabetes 2025

, hosts Muthiah Vaduganathan, MD, MPH, a cardiologist and codirector of the Center for Cardiometabolic Implementation Science at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Steve Greene, MD, an advanced heart failure specialist at Duke University School of Medicine, review key findings and clinical implications of the CONFIDENCE trial. The data, which were also presented at the 

62nd European Renal Association (ERA 2025) Congress

 in Vienna, Austria, suggest the potential benefits of combination initial therapy with finerenone plus empagliflozin in patients with both CKD and type 2 diabetes.

Confronting Cardiology's Data Accessibility Problem, with Robert Califf, MD

, Robert Califf, MD, an instructor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, provided his perspective on the ongoing difficulties in implementation of digital technologies and preventative measures for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. He points to shortcomings of the cardiology field and the medical industry at large in adapting technological advances to practical, clinical usability, citing the high number of new programs and mechanisms for tracking individual risk factors and their failure to collate this data meaningfully for patients.

These 5 represent only some of the data the 

 team covered at this year's meeting! Check out more KOL insight and our full conference coverage on our 

Videos

From barriers to implementing evidence-based care to innovations in combination therapy, here are 5 key updates from the annual meeting.

 in Philadelphia, PA, Robert Califf, MD, instructor in medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, presented his perspective on the ongoing difficulties in implementation of digital technologies and preventative measures for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Califf discussed the shortcomings of the 

 field and the medical industry at large in adapting technological advances to practical, clinical usability. He acknowledged the high number of new programs and mechanisms for tracking individual risk factors but expressed concern at the apparent failure to collate this data meaningfully for patients.

“We can really measure almost anything now about the biology, at least that we know about, and human behavior,” Califf told 

 “What we’re not doing well is putting it all together in a way that actually accrues to the benefit of the patients that we’re trying to serve.”

Califf also highlighted heightened tension between the professional and business sides of the medical industry, noting discrepancies between advancements in medicine and patient burden. According to the Harris Poll, 52% of Americans believe that following social media health and wellness trends is more accessible than connecting with medical professionals. An additional 44% have delayed or skipped medical care, with 40% naming financial concerns as the driving force.

“There’s a very large proportion of Americans, particularly those in rural America or underserved urban areas who really have no access to the technology that we’re talking about,” Califf said. “And if we look at the growth of risk factors, obesity, glucose abnormalities, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, it’s out of control in this country right now, so we don’t really have to look too far.”

Califf compared the issue to the glass cockpit theory, a concept born out of the aviation industry cluttering the cockpits of airplanes with an array of tools to take various measurements to the point that pilots did not know where to look to fly the plane. A similar oversaturation of unrelated information is now facing the healthcare industry.

“Right now, our patients, and I would argue our doctors, don’t know where to look,” Califf said. “They’re overwhelmed with excess information that is not converted into knowledge the way it should be.”

Califf called out the financialization of United States healthcare, pointing out that new treatments or medications must be marketed and sold as ideas before they can be implemented into treatment arrays.

“If you want to make something, to measure something new, you’re trying to sell it into an environment which is really financially driven, not patient outcome driven,” Califf said. “And clinicians themselves now almost all work for corporations, whether it’s a for-profit corporation or an academic health center.”

Califf’s presentation ended with a call to action, stating that the industry must create methods by which patients can access the technology and treatments they need. He indicated that the focus needs to shift from developing more technology to establishing ways of utilizing it.

“We need to add the values of professionalism back into it and demand of the industry that it creates systems that enable people to navigate the information rather than purely trying to compete against each other, which has really been a losing proposition for almost everybody,” Califf said.

Califf reports the following disclosures: Verily Life Sciences, Google Health, Centessa, Inc., Cytokinetics, Inc.

Califf, R. Digital Health Technologies for Cardiometabolic Disease & Diabetes: A Perspective from a Former FDA Commissioner. Presented at the 9

 Annual Heart in Diabetes Conference in Philadelphia, PA, June 6-8, 2025.

Califf discusses the difficulty patients face in accessing healthcare information despite rapid technology and treatment advancements.

Robert Califf, MD

Articles