Josip Borovac

Croatia

Dr. Josip Andelo Borovac, a native of Split, Croatia, currently serves as an Interventional Cardiology Fellow in the Cardiovascular Diseases Department at the University Hospital of Split. He began his academic journey with a B.Sc. cum laude in Cellular Biology from the State University of New York, USA, in May 2011. Subsequently, he completed an integrated M.D. program at the University of Split School of Medicine in June 2018, followed by a general medicine internship at University Hospital of Split, culminating in passing the National Licensing Examination in March 2019. Dr. Borovac spent the next few years at the Institute of Emergency Medicine of Split Dalmatia County, working as an emergency medicine physician on out-of-hospital emergency response teams across the islands of Hvar and Vis. In February 2020, he defended his Ph.D. in Clinical Medical Sciences with a dissertation titled “Catestatin and soluble ST2 in patients with acute worsening of heart failure.” Under the mentorship of Professor Josko Bozic, he published three original research papers from this dissertation in international peer-reviewed journals. Accepted into the cardiology residency program in 2021 at the Cardiovascular Diseases Department at University Hospital of Split, Dr. Borovac has since specialized in interventional cardiology and heart failure. His expertise spans complex interventional procedures for coronary artery disease, including calcified and bifurcation lesions, left main disease, multivessel disease, cardiogenic shock, and chronic total occlusions (CTOs). Skilled in advanced intravascular modalities, he is proficient in IVUS, OCT, and performing physiological studies using FFR and non-hyperemic indices. His interventional training included rotations at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli in Rome, Italy (under Prof. Filippo Crea) and NHS Royal Stoke Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, UK (under Prof. Mamas Mamas and Dr. Rob Butler). In his practice, Dr. Borovac also manages acute and chronic heart failure patients and routinely performs right heart catheterization for indications such as pulmonary hypertension, connective tissue diseases, and congestive heart failure. Academically, he has published extensively in high-impact journals, with an h-index of 26 and over 2,500 unique citations. His work has appeared in leading journals, including The Lancet, European Heart Journal, European Journal of Heart Failure and Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and he has presented his works at numerous national and international conferences. In 2019, the Croatian Medical Chamber awarded him the National Research Award for outstanding accomplishment among investigators under 40 years of age. In 2018, he won the 1st Prize for the Best Research Poster at the 12th Biannual Congress of the Croatian Cardiac Society (HKD) and this award was bestowed upon him by Professor Davor Milicic, President of Croatian Cardiac Society. The awarded research title was “Circulating levels of catestatin are significantly higher in heart failure patients with ischemic vs. non-ischemic cardiomyopathy: the role of catestatin as a compensatory marker of neurohumoral activation”. Dr. Borovac also acts as an Editor in peer-reviewed journals such as Cardiac Failure Review (Radcliffe Cardiology), European Heart Journal Case Reports (Oxford University Press), Cardiac Catheterization & Interventions (Wiley), and BMC Cardiovascular Disorders (Springer). Dr. Borovac contributed as lead author to the chapter “Interventional Treatment of Acute Coronary Syndrome” in the 2023 book Interventional Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases. As an investigator in several Phase 3 randomized controlled trials, such as ZEUS (Novo Nordisk), VICTORION-2P (Novartis), and HYPERION (Acceleron Pharma/Merck), he also leads several registry-based projects at UHC Split, sponsored by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC. These include the HFIII Registry (Investigator), GRASP-HF Registry (PI), and EuroSCAD Registry (PI). He also serves as an ESC-appointed National Coordinator for Croatia at EuroSCAD Registry. A member of the Croatian Medical Chamber, Croatian Medical Association, Croatian Cardiac Society, and European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (EAPCI), Dr. Borovac holds Fellowships from the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and the Heart Failure Association (FHFA). His dedication extends to multiple ESC scientific groups and committees, working to mitigate the global impact of cardiovascular disease.