The Pulse – Powered by Duke Heart

Chief’s message: Duke Expands and gets a Proton Center:

Hope you are all gearing up for some holiday time with family and friends.  This week Duke had several exciting announcements.  Duke announced a plan to expand to Lake Norman Medical center near Charlotte – 123 bed hospital in Mooresville NC.  This will be the first Duke Health location near Charlotte and we will have details to discuss how we can partner to help patients and that community in upcoming weeks.

Additionally, we are grateful for a historic 50 Million dollar gift that will make the Duke Proton Center –  a place to get innovative cancer care in a one of kind location in North Carolina.  Both stories are below and highlight a busy week at Duke and with Duke Heart. 

Finally, we will have our last issue of the Pulse for this year next week – so we will try to have some year end highlights and also any other stories you would like us to highlight.

Highlights of the week:

Be The Match Event, Dec. 16

Tomorrow, Dec. 16, please stop by our Be The Match event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Duke University Hospital outside the Atrium Cafeteria. The event is to drive awareness and registrations of new bone marrow/stem cell donors for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

This event has been planned by our colleague, Dayana Ramos, one of our amazing critical care nurse practitioners (and a newly minted DNP, as of May!) and a leukemia survivor.

“As a leukemia survivor who received a life-saving stem cell transplant from an anonymous donor, I know firsthand the power of this simple act,” says Ramos. “It is a cause that’s deeply personal to me and together we can make a difference. Please help me spread the word!”

Did you know that 70 percent of patients needing a blood stem cell transplant don’t have a fully matched donor in their family? They depend on the NMDP for help. Questions? Please contact Amanda Cooley at acooley2@nmdp.org.

If you can’t attend the drive, Dayana has registration kits available. The process is quick and easy, taking only about 5 minutes. She is willing to meet up with potential donors to complete the registration. Attached is more information.

What’s Involved?

• Age: 18-40 to join registry
• Cost: Free!
• Commitment: Willingness to donate to any patient worldwide

Donation Methods:

• Peripheral Stem Cells (most common)
• Bone Marrow (less common)

By joining the registry, you could be the match someone desperately needs. Let’s help make a difference!

 

Duke Health Updates:

Historic Gift will Bring Proton Beam Therapy to Duke Health

Thanks to a $50 million gift from an anonymous donor, patients throughout our region will soon be able to get proton therapy at Duke.  The gift is the largest philanthropic gift ever received by Duke University Health System and will be used to create the Duke Proton Center. 

“This is a historic gift, both for Duke and for the state of North Carolina,” said Vincent E. Price, PhD, president of Duke University. “The Duke Proton Center will have a profound impact on cancer care in our region, and we are very grateful for the generous donor support that is making these advances possible.”

The gift was announced on Wednesday. Read more here. And here.

 

Duke Health Expands to Lake Norman

On Wednesday, Duke Health signed an agreement to acquire Lake Normal Regional Hospital, a 123-bed hospital located near Charlotte in Mooresville, NC. This is an extraordinary opportunity to extend the expert care and innovation of Duke Health to more patients, in more ways, across more communities.

Our leaders are excited to share more details as the process unfolds over the coming months. This is an exciting time to be a part of Duke Health, and we hope you’ll share our excitement and pride. Learn more about the plan in this video message from Dr. Mary Klotman and Dr. Craig Albanese.

This achievement would not be possible without the dedication of all our team members to our mission of providing hope, health, and healing to our patients, their loved ones, and each other. Learn more here.

 

Mathis-Harris Named Sr. Director of Nursing for DUH

Miranda Mathis-Harris, BSN, RN, MBA, CNML, has been appointed as the new Senior Director of Nursing for Duke University Hospital. In this role, she will be responsible for Patient Flow & Transfer Center, Life Flight, and ED Nursing. Miranda brings more than three decades of dedicated service to Duke Health and an impressive record of leadership and innovation in nursing operations and patient flow management.

The announcement was made on Dec. 9 by Kristie Baraszu, Associate Chief Operating Officer, at Duke University Hospital. Congratulations, Miranda!

 

Campus Holiday Celebrations:

Gratitude Meal at Duke Hospital

Anyone working on the Duke University Hospital campus on Wednesday, December 25 is invited to enjoy a complimentary holiday meal in recognition of the season. Our leadership team is grateful for the opportunity to express their special appreciation for team members who will be working to care for our patients, enabling their colleagues to spend time with their families and friends.

Guidelines:

• Staff must present a valid Duke badge for entry.
• Managers and team members may pick up meals for others (maximum of 10 meals).
• One meal per team member working on December 25; this is to ensure everyone is served.
• We encourage you to return to your preferred work area to enjoy your meal.

 

Hanukkah with President Price and Coach Scheyer (virtual)

Jewish Life at Duke, in partnership with the Duke Jewish Alumni Network, is hosting a virtual Hanukkah candle lighting on Sun, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. ET with Duke’s Campus Rabbi and Jewish Chaplain Elana Friedman, President Price, and Coach Jon Scheyer.

Duke students, alumni, parents and families, faculty, staff, and friends of all religious/cultural identities are welcome. Folks need to register in advance to receive the Zoom link.

For a full event description and the registration link, please visit Hanukkah 2024.

 

GME: December Education Grand Rounds

December 18: Facing the Unseen: The Struggle to Center Mental Health in Medicine with Damon Tweedy, MD, Professor, Duke Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Noon – 1 p.m.

Objectives:

• Identify at least two ways that the traditional divide between physical health and mental health is detrimental to patients
• Examine the role of race in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions
• Discuss at least two methods to improve the centering of mental health within medical education and practice

Register Here

 

HFSA Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats

December 19, 2024 | 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM ET | Virtual Livestream; OnDemand to follow

Join the HFSA for an informative (free!) seminar, HFSA Heart Failure Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats, where leading experts delve into the latest trends and statistics on heart failure. This session is designed to provide recent insights on heart failure incidence, mortality, hospitalizations, and treatment. Attendees will also gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategies HFSA is employing to address these trends and close critical gaps in care.

Mike Felker, MD will be a featured speaker! To learn more, please visit: https://hfsa.org/heart-failure-seminar-what-you-need-know-stat-hf-stats

 

 

 

 

Pulse Holiday Break

It’s hard to believe, but our last issue of Pulse for 2024 will be next week. We’ll be taking a publishing break and will return on Sunday, Jan. 12. If you’d like anything published next weekend, please be sure to send it to us by Wednesday, Dec. 18.

Enjoy the season!

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Please join us this week for our final CGR of 2024!

Dec. 17: Contemporary Lipid Management: What is New and What Does the Future Hold? with Nishant Shah. 5 p.m., DN2002 or via Zoom.

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

 

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

December 18: DHP Conference with Hannah Schwennesen. Noon, DMP 7W70

December 20: HF/TXP with Seamus Hughes. Noon, Zoom only.

 

2025 Duke Heart CMEs – Save the Dates!

The following CME activities, sponsored by Duke Heart, have been scheduled. Registration is not yet open, but stay tuned for additional information.

• February 18, 2025: Remote Patient Care: A New Era in Cardiovascular Disease Management; 5:00-7:30pm Eastern on Zoom; will be free
• April 26, 2025: Duke Structural Heart Symposium (live event at Trent Semans Center in Durham)
• June 7, 2025: Duke Heart Failure Symposium (live event at Durham Convention Center in Durham)

These events are currently being planned for late 2025; dates have not yet been set:

• October: Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium (live event, location TBD)
• November: 17th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium (live event, location TBD)

 

Reflect and Connect During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be a busy, stressful, and isolating time for many. Duke Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is hosting three “Reflection and Connection” sessions that will use storytelling to reduce stress and create a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others.

The sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Participants will be guided through a mini-mental makeover and expressive writing practices to reflect and nurture empathy and a sense of meaning in response to stress – whether personal, professional, or related to current events or the stress and pressures (and joys) of the holiday season.

Writing exercises are for the sole use and benefit of participants, who are not required to share anything they write. Registration is required. You can attend any/all of the sessions offered.

Dates:

• Tuesday, December 17, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, January 14, from 4–5 p.m.

Register Here  

 

Women’s Health Symposium – Feb. 21, 2025

Save the date! A women’s health symposium will be held on Feb. 21, 2025 in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center.

Organized by the Duke/NCCU BIRCWH Career Development Program, the Women’s Health Symposium “Scientific Meeting on All Aspects of Women’s Health and the Influence of Sex as a Biological Variable on Health Conditions” will be held on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 at the Trent Semans Center Great Hall. The featured speakers are Sharonne Hayes, MD, a cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Cynthia Kuhn, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Featured events include an interactive session on navigating the “bumps” along your research path and a poster session. For more details about the event, or to register and submit your poster topic click here.

 

2025 Duke Safety & Quality Conference

The Duke Safety & Quality Conference will be held on April 17, 2025. Abstracts are due Sunday, January 5, by 5 p.m.

Click here to learn more and to review the submission criteria.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News: 

December 9: Nishant Shah

Medical Xpress

Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid

December 10: Carmelo Milano, Jacob Schroder, and Donavon Harbison

Black Doctor

A Young Father Made Heart History and Saved His Life

December 11: Nishant Shah

El Sol Latino

Desafío: medicamentos antiobesidad para todos

December 11: Jonathan Piccini

Medscape

What Now for Factor XI Inhibitors in AF?

Chief’s message:  Fellows Match and Holiday Gatherings

This last week we had our cardiology fellow match and were excited to welcome our new star fellows to our Cardiology group. We matched 10 amazing people from around the country and we are excited for them to join our group.  We also had a few holiday celebrations that included the ability to take a moment to recognize the work of the year, the tremendous people we get to work with, and the mission we continue to advance on discovering and caring for our community to improve cardiovascular health.  As we spend the next few weeks getting ready for the holidays – I want to thank all of our team members that will be covering holiday shifts and ensuring we keep our community well.

Some photos of the heart center Holiday Party included here (one from the photo booth)

 

Highlights of the week:

2025 Incoming Fellows Announced

We are delighted to share our 10 cardiovascular disease fellowship matches with you! The following class of trainees will join us in July 2025.

 

 

Harriet Akunor, MD — residency at Albert Einstein. 

Krunal Amin, MD — residency at Duke.

Verda Arshad, MD — residency at the University of Cincinnati

Dorothy Avoke, MD — residency at Johns Hopkins

Alex Gunn, MD — residency at Duke.

Yoo Jin Kim, MD — residency at Johns Hopkins

Chad Kloefkorn, MD — residency at Baylor

Rebecca Steinberg, MD — residency at Emory

Jonathan Taylor-Fishwick, MD — residency at the University of Colorado

Marcus Threadcraft, MD — residency at Vanderbilt

 

 

Thank you to our faculty and fellows for recruiting this fantastic class of trainees!

The following fellowship programs will also welcome their newest trainees in July 2025:

Advanced Heart Failure fellowship:

• Aubrie Carroll, MD — transitioning from Duke CVD fellowship
• Merna Hussien, MD — joining us from MedStar Health/Georgetown 
• Mark Kittipibul, MD — transitioning from Duke CVD Research Pathway

Interventional Cardiology fellowship:

• Nathan Goodwin, MD — transitioning from CVD fellowship
• Priya Roy, MD — joining us from Ohio State
• Manasi Tannu, MD — transitioning from CVD Research Pathway

Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology fellowship:

• Andrew Andreae, MD
• Sara Coles, MD
• Anthony Lin, MD
• Belal Suleiman, MD

Each of the above is moving into CCE fellowship from our CVD fellowship program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please join us in congratulating all of our trainees and in welcoming those who will be new to Duke!

 

Kudos to Champion and Narcisse!

Anna Lisa Chamis, MD received the following message this week regarding our fellows, Drs. Cosette Champion and Dennis Narcisse:

“In the spirit of gratitude, I would like to thank two of your fellows for going above and beyond to help patients this evening.

Dr. Cosette Champion came immediately to evaluate a patient I was concerned about and was thoughtful in her recommendations.

Dr. Dennis Narcisse came in from home to assist with a situation that was not necessarily his responsibility but he did the right thing for the patient.

I am grateful for them and they deserve to know it!” —  Suchita Shah Sata, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Duke Hospital Medicine Programs

Way to go, Cosette and Dennis!!!

 

CV Research Symposium Held in NYC

We reached out to Maria Price Rapoza, PhD regarding the Cardiovascular Research Symposium held Dec. 3-4 at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Cardiovascular Research Institute in New York City this past week. 

“The Symposium was terrific,” Rapoza says. “Our colleagues at Cornell (led by Duke Cardiology faculty alums Geoff Pitt and Bob Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University) did a great job and it was good to hear the excellent science from more than 40 cardiovascular researchers based at Duke, Stanford, UPenn, and Cornell.

Our Duke CVRC contingent represented Duke Cardiology very well, including our newest faculty member Ching Zhu. It was also a real highlight of the event to hear Dr. Anthony Fauci’s talk; it was similar in content to the one he did at Duke a few months ago, but still a wonderful experience.”

Rapoza also noted that it was unsettling to see how many security guards he requires when he is in public. Shown here is a view of NYC from the Helmsley Medical Tower. Speaker photos and event details can be found on the event website.

Next year’s symposium will be hosted by the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn Cardiovascular Institute in Philadelphia. When details become available, we will post them here in Pulse.

 

Holiday Gathering Held at Heritage Clinic

Many thanks to Maitreya Thakkar, MD for sharing photos of the Heritage Clinic cardiology team as they gathered for a holiday celebration this week!

We anticipate sharing additional holiday gathering photos from across our Duke Heart teams next weekend. If you’re hosting or attending a gathering, please consider sharing your photos with our Pulse readers!

 

Be The Match Event, Dec. 16

Please stop by our Be The Match event on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Duke University Hospital outside the Atrium Cafeteria. The event is to drive awareness and registry recruitment for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

Did you know that 70 percent of patients needing a blood stem cell transplant don’t have a fully matched donor in their family? They depend on the NMDP for help. Questions? Please contact Amanda Cooley at acooley2@nmdp.org.

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Cardiology Grand Rounds

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

December 11: EP Conference with Vincent Delgado and Hubie Haywood. Noon, DMP 2W91.

December 13: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Andrew Wang. Noon, Zoom only.

December 18: DHP Conference with Hannah Schwennesen. Noon, DMP 7W70

December 20: HF/TXP with Seamus Hughes. Noon, Zoom only.

HFSA Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats

December 19, 2024 | 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM ET | Virtual Livestream; OnDemand to follow

Join the HFSA for an informative (free!) seminar, HFSA Heart Failure Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats, where leading experts delve into the latest trends and statistics on heart failure. This session is designed to provide the recent insights on heart failure incidence, mortality, hospitalizations, and treatment. Attendees will also gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategies HFSA is employing to address these trends and close critical gaps in care.

Mike Felker, MD will be a featured speaker! To learn more, please visit: https://hfsa.org/heart-failure-seminar-what-you-need-know-stat-hf-stats

2025 Duke Heart CMEs – Save the Dates!

The following CME activities, sponsored by Duke Heart, have been scheduled. Registration is not yet open, but stay tuned for additional information.

