The Nominations Committee, chaired by Dr. Benjamin Eidem, has nominated the following candidates for Officers and Directors of the American Society of Echocardiography.
Current members of ASE, please vote for the officers and directors using this ballot. Voting instructions are included on the ballot, members can write in nominees in the blank spaces instead of selecting the person nominated. Your ballot must be received by April 16, 2026. Please review the slate below and cast your vote. Thank you.
Officer Nominated to Presidential Ladder
(One-Year Term – Expires June 2027)
Carol Mitchell, PhD, ACS, RDMS, RDCS, RVT, RT(R), FASE
- Dr. Mitchell is an Associate Professor (CHS) at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a faculty member in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine within the Department of Medicine and has an affiliate appointment with the Department of Medical Physics. In this role, she develops curricula for sonography students, medical students, residents, fellows and a graduate medical physics course. Dr. Mitchell received her PhD from the University of Missouri -Kansas City with the Coordinating Discipline: Education and Co-Discipline: Urban Leadership and Policy Study in Education. She has extensive experience in developing curricula for delivering ultrasound imaging content. She is certified with the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography in the following specialties: RDCS credential (adult echocardiography, pediatric echocardiography), RDMS credential (fetal echocardiography, abdomen, obstetrics & gynecology, breast and neurosonology) and RVT credential (vascular technology). She holds the advanced cardiac sonographer (ACS) credential through Cardiovascular Credentialing International.Dr. Mitchell is a fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography and Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. Dr. Mitchell has held the following leadership positions within the American Society of Echocardiography; Co-Chair and Chair Awards Committee, Chair Cardiovascular Sonography Council, Co-Chair Governance Task Force (2018-2019), Treasurer, Chair of the Finance, Strategy and Development Committee (2018-2021), Co-Chair 2022 Scientific Sessions, Chair of the 2022 Hackathon Task Force, Abstract Chair 2024 Scientific Sessions and Chair of the 2025 Scientific Sessions. She is the current Co-Chair for the Industry Relations Committee. Dr. Mitchell has also served on the American Society of Echocardiography Board of Directors multiple times through her roles as a member at large, Chair of the Cardiovascular Sonography Council and Treasurer. Dr. Mitchell has several peer reviewed publications and serves as an editorial consultant for the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE) and a sub-section editor for CASE.Dr. Mitchell’s career is focused on improving the lives of all through the implementation of new technology, standardization of image acquisition, and measurement. She has participated in the writing of several guideline documents and was the co-chair, along with Dr. Peter Rahko for the “Guidelines for Performing a Comprehensive Transthoracic Echocardiographic Examination in Adults: Recommendations from the American Society of Echocardiography.” She has worked collaboratively with physicians, scientists and sonographers at multiple institutions to perform research, publish protocol documents and complete educational projects. Examples of American Society of Echocardiography educational projects she has contributed to include; “Echo Essentials for Fellows in Training: Level 1,” “Comprehensive Sonographer Curriculum Resource” and several American Society of Echocardiography educational products. She is also the recipient of the American Society of Echocardiography Sonographer Lifetime Achievement Award (2022) and the Cardiovascular Sonographer Distinguished Teacher Award (2010).
Dr. Mitchell’s research interests include developing new strategies to teach ultrasound imaging more effectively (to include curriculum development, simulation, hands-on imaging, and interactive educational activities), texture feature extraction (to include the use of AI for image segmentation), hemodynamic relationships to cardiovascular disease and cognition and evaluation of endovascular repair devices. She is also a member of the American Heart Association, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, Society for Vascular Ultrasound and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists.
Secretary Nominated to the Executive Committee
(Two-Year Term – Expires June 2028)
Margaret Park, BS, MS, ACS, RDCS, RVT, FASE
Margaret M. Park, BS, ACS, RVT, RDCS, widely known as “Koko” is a respected leader in cardiovascular multimodality imaging, education, and research. She has dedicated her career to advancing sonographic science through clinical innovation, academic scholarship, and professional leadership. She is a Fellow of both the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (FSDMS) and the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE).
Koko holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Oregon Institute of Technology. She has spent the last 25 years of her career dedicated to cardiovascular research as a Lead Imaging Specialist for the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute, C5R Research, and the Lerner Institute of Research. Koko’s special interest lies in pulmonary vascular disease where she has been a champion of RV functional assessment and RV strain through the PVDOMICS NIH consortium.
A prolific author and educator, Koko has written two textbooks on sonography, contributed ten book chapters, and published sixty articles in peer-reviewed journals along with forty-two scientific abstracts. She has delivered more than 150 invited lectures at local, national, and international meetings.
Koko has served on the Board of Directors for the SDMS, ASE, and IAC, helping to shape policy and standards across the field. Koko was honored in 2024 with the SDMS Joan P. Baker Pioneer Award and previously the ASE Lifetime Achievement Award (2017). Throughout her career, Koko’s greatest satisfaction has come from translating research into real-world clinical impact—bringing ideas from the lab into practice to improve patient care and save lives.
