Doctor’s Mission Advances International PH Collaboration

PH BEYOND THE U.S.

After completing his fellowships at the University of Colorado in Denver, Colorado, and Stanford, Dr. de Jesus Perez joined the Stanford faculty in 2010. Through his research and teachings at Stanford, he gained a better understanding of the biology of PH and how potential therapies could be developed. He also learned the role of international PH scientists and researchers.

“Most of the research effort has been led by Europe and the United States, at least when it comes to publication,” says Dr. de Jesus Perez. “However, that does not mean that other countries are not taking care of their patients or doing research.” Research isn’t the only thing that varies from country to country.

“In the U.S., there is a heterogeneity in the drugs that are available to manage PH. But this is not the case for other countries,” says Dr. de Jesus Perez. “In some countries, patients have access to most if not all the drugs routinely prescribed in the U.S. and Europe. In other countries, patients lack access to therapies that we would consider standard, such as combination therapies, because they are not covered by the government.”

On May 5 each year, the pulmonary hypertension (PH) community celebrates World PH Day. World PH Day recognizes that PH is a global disease, affecting people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or background. Like the difference in culture, climate and customs globally, the PH patient experience varies from country to country.

Vinicio de Jesus Perez, M.D., has seen this firsthand. After meeting his first PH patient in 2000 while completing his residency at Massachusetts General hospital in

Boston, Dr. de Jesus Perez sought out PH medical experts to learn more. When he saw little literature on the disease existed, he knew his future was in expanding the knowledge and treatment of PH.

For Dr. de Jesus Perez, this is a huge problem. In recent years, he has helped develop a shared knowledge base for the international community. That knowledge base aims to bridge the gap between existing care guideline and the reality of people with PH throughout the world.

“To me, bringing together colleagues from around the world is a big priority. There is clear variability in the patient experience and in access to drugs. PH related to infectious diseases, like HIV, or related to high altitude is not something that we often do not see in the U.S. or in our clinical studies. However, infectious diseases and high altitude are leading causes in PH in the global community. But this is not what our research reflects.”

Dr. de Jesus Perez is committed to creating collaborative environments for medical professionals around the world.

In 2020, he joined Ghazwan Butrous, M.D., Ch.B., Ph.D., of the U.K., and Magdi Yacoub, O.M., F.R.S., of Egypt, to organize the first Infection and Pulmonary Vascular Disease consortium. As part of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute’s annual meeting, the consortium brings together clinicians and scientists from Africa, Asia, the

Middle East, Europe, the U.S. and Latin America to discuss priorities in research and care for PH related to infectious diseases.

At the first meeting in 2020, 15 people attended. At the most recent meeting in 2022, about 150 medical professionals from around the world were present.

“Creating and attending the consortium made me realize my level of familiarity with the field needed to change,” says Dr. de Jesus Perez. “When you step outside of the U.S., you realize the reality of what our colleagues are dealing with in their communities is much different than what we are used to. I really felt like I had to learn about PH from scratch by talking to my colleagues.”

Latin American health care leaders to discuss pediatric and adult PH needs. Dr. de Jesus Perez also helped facilitate a regional meeting of patient societies to discuss educational opportunities for patients and scientists in Latin America. The first professional meeting took place in 2017 in Peru.

“This meeting was the first time that we brought PH experts from all of Latin America in a room together,” says Dr. de Jesus Perez. “Unlike smaller, regional meetings that were already occurring, there is now the opportunity to build combined lectures for both the pediatric and adult PH community.”

His impact has gone further than just the region. As a result of the Latin American meetings, Stanford has begun an educational collaboration with PH care centers in Latin America. This partnership will help both parties learn from each other and move towards a future of shared research and knowledge.