• February 18, 2025: Remote Patient Care: A New Era in Cardiovascular Disease Management; 5:00-7:30pm Eastern on Zoom; will be free
• April 26, 2025: Duke Structural Heart Symposium (live event at Trent Semans Center in Durham)
• June 7, 2025: Duke Heart Failure Symposium (live event at Durham Convention Center in Durham)

These events are currently being planned for late 2025; dates have not yet been set:

• October: Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium (live event, location TBD)
• November: 17th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium (live event, location TBD)

 

Reflect and Connect During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be a busy, stressful, and isolating time for many. Duke Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is hosting three “Reflection and Connection” sessions that will use storytelling as a means of reducing stress and creating a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others.

The sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Participants will be guided through practices of a mini-mental makeover and expressive writing to reflect and nurture empathy and a sense of meaning in response to stress – whether personal, professional, or related to current events or the stress and pressures (and joys) of the holiday season.

Writing exercises are for the sole use and benefit of participants, who are not required to share anything they write. Registration is required. You can attend any/all of the sessions offered.

Dates:

• Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 4–5 p.m.

Register Here  

 

Women’s Health Symposium – Feb. 21, 2025

Save the date! A women’s health symposium will be held on Feb. 21, 2025 in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center.

Organized by the Duke/NCCU BIRCWH Career Development Program, the Women’s Health Symposium “Scientific Meeting on All Aspects of Women’s Health and the Influence of Sex as a Biological Variable on Health Conditions” will be held on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 at the Trent Semans Center Great Hall. The featured speakers are Sharonne Hayes, MD, a cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Cynthia Kuhn, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Featured events include an interactive session on navigating the “bumps” along your research path and a poster session. For more details about the event, or to register and submit your poster topic click here.

2025 Duke Safety & Quality Conference Date Announced

The Duke Safety & Quality Conference will be held on April 17, 2025. Abstracts are due Sunday, January 5, by 5 p.m.

Click here to learn more and to review the submission criteria.

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

Duke Heart in the News: 

November 27 — Duke University Hospital (& Mani Daneshmand of Emory)

WAGA-TV (Fox/Atlanta)

Emory doctors first in U.S. to successfully perform new ‘experimental’ heart pump surgery

November 28 — Nishant Shah

NBC News

Who gets weight loss drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, being on Medicaid helps

November 29 — Joseph Turek & the Monroe family

WMC-TV (NBC/Memphis, TN)

Newborn Thriving After Breakthrough Surgery

November 30 — Manesh Patel

WPTF-AM (Raleigh)

Total Artificial Heart Breakthrough in Our Area

December 3 — Nishant Shah

Physician’s Weekly

Who Gets Obesity Drugs Covered by Insurance? In North Carolina, It Helps If You’re on Medicaid

December 4 — Nishant Shah

El Planeta

¿Podrían los nuevos medicamentos para bajar de peso estar disponibles para todos?

December 5 — Duke University Health System

Becker’s Hospital Review

46 hospitals, health systems land on Forbes’ dream employers list

December 4 — Latin-19

NC Health News

Saving hearts — and farmworker lives — in the fields

December 4 — DCRI/COMET-HF

Yahoo Finance

Cytokinetics Initiates Confirmatory Study on Heart Failure Drug

December 5 — Michael Felker

tctMD

Palliative Care in HF: Practical Advice From the HFSA

December 5 — Nishant Shah

Impacto Latino

Desafío: medicamentos antiobesidad para todos

 

Chief’s message: Spending time on Health

This week we want to thank all of our team members and colleagues that helped care for our patients during the Holiday week.  As we start December and think of all the things that we will do to share and celebrate the holiday season – we want to start by recognizing the many people in Duke Heart that help us care for our community in our clinics, hospital and all of the procedural spaces during holiday weeks including this last week.  Thank you all for your dedication to our clinical practice.

As we think about the impact we can have on our community and health in the upcoming year, we will be continuing to focus on aligning our ability to both discover and deliver health while training the next generation of leaders.  It’s a privilege to work with the people in Duke Heart on our mission to improve cardiovascular health. .  We hope to see many of you over the next month and look forward to partnering in the upcoming year. I am including some pictures from the resident Turkey Bowl this week that I had the opportunity to help referee.

Updates of the week:

Thanksgiving Message from Greg Pauly

During this week of giving thanks, I want to sincerely thank each of you for your unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional care to those who turn to us in their time of need.

I am pleased to share a few updates with you all as we close out the month of November.

I am so incredibly proud of each of our three hospitals for once again achieving “A” grades for patient safety in the latest Leapfrog assessment. This is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventable medical errors, infections, and injuries. This is a great acknowledgment of the work you all do to keep our patients safe and cared for. Thank you.

I know there is a lot of work happening every day to monitor our quality indicators, and I am proud to acknowledge that we had no CAUTIs during October. We continue to improve from where we were in the summer, and I appreciate the focused effort on our safety measures.

Next Thursday, Duke Cancer Institute will be hosting its annual Tree of Hope Lighting Ceremony at 5:30 p.m. in the cancer center lobby. This special event honors and remembers patients, their families and friends, and healthcare team members whose lives have been impacted by cancer. Learn more about this special tree-lighting ceremony here.

Earlier this month, our urology team performed their first biopsies in 4200 – a new space dedicated to providing quality care for our patients. Thank you to all the teams who came together to make this a reality for our teams and for our patients.

There’s so much to be grateful for on a daily basis and I would like to take a moment to share with you a heartfelt thank you and my reflections on gratitude.

Gratitude is more than just saying “thank you.” It’s a deep appreciation for the good things in our lives, big and small. It’s a recognition of the blessings we often take for granted. It’s a conscious choice to focus on the positive, even when faced with challenges.

When we practice gratitude, we open ourselves up to a world of possibilities. We experience increased happiness, improved mental and physical health, and stronger relationships.

Let’s make gratitude a part of our daily lives. Let’s choose to focus on the good, to appreciate the little things, and to express our thanks. By doing so, we can create a more positive and fulfilling life for ourselves and those around us.

I wish each of you and your families a truly happy Thanksgiving holiday with those you love.

With gratitude,

Greg Pauly, MHA

President, Duke University Hospital

Group President, Duke University Health System

Vice Dean for Clinical and Academic Integration, School of Medicine

 

A Thank You from Vincent Price, University President

To the Duke Community,

Throughout this year’s Centennial celebration, we’ve been reminded that the common thread running through all that Duke has achieved in the past—and all that we will achieve in the future—is our people.

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the many ways you are advancing Duke’s mission through your work and studies.

While many of us will enjoy a break in our schedules later this week, others will continue working around the clock, caring for our patients, and supporting essential operations throughout the Duke campus and health system.

Whether you are working or taking a break, and whether you are staying close by or traveling a long distance this Thanksgiving, I thank you for being part of this extraordinary Duke community. I hope you will have the opportunity to enjoy moments of reflection and gratitude in the coming days.

Cheers,

Vincent E. Price

President, Duke University

 

Kudos to our Lung Transplant Team!

On behalf of the Duke Heart leadership, we want to acknowledge the incredible effort of the lung transplant team. They performed successful transplants each day last week for five straight days. They worked day and night all week to help these complex recipients — it was a lung transplant marathon!

