The 1st Department of Cardiology at the University of Athens’ School of Medicine, based at Hippocratio General Hospital, is proud to host CardioAthena 2026—the 22nd International Meeting on Cardiovascular Medicine.
Alongside the conference, the Organising Committee is inviting students of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens to take part in ‘Heartworks: The Heart Through Art and Artificial Intelligence’, a one-of-a-kind art competition. This initiative explores the heart not just as a vital organ but as a universal symbol of life, emotion, rhythm, memory, and human experience—through the lens of cutting-edge AI technology.
As creativity meets technology like never before, AI offers fresh ways to tell stories, create visuals, experiment with sound, and bring movement to life. Heartworks gives students a chance to turn scientific inspiration into tangible art, expressing ideas, emotions, and visions sparked by the human heart. The competition welcomes both scientifically informed and free-form, poetic, symbolic, or narrative approaches.
Students may submit artwork created with any AI image generator, such as Nano Banana, Midjourney, DALL·E, Stable Diffusion, Adobe Firefly, or Canva.
Suggested themes:
The heart as our most vital organ and the centre of life
Cardiovascular prevention and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle
The heart as a historical, artistic, and literary symbol
The intersection of heart and technology in modern medicine
The heart as a medium for expression, communication, and emotional connection
Submission requirements:
A short description of the work (max. 50 words) explaining concept, inspiration, or approach
The AI prompt used to create the piece, ensuring transparency in the creative process
Email entries to acardioclinicekpa@gmail.com with the subject line ‘CardioAthena 2026 Competition’.
All artworks will be displayed in a dedicated area at CardioAthena 2026, and the three standout submissions will receive prizes at the conference’s opening ceremony.
Deadline for submissions: 2 April 2026
Konstantinos Tsioufis
Professor of Cardiology, University of Athens
Charalambos Vlachopoulos
Professor of Cardiology, University of Athens
