Claire
MOUNIER-VEHIER

Pr Claire MOUNIER-VEHIER, MD-PHD

Claire Mounier-Véhier is a cardiologist. After graduating in 1991 from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Lille 2, she discovered cardiovascular disease in women at the Lille University Hospital, and this theme has remained with her ever since. Appointed University Professor - Hospital Practitioner in Vascular Medicine in 2003, she has been Head of the Vascular Medicine and Hypertension Department at the Lille University Hospital's Heart-Lung Institute since 2005. Her volunteer work as head of the Fédération Française de Cardiologie Nord-Pas de Calais (French Federation of Cardiology in the Nord-Pas de Calais region) has enabled her to conduct pilot projects to promote cardiovascular health among women, particularly those in precarious situations. President of the Fédération Française de Cardiologie from 2015 to 2019, she works to share with all women that they are essential actors in their own health.In 2020, she created the foundation Agir pour le Cœur des Femmes with Thierry Drilhon to go further in informing the population, training healthcare professionals and improving women's cardio-gynecological care within the territories.

In France, 75,000 women die every year from cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among women, due to a lack of screening, ignorance of warning signs, or treatment that comes too late... A fate that Pr Claire Mounier-Véhier refuses to accept: in 2012, as a pioneer in cardio-gynecology, she launched the "Cœur-Artères-Femmes" (Heart-Arts-Women) coordinated care pathway at Lille University Hospital. It offers a multidisciplinary assessment of risk factors and the integration of hormonal status; not forgetting therapeutic education for a healthier lifestyle, the key to prevention. An initiative that makes perfect sense at a time when women are increasingly affected at a younger age: hospitalizations for myocardial infarction are rising by 5% a year among women aged 45 to 55.

At the same time, she is pursuing epidemiological research within the Equipe d'Accueil 2694 - Santé Publique: épidémiologie et qualité des soins on the theme of hypertension and cardiovascular risk in women at the University of Lille. Claire Mounier-Véhier has led the development of several recommendations for clinical practice in women's hypertension within the Société Française d'HTA. With Pr Geneviève Plu-Bureau and Dr Brigitte Raccah-Tebeka, she helped write the book published by Elsevier Masson, La ménopause en pratique (2019). She is also editor-in-chief of the French magazine "La Presse Médicale Formation", Elsevier Masson.

Claire Mounier-Véhier's activities range from research to commissions for the Direction Générale de la Santé, the Assurance Maladie and the Haute Autorité de Santé. She travels the length and breadth of France to share her experience at conferences for the general public and doctors. She regularly appears in the media to spread an essential message of prevention, because cardiovascular disease is a disease of the environment: it strikes without warning, but doesn't kill by chance. It's up to us to take action on our own lifestyle, to become active players in a responsible, socially responsible approach to prevention: avoiding cardiovascular disease rather than curing it!

Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur and Officier of the Ordre National du Mérite, Claire Mounier-Véhier is the author of "Mon combat pour le cœur des femmes", published by Editions Marabout. She is also the winner of the Prix Jean Bernard 2019, awarded by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale to a scientist who has enriched public knowledge in the field of health by sharing his or her experience.