This kind of effort and personal sacrifice to help these recipients is an example of what makes Duke CT Surgery great. KUDOS!!!!! — Carmelo Milano, MD

Very much appreciate the amazing commitment to our patients from our Lung Transplant team! — Manesh Patel, MD

Fantastic news for the patients and amazing work by our world-class transplant team! We are all thankful for the members of this team, and the hard work and dedication to make this possible. Happy Thanksgiving! — Jill Engel

Way to go!!!

 

Shout-out to Philly Runners!

Speaking of marathons… congratulations to Troy Piorkowski and Lindsay Bostian, PAs from the cardiology team, who ran the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 24. Both achieved personal records and Lindsay qualified for the Boston Marathon. Hooray!

 

 

 

 

 

Dec. 3 DCRI Research Forum will Feature Echols

We hope you’ll join us for the next DCRI Research Forum from Noon-1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3., in which Melvin Echols, MD, FACC, the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at the American College of Cardiology will join us for a fireside chat on what it will take to achieve equitable cardiovascular care for everyone.

What: DCRI Research Forum: Achieving Equitable Cardiovascular Care for All: A Fireside Chat

Who: Melvin Echols, MD, FACC, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at American College of Cardiology

When: Noon-1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024

Where: Zoom Link to Attend

 

Duke to Host Be The Match Event

Please stop by our Be The Match event on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Duke University Hospital outside the Atrium Cafeteria. The event is to drive awareness and registry recruitment for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

Did you know that 70 percent of patients needing a blood stem cell transplant don’t have a fully matched donor in their family? They depend on the NMDP for help. Questions? Please contact Amanda Cooley at acooley2@nmdp.org.

 

Women’s Health Symposium Announced

Save the date! A women’s health symposium will be held on Feb. 21, 2025, in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center.

Organized by the Duke/NCCU BIRCWH Career Development Program, the Women’s Health Symposium “Scientific Meeting on All Aspects of Women’s Health and the Influence of Sex as a Biological Variable on Health Conditions” will be held on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at the Trent Semans Center Great Hall. The featured speakers are Sharonne Hayes, MD, a cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Cynthia Kuhn, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Featured events include an interactive session on navigating the “bumps” along your research path and a poster session. For more details about the event, or to register and submit your poster topic click here.

 

Baxter IV Fluid Update

Thank you for your incredible efforts and adaptability during the recent Baxter fluid shortage. Your cooperation and resourcefulness in conserving fluid ensured that we continued to provide seamless care to our patients.

To begin reducing the strain on our teams, the IV Fluid Center will sunset beginning this Friday, November 29. CSUs will now be restocked to 40% of par level based on usage prior to the shortage. This adjustment means there will be enough fluid on each CSU for a 24 – 36 hour period at current conservation levels covering all shifts, readily available in the bins. Code carts will also be restocked for emergent cases, and the fluid room will stay open from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. for procedural, Pharmacy, and specialty fluids until further notice. For after-hour emergent needs, please contact the Nursing OA on call for assistance.

As a reminder, it is still imperative that we maintain conservation efforts.  Please continue to visit the Baxter intranet resource page regularly for the latest updates. You can also find the Clinical Conservation Strategies by Service Line, which will be updated as additional conservation guidelines become available.

 We greatly appreciate your continued dedication and teamwork.

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

 

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

December 4: Match Day Review with Anna Lisa Chamis. 12:30-1 p.m., DMP 2W91

December 6: Left-sided Valve Guidelines with Bharathi Upadhya. Noon, Zoom only.

December 11: EP Conference with Vincent Delgado and Hubie Haywood. Noon, DMP 2W91.

December 13: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Andrew Wang. Noon, Zoom only.

December 18: DHP Conference with Hannah Schwennesen. Noon, DMP 7W70

December 20: HF/TXP with Seamus Hughes. Noon, Zoom only.

 

HFSA Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats

December 19, 2024 | 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM ET | Virtual Livestream; OnDemand to follow

Join the HFSA for an informative (free!) seminar, HFSA Heart Failure Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats, where leading experts delve into the latest trends and

statistics on heart failure. This session is designed to provide recent insights on heart failure incidence, mortality, hospitalizations, and treatment. Attendees will also gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategies HFSA is employing to address these trends and close critical gaps in care.

Mike Felker, MD will be speaking, so you know this will be a great event! To learn more, please visit: https://hfsa.org/heart-failure-seminar-what-you-need-know-stat-hf-stats

 

2025 Duke Heart CMEs – Save the Dates!

The following CME activities, sponsored by Duke Heart, have been scheduled. Registration is not yet open, but stay tuned for additional information.

• February 18, 2025: Remote Patient Care: A New Era in Cardiovascular Disease Management; 5:00-7:30 p.m. Eastern on Zoom; will be free
• April 26, 2025: Duke Structural Heart Symposium (live event at Trent Semans Center in Durham)
• June 7, 2025: Duke Heart Failure Symposium (live event at Durham Convention Center in Durham)

These events are currently being planned for late 2025; dates have not yet been set:

• October: Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium (live event, location TBD)
• November: 17th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium (live event, location TBD)

 

Reflect and Connect During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be busy, stressful, and isolating for many. Duke Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is hosting three “Reflection and Connection” sessions that will use storytelling to reduce stress and create a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others.

The sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Participants will be guided through a mini-mental makeover and expressive writing practices to reflect and nurture empathy and a sense of meaning in response to stress – whether personal, professional, or related to current events or the stress and pressures (and joys) of the holiday season.

Writing exercises are for the sole use and benefit of participants, who are not required to share anything they write. Registration is required. You can attend any/all of the sessions offered.

Dates:

• Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 4–5 p.m.

Register Here  

 

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, Sudarshan Rajagopal, and Sreekanth Vemulapalli.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

 

Cardio Sim Creator Competition

The ACC is accepting submissions for the Cardio Sim Creator Competition, a prestigious recognition for outstanding innovation in the field of cardiac simulation.

The submission deadline is Friday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m. To learn more, please visit this link.

 

2025 Duke Safety & Quality Conference Date Announced

The Duke Safety & Quality Conference will be held on April 17, 2025. Abstracts are due Sunday, January 5, by 5 p.m.

Click here to learn more and to review the submission criteria.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News: 

November 22 — Jonathan Piccini

Medscape

PVI Add-Ons Provide Better Control of Persistent AF

November 23 — Harry Severance

KevinMD.com

Why doctors increasingly turn away from rural clinical practice

November 24 — Duke University Hospital

The Varsity (Toronto)

Breakthrough artificial heart implantation success

November 24 — Jacob Schroder and Donavon Harbison

Spectrum News (Central NC)

Duke Health Pioneers Total Artificial Heart for Area Man

November 25 — Manesh Patel

Medscape

Anticoagulant Considered After Bioprosthetic Valve Surgery

November 25 — Duke University Hospital

Cardiovascular Business

Surgeons make history with first US implant of new magnetically suspended heart pump

November 27 — William Kraus

El HuffPost

El hábito diario que te puede alargar la vida más de una década

Chief’s message:  Thanksgiving week.

Each year the thanksgiving week brings a host of exciting and memorable traditions for many in our community.  Our community including our faculty, residents, and fellows hopefully get some time off to spend with loved ones.  There are also fun activities like resident Turkey bowl and official start of the Holiday season. Perhaps most notable for those of us in the health care community is the sense of gratitude for our colleagues and the opportunity we have to care for, teach, and play a role in cardiovascular health of so many peoples.  So, as you have family visiting for the holidays, please be sure to share with them the joy and meaningful role you play in all the work we do.

