Thu, 02.07.2026

Steering Committee Retreat 2026: Shaping the future of AFNET

On June 29 and 30, 2026, the AFNET Steering Committee gathered in Muenster, Germany for this year’s retreat. The two-day meeting focused on personal exchanges, the strategic development of the network and planning future activities.

The retreat offered Steering Committee members the opportunity to discuss current challenges and opportunities for AFNET, develop new ideas for research and collaboration and define the next steps for the association’s further development. Muenster—which is also home to the AFNET office—provided the ideal setting for this.

In addition to strategic topics, the retreat also focused on in-depth professional exchange and the joint development of new ideas. Participants exchanged views on the network’s future scientific direction, discussed current developments and identified key priorities for AFNET’s future work.

The in-person meeting strengthened cohesion within the committee and laid an important foundation for continued successful collaboration with the AFNET office.

Wed, 03.06.2026

SKY AF Summit 2026 provides important insights

On May 27, 2026, the SKY AF Summit took place in Frankfurt am Main as an in-person event with an accompanying livestream. The international scientific conference was held under the patronage of AFNET and the DGK.

Leading experts in cardiology, electrophysiology, and cardiac surgery discussed current advances in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. The focus was on new study data, innovative technologies, and translational approaches to the further development of modern therapeutic concepts.

The scientific program covered the entire therapeutic spectrum—from oral anticoagulation and stroke prevention to modern ablation and hybrid procedures, and on to future developments in device-based therapy. A particular emphasis was placed on the significance of comorbidities such as heart failure, metabolic disorders, and renal dysfunction for clinical outcomes.

The SKY AF Summit 2026 underscored the importance of close collaboration between research and clinical practice. The event’s goal was to accelerate the translation of scientific evidence into clinical care and to further strengthen international dialogue in the field of cardiac rhythm medicine.

Participants at SKY AF SUMMIT

Fr., 29.05.2026

Herzenssache Lebenszeit

The public awareness campaign “Herzenssache Lebenszeit” made a successful stop at Paderborn’s Town Hall Square. Together with partners, AFNET employees provided information on heart health, atrial fibrillation and prevention. Many visitors took advantage of the free health screenings and the opportunity to speak with experts in person.

“Herzenssache Lebenszeit” will continue to make stops in many other cities.

Is the tour coming to your area? You can find all the stops and more information here:

Stationen der Info-Tour | Herzenssache Lebenszeit

To raise awareness of the “Fan Beats” project, organized in partnership with SC Paderborn, a goal-shooting game was set up where participants could win small prizes—after all, it was all about having fun.

Left: Dr. Lutz Mahlke (Team physician for SC Paderborn); Right: Prof. Dr. Andreas Götte (AFNET)

Mo, 20.04.2026

3rd AFNET DGK Young Investigator Award – Atrial Fibrillation 2026

Once again, four young scientists were honored with the AFNET-sponsored “DGK AFNET Young Investigator Award” for their current research on atrial fibrillation. AFNET Board Member and this year’s DGK Conference President Prof. Dr. Stephan Willems congratulated the award recipients during the award ceremony on April 10, 2026 at the DGK Annual Congress.

DGK-AFNET Young Investigator Award – Atrial Fibrillation

From left to right: Prof. Dr. Stephan Willems, 2nd place winner Felicitas Lemmer, Prof. Dr. Larissa Fabritz, 1st place winner Vivien Weisheit, 2nd place winner Christian Gold, Prof. Dr. Stefan Blankenberg (not in the picture: 2nd place winner Julian Segolsson) (©DGK/Thomas Hauss)

Read more

Mo, 20.04.2026

3rd AFNET Lecture Award 2026

As part of the “23 Years of AFNET” session, Prof. Steinbeck presented the AFNET Lecture titled „EP studies revisited” For his long-standing commitment, he received this year’s DGK-AFNET Lecture Award, which was presented for the third time. Prof. Sinner presented the results of the 10th AFNET-EHRA Consensus Conference.

DGK-AFNET Lecture on Arrhythmias Award

From left to right: Prof. Dr. Renate Schnabel, Prof. Dr. Reza Wakili, award recipient Prof. Dr. Gerhard Steinbeck, Dr. Ines Gröner, Prof. Dr. Paulus Kirchhof (©DGK/Thomas Hauss) (©DGK/Thomas Hauss)

The entire session “23 Years of AFNET: Current AF Therapy – Rhythm Control and Prevention of Thromboembolism” was recorded.

Laudatory by Prof. Ravens and Prof. Steinbeck, followed by his presentation“AFNET Lecture: EP studies revisited”

Prof. Moritz Sinner with his presentation “Outcomes of the 10th AFNET EHRA Consensus Paper”

Prof. Ingo Eitel with his presentation “Interventional stroke prevention in AF”

Fr, 17.04.2026

AFNET at the DGK Annual Conference 2026

Once again AFNET was present at the 2026 DGK Annual Meeting with a wide range of presentations and events.

The annual general meeting provided a comprehensive overview of the office’s current activities and developments. In addition to reports on ongoing projects and strategic priorities, the focus was on the regular election of the steering committee. We warmly welcome the newly elected members for the 2026–2030 term:

• Prof. Constanze Schmidt (Göttingen, DE)
• PD Dr. Verena Tscholl (Berlin, DE)
• Prof. Antonia Zapf (Hamburg, DE)

AFNET study meetings as well as other meetings in which AFNET served as a partner were held. Together with the DZHK, AFNET had a joint booth, providing a central hub for professional exchange and networking on site.

Tu., 14. April 2026

EHRA Congress 2026

At the EHRA 2026 Congress in Paris on 13 April 2026, Prof. Dr. Andreas Götte presented the results of “Kidney disease increases the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with device-detected atrial fibrillation: NOAH-AFNET 6.”

The manuscript is available here:
https://academic.oup.com/europace/advance-article/doi/10.1093/europace/euag083/8652924

For more information, please read the AFNET press release:
https://www.af-net.eu/nierenerkrankungen-erhoehen-das-risiko-fuer-kardiovaskulaere-ereignisse-bei-device-detektiertem-vorhofflimmern/

Di, 10.06.2025

Manuscript accepted for publication in JAMA Cardiology

We are pleased to share a new publication from the EAST-AFNET4 project: The manuscript titled “Impact of Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity on Treatment Effect of Early Rhythm Control: EAST-AFNET4” has been accepted for publication in JAMA Cardiology.

For the publication, data were analysed to show whether diabetes and obesity have an influence on the effect of early rhythm control.

We extend our sincere thanks to all contributing authors and co-authors for their valuable work on this important research.

Fr., 23.05.2025

MAESTRIA-AFNET 10: 5^th Investigator Meeting at the ESC Congress in Madrid

Meet us @ESC:

The entire MAESTRIA – AFNET 10 team is looking forward to welcoming study sites in Madrid on 30th of August.

Location : ESC Meeting Room 5 (IFEMA MADRID Centro de Conventiones Sur – Level 1, IFEMA Madrid, Avenida del Partenón, Madrid, Spain) 

Time: 04:30pm – 06:00 pm

Fri, 16.05.2025

AFNET Lecture Award – Lecture by Prof John Camm – DGK Annual Conference 2025

Prof Camm was honoured with the AFNET Lecture Award at the AFNET general meeting during the DGK 2025 annual conference in Mannheim. In this document you can see his lecture at the award ceremony.

German Cardiac Society 2025 Mannheim Camm FinalHerunterladen