Council Representative Nominated to the Executive Committee (Two-Year Term – Expires June 2028)
Merri Bremer, EdD, RN, ACS, RDCS, FASE
Dr. Bremer is an Assistant Professor at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She serves as the Program Director for the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences Advanced Cardiovascular Sonographer (ACS) Program and as a Quality Improvement and Education Coordinator for the Mayo Clinic Rochester Echocardiography Laboratory. Merri received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from St. Olaf College in 1984 and began her echocardiography career in 1989. She has held many roles within the Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Laboratory, spanning clinical practice, research, quality improvement, and education.
Demonstrating deep commitment, Merri has dedicated over 25 years to active volunteerism with organizations such as ASE, IAC, SDMS, CCI, and JRC-DMS. A member of ASE since 1995, she has served on numerous ASE committees, councils, task forces, and the ASE Board of Directors, and co-chaired the 2018 Scientific Sessions Program Committee. She currently chairs the ASE Education Committee and is a member of the ASE Foundation Board of Directors. Merri received the ASE Cardiovascular Sonography Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 in recognition of her high-quality educational work.
Merri’s decades of experience, cultivated through extensive leadership and volunteer roles with ASE and other organizations, provide a unique and broad skill set she is eager to share. Her educational, board, and leadership experience has equipped her with the skills to successfully communicate information, brainstorm ideas, and serve effectively as a Council Representative for the ASE Board of Directors.
Director Nomination International Representative
(Two-Year Term – Expires June 2028)
Shantanu Sengupta, MD, PhD, FASE
Dr. Sengupta is a Director and Heart Failure Specialist at Sengupta Hospital and Research Institute, Nagpur, India. His clinical, research, and academic interests include those related to echocardiography and heart failure. He received his MD degree from Government Medical College, Nagpur, and his PhD degree at Newcastle Upon Tyne University, UK. He has been a fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography since 2010. He is also a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and has been awarded honorary fellowship of the British Society of Echocardiography in 2025.
Dr. Sengupta’s career is focused on the diagnosis and risk assessment of cardiac disease using echocardiography. His career is devoted to using imaging technology to improve the lives of patients suffering from rheumatic heart disease. He has been actively involved in treating patients suffering from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
He has been highly active in education in India, serving as program director of Echo Nagpur, an international meeting running annually for 22 years and earlier endorsed by the ASE. He has been centrally involved with ASE Foundation’s outreach program in India in 2012 and 2025. He has also served as a faculty member at multiple international cardiology and echocardiography conferences. Dr. Sengupta has also been involved in numerous scientific investigations. He has served as a principal investigator on several trials. He has been the first author or coauthor on many scientific publications, including papers in the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. Dr. Sengupta has demonstrated great enthusiasm and dedicated interest in ASE. He recently served as a coauthor of the ASE guidelines document, Recommendations for the Use of Echocardiography in the Evaluation of Rheumatic Heart Disease. He has been an engaged faculty member and participant in the ASE Scientific Sessions for many years. He has also served as a consultant to the FASE Committee and a member of ASE’s Diversity and Inclusion task force. He has been a regular reviewer for Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography and recently joined our Editorial Board; he is always willing to take on another review. He has also been an avid participant in ASE’s Journal Club on X.
Director Nomination Member-At-Large
(Two-Year Term – Expires June 2028)
Bhaskar Arora, MD, FASE
Dr. Arora is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University and serves as Cardiology Fellowship Site Director and Director of the Cardiac MRI Program at the Portland VA Medical Center. He completed medical school in India before moving to the US for his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He completed his Cardiology fellowship training at the University of Connecticut program in Hartford and pursued an advanced echocardiography fellowship training at University of California, San Francisco.
A multimodality cardiovascular imager and clinician–educator, his work focuses on advanced cardiac imaging, fellowship education, and program development. He established the cardiac MRI program at Portland VA and has received multiple awards for excellence in teaching and mentorship. Dr. Arora also serves as the cardiology faculty development lead at OHSU, with a focus on early-career faculty growth.
Within the American Society of Echocardiography, Dr. Arora is a graduate of the ASE Leadership Academy (Cohort 3) and currently serves on the Guidelines and Standards Committee and the Leadership Academy Oversight Committee. He is also actively involved in regional education through the Willamette Valley Society of Echocardiography.
Director Nomination Member-At-Large
(Two-Year Term – Expires June 2028)
Matthew Parker, MD, FASE
Matthew W. Parker, MD, FASE, is Associate Professor at University of Massachusetts T. H. Chan School of Medicine and Director of Echocardiography and Noninvasive Cardiology at UMass Memorial Medical Center, in Worcester, MA. He received his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. Dr. Parker completed medical internship and residency at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, and cardiology fellowship training at Hartford Hospital and the University of Connecticut in Hartford, CT.
Dr. Parker’s career is focused on education and quality in echocardiography. His interests focus on clinical applications of echocardiography to valvular heart disease. He has championed interventional echocardiography, three-dimensional echocardiography, and artificial intelligence in echocardiography practice. He also works to increase engagement of sonographers in advancing echocardiography. Dr. Parker is an active teacher of all users of cardiovascular ultrasound.
Dr. Parker has been a Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography since 2018 and has served on several ASE committees, currently co-chairing the Guidelines and Standards Committee, and was a member of the second cohort of the ASE Leadership Academy. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography since 2020. Dr. Parker is also medical director of the New England Society of Echocardiography.