Updates of the week:

In Passing: Kristine Arges, RN, BSN, CCRC

With profound sadness, we reflect on the loss of Kristine (Kris) Arges, a cherished Duke Heart Center Clinical Research Unit member and the Duke Cardiac Diagnostic Unit. Arges, who died Thursday, spent 31 years on our team. She left Duke in 2022 after being diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). We ran a profile of Kris and her efforts to raise awareness and funding for MSA research in the Oct. 23, 2022 issue of Pulse.

Kris dedicated her career to advancing cardiovascular care through her exceptional skill, unwavering professionalism, and compassionate spirit. Her contributions to clinical research and diagnostics have touched countless lives, leaving a lasting legacy of excellence. Beyond her professional achievements, Kris will be remembered for her warmth, kindness, and the genuine connections she formed with her colleagues and patients alike. Her loss is deeply felt by all who had the privilege to know and work alongside her. We honor her memory and extend our condolences to her family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time.

We’ve collected some thoughts on Kris and wanted to share them with our team:

“Kris had many friends in her life and helped so many people as a nurse and clinical researcher at Duke. She was a true animal lover who had many dogs and a couple of cats, which she adored over the years. Kris was always on the go from traveling the world (with several trips to her beloved Germany) to remodeling our house and a mountain chateau to raising dozens of chickens to digging a fish pond and building a patio. Her imagination had no limit and she had no use for sitting around which in the end was the real tragedy of the disease that finally brought her down — but no one fought harder to live life to its fullest than Kris.” – Jim Arges, her husband

“Truly a sad day for myself, the CDU, and Duke.  Kris was instrumental in establishing and embodying the culture of scholarship, excellence, kindness, and camaraderie that we strive for every day.  She has been missed since she left the CDU and she and her family are in our thoughts.” – Sreek Vemulapalli, MD

“She was a wonderful person and will be missed. Her memory is a blessing.” – Manesh Patel, MD

Arrangements for a memorial service will be shared once finalized.

 

AHA 24: Hernandez Honored with QCOR Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award

The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research (QCOR) Council bestowed the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award on Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS, the executive director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and vice dean at the Duke University School of Medicine, during the AHA Scientific Sessions on November 16.

The award is presented annually at the AHA Scientific Sessions to a QCOR Council member for their significant long-term contributions to outcomes research and the improvement of cardiovascular care.

In addition to his leadership roles at Duke, Hernandez is a cardiologist and an internationally recognized leader in clinical research. His work ranges from clinical trials to health services and policy research, with over 600 publications. He has served as the steering committee chair or principal investigator of multiple large studies and is committed to improving the health of patients with cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

During his keynote speech at the awards reception, Hernandez highlighted the caring, committed community within the QCOR.

“We care about moving quality outcomes forward,” he said. “We care about closing false disparities. And in our current times, these things will continue to be important. At the DCRI, I have a great job working across different research areas, and I use the QCOR as an example of communities coming together to improve quality care and health outcomes.”

Congratulations, Adrian!

 

AHA 24: Ross Selected as Finalist for Early Career Investigator Award

Leanna Ross has been recognized as a finalist in the Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Early Career Investigator Award by the American Heart Association’s Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health. Leanna received the award at the organization’s 2024 Scientific Sessions following the presentation of her abstract, “Legacy Effects of Supervised Exercise Training on Body Composition and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in STRRIDE-Prediabetes.”

Congratulations, Leanna! Well-deserved!

Additionally, two 4^th year medical students from Ross and Bill Kraus’s “Duke Health and Exercise Trials Team” presented and were first-time attendees at AHA Scientific Sessions.

• Anna-Maria Dagher gave an oral abstract presentation: Exercise-induced Improvements in Capillary Density are Influenced by Sex, Hormone Replacement Therapy, and Exercise Intensity
• Garrett Moseley gave a moderated poster presentation: Retrospective Review of the Safety and Effectiveness of a Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet in Overweight or Obese Patients with Heart Failure

Shown from Left to Right are: Katherine Collins-Bennett, PhD (medical instructor in Pop Health), Bill Kraus, Garrett Moseley, Leanna Ross, and Anna-Maria Dagher)

Congratulations to all!

 

Vekstein to Join CT Surgery Faculty in 2025

It is with great pleasure that we announce Andrew Vekstein, MD, will join the CT surgery faculty at Duke. Andrew will focus his clinical practice on aortic and adult cardiac surgery. As most of you know, Andrew completed his undergraduate education at Duke University. He then attended medical school at Case Western Reserve and was awarded AOA designation. He subsequently was accepted into the Duke Integrated 6 year CT Surgery residency and will be our 3rd graduate from the program.

Vekstein plans to complete an additional Aortic surgery fellowship with Drs. Chad Hughes and Chandler Long, the directors for the Duke Aortic Center. He has already published extensively with over 50 peer reviewed manuscripts, 7 book chapters and multiple national meeting and podium presentations. Consistent with his interest in clinical research, he will have a joint appointment in the Duke Clinical Research Institute and has already been awarded the Duke Heart Center Leadership Council Award to study cognitive function of patients after surgeries with circulatory arrest.

Andrew is one of the brightest and most academically driven trainees that we have worked with, but at the same time, he is the consummate gentleman and team player. He plans to begin his appointment on July 1, 2025. Please join us in supporting Andrew as he transitions to this faculty role.

Congratulations, Andrew!

 

DUCCS Update

DUCCS leaders have announced that the Multinational ST LEUIS II Trial is underway with the goal of enrolling 1000 patient in the US, Argentina, Europe and Qatar. The study is testing a pocket-sized AI-powered handheld Smartphone Mobile ECG System for rapid detection of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) and with continuous and live-monitoring capabilities which can change the approach of STEMI detection on-the-go.

This second initiative is being led by Duke University Cooperative Cardiovascular Society (DUCCS) president Greg Barsness, MD along with Alex Barbagelata, MD, vice-president, DUCCS, and with strong support from Dave Albert, MD, a well-known innovator and founder of AliveCor, where he serves as Chief Medical Officer.

This study is a second phase of the first DUCCS ST LEUIS trial, led by previous DUCCS president J. Brent Muhlestein, MD, which generated significant impact and was the trigger for this novel technology.

If you are or were trained at Duke and still are not affiliated with DUCCS but would like to be, please contact Alex Barbagelata.

 

7200 to Serve as Hospital Surge Unit

Duke North, 7201-7208 will remain open until further notice as a Hospital Surge Unit accepting ED overflow patients from all service-lines, including Heart.  This area will be managed by Ashley Frazier, 7100 Nurse Manager.

We are grateful Heart is able to support efforts to diminish DUH capacity concerns.

 

Kudos to Goodwin!

We recently received the following message regarding cardiology fellow Nate Goodwin, MD, which was originally sent to Anna Lisa Chamis, MD:

“Just wanted to send a quick kudos about Nate Goodwin for his thoughtful care to a post-liver transplant patient during what sounds like a very busy consult night. He was also apparently the “NICEST”. It’s rare that the APPs go out of their way to let me know about their interactions with other service line members, so go, Nate! Thanks for training such great physicians and people.” — Nancy Yang, MD

Solid work, Nate!

 

 

Shout-out to Lewis!

We received the following note from Adam DeVore this past week:

“About every week I get positive feedback from clinic patients about Jennifer Lewis’s customer service. I received a note today that I thought had to be passed on:

“Jennifer is heroic in her service and commitment to patient care.” – a grateful patient

She is a gem!  — Adam DeVore, MD

Way to go, Jennifer!!!

 

Upcoming HFSA Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats

December 19, 2024 | 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM ET | Virtual Livestream; OnDemand to follow 

Join the HFSA for an informative (free!) seminar, HFSA Heart Failure Seminar: What You Need to Know STAT! HF Stats, where leading experts delve into the latest trends and statistics on heart failure. This session is designed to provide the recent insights on heart failure incidence, mortality, hospitalizations, and treatment. Attendees will also gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategies HFSA is employing to address these trends and close critical gaps in care.

Mike Felker, MD will be speaking, so you know this will be a great event! To learn more, please visit: https://hfsa.org/heart-failure-seminar-what-you-need-know-stat-hf-stats

 

 

 

Who Are The Most Cited Duke Scientists of 2024?

*this story, written by Karl Bates, originally appeared in Duke’s Research Blog

The Web of Science ranking of the world’s most highly-cited scientists was released this week, telling us who makes up the top 1 percent of the world’s scientists. These are the authors of influential papers that other scientists point to when making their arguments.

Twenty-three of the citation laureates are Duke scholars or had a Duke affiliation when the landmark works were created over the last decade.

Dan Scolnic of Physics returns as our lone entry in Space Science, which just makes Duke sound cooler all around, don’t you think?

This is a big deal for the named faculty and an impressive line on their CVs. But the selection process weeds out “hyper-authorship, excessive self-citation and anomalous citation patterns,” so don’t even think about gaming it.

Fifty-nine nations are represented by the 6,636 individual researchers on this year’s list. About half of the citation champions are in specific fields and half in ‘cross-field’ — where interdisciplinary Duke typically dominates. The U.S. is still the most-cited nation with 36 percent of the world’s share, but shrinking slightly. Mainland China continues to rise, claiming second place with 20 percent of the cohort, up 2.5 percent from just last year. Then, in order, the UK, Germany and Australia round out the top five.

Tiny Singapore, home of the Duke NUS Graduate Medical School, is the tenth-most-cited with 1.6 percent of the global share.

In fact, five Duke NUS faculty made this year’s list: Antonio Bertoletti, Derek Hausenloy and Jenny Guek-Hong Low for cross-field; Carolyn S. P. Lam for clinical medicine, and the world famous “Bat Man,” Lin-Fa Wang, for microbiology.

Okay, you scrolled this far, let’s go!

Biology and Biochemistry

• Charles A. Gersbach

Clinical Medicine

• Christopher Bull Granger
• Adrian F. Hernandez
• Gary Lyman

Cross-Field

• Priyamvada Acharya
• Stefano Curtarolo
• Vance G. Fowler Jr.
• Po-Chun Hsu (adjunct, now U. Chicago)
• Ru-Rong Ji
• William E. Kraus
• David B. Mitzi
• Christopher B. Newgard
• Pratiksha I. Thakore (now with Genentech)
• Xiaofei Wang
• Mark R. Wiesner

Environment and Ecology

• Robert B. Jackson (adjunct, now Stanford U.)

Microbiology

• Barton F. Haynes

Neuroscience and Behavior

• Quinn T. Ostrom

Plant and Animal Science

• Sheng-Yang He

Psychiatry and Psychology

• Avshalom Caspi
• William E. Copeland
• Terrie E. Moffitt

Space Science

• Dan Scolnic

Congratulations to all!

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

November 27: DHP Conference with Jemi Galani. Noon, DN2001.

November 29: NO CONFERENCE. Happy Thanksgiving!

2025 Duke Heart CMEs – Save the Dates!

The following CME activities, sponsored by Duke Heart, have been scheduled. Registration is not yet open, but stay tuned for additional information.

• February 18, 2025: Remote Patient Care: A New Era in Cardiovascular Disease Management; 5:00-7:30pm Eastern on Zoom; will be free
• April 26, 2025: Duke Structural Heart Symposium (live event at Trent Semans Center in Durham)
• June 7, 2025: Duke Heart Failure Symposium (live event at Durham Convention Center in Durham)

These events are currently being planned for late 2025; dates have not yet been set:

• October: Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium (live event, location TBD)
• November: 17th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium (live event, location TBD)

 

Reflect and Connect During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be a busy, stressful, and isolating time for many. Duke Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is hosting three “Reflection and Connection” sessions that will use storytelling as a means of reducing stress and creating a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others.

The sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Participants will be guided through practices of a mini-mental makeover and expressive writing to reflect and nurture empathy and a sense of meaning in response to stress – whether personal, professional, or related to current events or the stress and pressures (and joys) of the holiday season.

Writing exercises are for the sole use and benefit of participants, who are not required to share anything they write. Registration is required. You can attend any/all of the sessions offered.

Dates:

• Tuesday, Nov. 26, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 4–5 p.m.

Register Here  

 

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, Sudarshan Rajagopal, and Sreekanth Vemulapalli.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

Cardio Sim Creator Competition

The ACC is accepting submissions for the Cardio Sim Creator Competition, a prestigious recognition for outstanding innovation in the field of cardiac simulation.

The submission deadline is Friday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m. To learn more, please visit this link.

2025 Duke Safety & Quality Conference Date Announced

The Duke Safety & Quality Conference will be held on April 17, 2025. Abstracts are due Sunday, January 5, by 5 p.m.

Click here to learn more and to review submission criteria.

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

Duke Heart in the News: 

November 15 — Duke University Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review

Artificial heart saves 4th patient

November 15 — Jennifer Green

Neurology Advisor

Diabetes and Pregnancy: Cardiovascular Risk Postpartum

November 16 — Sana Al-Khatib

Medpage Today

Ablation Bests Drugs for Ventricular Tachycardia After Heart Attack

November 16 — Sana Al-Khatib

tctMD

Rivaroxaban Doesn’t Cut Cognitive Decline, Stroke, or TIA in Younger AF Patients

November 16 — DUSOM/DCRI

American Journal of Managed Care (AHA News coverage)

From Benefit Status to Transplants, CV Disparities Prove Tough to Tackle

November 16 — Sana Al-Khatib

tctMD

First-line Catheter Ablation Works for Post-MI VT Suppression: VANISH2

November 16 — Robert Mentz

tctMD

SUMMIT: Tirzepatide ‘Huge Win’ for HFpEF Patients With Obesity

November 16 — Sana Al-Khatib

Espanol News

Rivaroxaban no reduce el deterioro cognitivo, el accidente cerebrovascular ni el ait en pacientes mas jovenes con fa

November 17 — Steven Greene

American Journal of Managed Care (AHA coverage)

Education, Feedback Boosts Pharmacists’ HF Medication Rates

November 17 — Sana Al-Khatib

Healio/Cardiology Today

Catheter ablation superior to antiarrhythmic drugs in VT with ischemic cardiomyopathy

November 17 — Sana Al-Khatib

Notiulti.com

La ablación es mejor que los fármacos para la taquicardia ventricular después de un ataque cardíaco

November 17 — Manesh Patel

MedPage Today

Is DOAC a Viable Option After Bioprosthetic Valve Surgery Even in Sinus Rhythm?

November 17 — Manesh Patel

tctMD

ENBALV: Edoxaban Matches Warfarin After Bioprosthetic Valve Surgery

November 18 — Manesh Patel

Medpage Today

Left Atrial Appendage Closure Reduced Bleeding After Afib Ablation

November 18 — Jacob Schroder

Spectrum News (Triangle)

Duke Doctors Help Heart Transplant Patient with Breakthrough Tech

November 18 — Manesh Patel

WPTF-AM (Raleigh)

Patient Recovering After Mechanical Heart Aid

November 18 — Manesh Patel

MedPage Today

Left Atrial Appendage Closure Reduced Bleeding After Afib Ablation

November 19 — Manesh Patel

Cardiovascular News

AHA 2024: Edoxaban an “effective alternative” to warfarin following valve replacement surgery

November 21 — Duke University Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review

Top-ranked hospitals for heart valve replacement, by state

Chief’s message: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 100th year

 This weekend we had the AHA Scientific Sessions meeting with our cardiology, CT and vascular surgery faculty and fellows presenting.  The session have highlighted by the amazing innovation in CV care and opportunity to improve health.  There were important sessions on new therapies for heart failure, more data on the weight loss therapies, and some important and amazing data on possible gene editing for cardiomyopathies.  There was also the puppy booth – a favorite place to rechard among many of the session goers.

 

Highlights of the week:

NP’s Celebrated!

We hope all of our NPs had a wonderful Nurse Practitioner Week! The week of November 10-16 celebrates the NP profession nationally and the many contributions NPs make to Duke Heart and Duke Health. We want to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering dedication, compassion, and expertise. Your commitment to providing exceptional care to our patients is truly inspiring. Each day you make a profound difference in the lives of those you serve and your hard work does not go unnoticed.

Thank you for being the heart of our Heart team. Your contributions are invaluable, and we are incredibly fortunate to have such a talented and caring group of nurse practitioners.

 

Califf Delivers DOM Annual Eugene Stead Memorial Lecture

Cardiologist Robert Califf, MD, Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, delivered the Duke Department of Medicine’s annual Eugene Stead Memorial Lecture on Friday, Nov. 15 in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Building.

His lecture, “Seeing the World of Health and Healthcare through an Orthogonal Lens: Enduring Lessons from Dr. Stead,” was formally hosted by the Chair of the Department of Medicine, Kathleen Cooney, MD, the George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Medicine. The event honors the legendary Dr. Eugene Stead, who served as chair of the Department of Medicine from 1947 to 1967.

Dr. Stead’s leadership lead to the formation of the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Diseases, which grew into the Duke Clinical Research Institute (once led by Dr. Califf); he also launched a new profession when he created the role of ‘physician assistant’ (PA). Duke’s PA program was the first in the country and is currently the top PA program in the nation. We honor Dr. Stead’s legacy each year by inviting a visiting professor to speak on health policy, innovation in health care, or another pressing topic in internal medicine. The Stead Lecture is held each November at Duke Health in conjunction with the School of Medicine’s Medical Alumni Weekend.

 

Shout-out to Othman & Team

We received the following message this week regarding care provided by Islam Othman, MD, and his team to an elderly patient who passed away recently.

“My 94-year-old mother was a patient of Dr. Othman, a superior cardiologist. When she died this past week, Dr. Othman called me to express his sadness at learning of her passing. He said he always looked forward to seeing her when she had an appointment. I was touched by his concern and genuine sadness at her passing. Dr. Othman is an outstanding physician; as a cardiologist, he does his best to heal hearts. As a cardiologist with a heart, his phone call to me started the healing process of my broken heart. He is a gem.” — a grateful family member

The message continued with a comment from Tamara in Patient Relations:

I spoke with the patient’s daughter this morning to express condolences and to acknowledge and appreciate the time she took to forward such incredibly kind words and an outstanding recognition of you. She reiterated the sentiments in the above compliment during our conversation and shared great appreciation for you. Thank you for all you do for your patients and their families and all of us at Duke Health.  —Tamara Griffin, Duke Health Integrated Practice, Patient Relations

You lead by example, Izzy – and we are so glad you’re a member of our team!

 

Shout-out to Keenan & Team

This week, we received the following message from a grateful patient regarding surgery performed by Jeffrey Keenan, MD, just over one year ago and the care the patient received while in recovery at Duke Hospital.

**Please note: the following letter has been edited to protect patient privacy.

“Last year, you performed bypass open heart surgery on me at Duke University Hospital. My wife and staff told me the following: My surgery went fine, I was sent to ICU to recover and then in a few days would be sent home. However, my heart had other ideas as it started to go into V-Fib. I was placed on ECMO and received an Impella device. I was in the ICU for about 40 days but I recovered very well.

I completed cardiac rehab this past summer and met with my cardiologist for a follow-up. Testing showed a normal ejection fraction and my cardiologist is very pleased with my recovery.

I am very grateful and thank you for your help in my recovery from heart failure. I would also like to thank all the surgical staff, nurses, ICU nurses, and everybody involved with my surgery.

I just wanted you to know that I chose Duke University Hospital over other places like Wake Med. Several years ago my wife had a [health issue] that required urgent care. I took her to Duke Urgent Care and then to Duke Raleigh for surgery, and she fully recovered. I was very impressed with Duke’s care of my wife. She went home the next day.

I have no memory loss from my surgery and can do all the normal things in life one would want to do. While many bad things could have happened to me they did not. Overall it was a very positive experience for me and my family.

I had the right Doctor to operate on me at Duke. Once again, thank you for all your help and the incredible staff at Duke Medical.

Miracles don’t just happen.

They happen because of the wonderful people in the world like you.” — a grateful patient

 

Bystanders More Likely to Perform CPR with Instructions from 911 Operators

Women are less likely to receive CPR from a bystander than men when stricken with a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, Duke Health researchers found. This disparity was eliminated, however, when 911 operators guided an emergency caller through CPR steps, helping ease apprehensions about administering chest compressions to women.

When guided by a 911 operator, bystanders performed CPR on women 44% of the time and on men 40% of the time. Without this guidance, bystander CPR dropped to 9% for women and 11% for men.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium on Nov. 11. Researchers say it offers significant insight into improving the 10% rate of survival for people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.

“Prompt delivery of CPR doubles a patient’s chance of survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest,” said Audrey Blewer, PhD, the study’s lead author and assistant professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health and Population Health Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine.

“What encourages me from a research standpoint is that there are so many opportunities to increase that number, and that’s really a matter of everybody working together and working towards the chain of survival from cardiac arrest,” Blewer said.

To arrive at the findings, the team examined a database of nearly 2,400 emergency calls for cardiac arrest in North Carolina. They found that CPR was administered in 52% of all calls; of the cases where CPR was performed, 911 operators provided assistance 81% of the time.

The data for this study comes from the RACE CARS Trail, a seven-year collaboration between Duke Clinical Research Institute and other hospitals and emergency medical agencies across North Carolina, funded by the National Institutes of Health, and aimed at improving survival rates for cardiac arrest.

The study builds off previous research where Blewer and her colleagues found women were less likely to receive CPR no matter what neighborhood they were in.

“We know, based off of prior qualitative studies, some of the reasons why people are hesitant to do CPR on women center around the fear of being perceived as touching them inappropriately,” said Blewer.

“There’s also that aspect of frailty,” Blewer said, adding that the average age of a person in need of CPR is around 63. “Some women are smaller. There are concerns, especially when the person in need of CPR is elderly, that whoever is performing CPR on them may be breaking the ribs, hurting them, harming them.”

Blewer points to CPR training as another area for potential revision, with the anatomy of the manikin remaining largely the same over the past 30 years. She hypothesizes that training on manikins with breasts may improve CPR delivery for women.

In addition to Blewer, study authors include Konstantin A. Krychtiuk, Harman Yonis, Monique A. Starks, Hayden B. Bosworth, Carolina Malta-Hansen, Stephen Lee Powell, Lisa Monk, Lisa A. Kaltenbach, Hussein R. Al-Khalidi, Steve Vandeventer, Bryan McNally, Sana M. Al-Khatib, Daniel Mark, and Christopher B. Granger.

The study received funding from the RACE-CARS Trial (5UH3HL146935) and BIRCWH (K12AR084231).

 

Duke Hospitals Again Earn ‘A’ Grades for Patient Safety in Leapfrog Survey

For 13 consecutive grading periods, Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke Raleigh Hospital, a campus of Duke University Hospital, received top scores for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group.

The “A” scores for Leapfrog’s fall 2024 survey are part of the group’s Hospital Safety Grades Assessment, issued to hospitals every six months. This is the only hospital ratings program focused exclusively on preventable medical errors, infections, and injuries that kill more than 500 patients a day nationally.

Duke Health’s three hospitals were among nearly 3,000 hospitals surveyed across the country. Only 30% of hospitals nationwide achieved “A” hospital safety grade for the fall 2024. In North Carolina, Duke University Health System hospitals were among 43 hospitals to achieve the grade.

The Leapfrog Group is an independent nonprofit organization led by the nation’s leading employers and private health care experts. Twice each year, it collects and analyzes data based on more than 30 national performance measures of errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm. The letter grades assigned to hospitals help people make informed decisions to protect themselves and their families.

Comparisons of hospital scores locally and nationally are available here.

 

Duke Implements Enhanced Online Security Measures

As online threats continue to evolve, Duke continues to review and adapt its cybersecurity measures to protect users and safeguard data. As a result, several changes will be implemented over the next several months. These updates will focus on Duo Mobile, Duke Unlock, and 1Password. Click here to learn more.

 

Reflect and Connect During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be a busy, stressful, and isolating time for many. Duke Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is hosting three “Reflection and Connection” sessions that will use storytelling as a means of reducing stress and creating a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others.

The sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Participants will be guided through practices of a mini-mental makeover and expressive writing to reflect and nurture empathy and a sense of meaning in response to stress – whether personal, professional, or related to current events or the stress and pressures (and joys) of the holiday season.

Writing exercises are for the sole use and benefit of participants, who are not required to share anything they write. Registration is required. You can attend any/all of the sessions offered.

Dates:

• Tuesday, Nov. 26, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 4–5 p.m.

Register Here  

 

Duke Health Baxter IV Fluid Update

Thanks to all who continue to assist in our conservation strategies!

• Please continue to follow all previously communicated conservation strategies.
• Updates on this situation can be found on Duke’s Baxter Operational Updates page on Sharepoint.

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Nov. 18-22: Grief Awareness Week

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Nov. 19: Spirals, Paradigms, and the Progression of Heart Failure with Piotr Ponikowski. 5 p.m., DN2002 or via Zoom .

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

 

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

November 20: TBD. Noon, DN 2001.

November 22: Right-sided Valve Guidelines with Bharathi Upadhya. Noon, Zoom.

November 27: DHP Conference with Jemi Galani. Noon, DN2001.

November 29: NO CONFERENCE. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Grief Symposium, November 20

Duke Health will hold the 2024 Grief Symposium on Wednesday, November 20. The event is hosted by the DUHS Employee Experience team. The keynote speaker will be Rebecca Feinglos, founder of Grieve Leave, will present “Grief in Healthcare.” The symposium will also include a panel discussion on how to communicate immediately after a loss and a discussion with Dr. Tony Galanos on re-entry into the workplace after a significant loss.

Grief Symposium – Wednesday, November 20

• Education Event | 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
• Grief Circles | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Both in-person and virtual opportunities are available. Click here to register.

 

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, Sudarshan Rajagopal, and Sreekanth Vemulapalli.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

 

Cardio Sim Creator Competition

The ACC is accepting submissions for the Cardio Sim Creator Competition, a prestigious recognition for outstanding innovation in the field of cardiac simulation.

The submission deadline is Friday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m. To learn more, please visit this link.

 

2025 Duke Safety & Quality Conference Date Announced

The Duke Safety & Quality Conference will be held on April 17, 2025. Abstracts are due Sunday, January 5, by 5 p.m.

Click here to learn more and to review submission criteria.

 

Duke Health Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

You can join our support efforts in a number of ways:

• Check for updates on the Duke Health intranet page (NET ID required)
• Sign up to volunteer with our SMAT team to deploy to provide disaster relief.
• Make a financial donation to the American Red Cross.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News: 

November 8 — Susan Dent (oncology)

Oncology News Central/Supportive Care Podcast

Cardiology’s Growing Place in Cancer Treatment, with Dr. Susan Dent

November 11 — Duke University Hospital and Donovan Harbison

WPTF-AM Raleigh

Update: Artificial Heart Patient Recovering

November 11 — Audrey Blewer (Family Medicine)

WTVD Durham

New study finds that bystanders are more likely to perform CPR with instructions from 911

November 11 — Audrey Blewer

AHA Newsroom

911 dispatcher assistance improved chances of receiving bystander CPR

November 11 — Audrey Blewer

Health Day

Bystanders More Readily Perform CPR If 911 Operator Instructs

November 11 — Duke University Hospital

Mix 99.5 (Triad, NC)

North Carolina Hospital Crowned ‘Best In State’ For 2025

November 12 — Robert Mentz

CardioNerds

402. Guidelines: 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure – Question #39 with Dr. Robert Mentz

November 14 — Renato Lopes

Medical Dialogues

New Study Reveals Best Antithrombotic Regimen for Atrial Fibrillation Post-ACS/PCI: Apixiban and P2Y12 Inhibitor Shine

 

Chief’s Message:

We were lucky to have our Heart Leadership Council Meeting on Friday.  The meeting is a place where we can present where we think the field of cardiovascular medicine is going and get feedback from this group of leaders, some of whom are grateful patients.  The group is led by Bob Keegan, and they were engaged and supportive of all the work our group is doing.  We also had our fourth annual “Shark Tank” competition to see awards and projects presented by our Faculty.  There were some big ideas that we hope will change the course of the work, research, and training we do.  I am including a picture here of Senthil Selvaraj presenting some follow up to a prior award.  We are grateful for the leadership and support from this group of ambassadors and look forward to continuing to have them support and engage in supporting our work to discover and deliver cardiovascular health.

Highlights of the week:

Keenan Named Surgical Director, Mechanical Circulatory Support

Jeffrey Keenan, MD, assistant professor of surgery at Duke, has been named Surgical Director, Mechanical Circulatory Support. The announcement was made by Carmelo Milano, MD, the Joseph and Dorothy Beard Professor of Surgery and Division Chief of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, who previously held the role.

Dr. Keenan completed his general and cardiothoracic surgery training here at Duke. After completing his training, he joined the University of Washington as an assistant professor in their Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery before being recruited back to Duke. As a member of Duke’s CT surgery division, he has done a great job supporting adult cardiac surgery, cardiac transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support. Jeff brings a tremendous work ethic, great communication, and team-player skills to our division and the Duke Heart service line.

In his new role, Dr. Keenan will work closely with Stuart Russell, MD, Medical Director, MCS, and Stephanie Barnes, Clinical Director for Advanced Heart Failure.

Important responsibilities in this role include:

• Providing surgical oversight of the durable VAD program.
• Serving as surgical site principal investigator on national trials of MCS devices at Duke, continuing to drive innovation in this space.
• Reinvigorating our effort to organize a multi-disciplinary cardiogenic shock team.
• Overseeing quality improvement initiatives and databases related to MCS within Duke Health.

Furthermore, Dr. Keenan will work closely with Jacob Schroder, MD, Surgical Director, Advanced Heart Failure and Duke’s Heart Transplantation Program and co-director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery ICU, to strengthen MCS for transplant-bridging. He will also work closely with Jeff Gaca, MD, Section Chief, Adult Cardiac Surgery, to help enhance MCS support for high-risk cardiac surgery.

Congratulations, Jeff!

 

Thank you, Dr. Milano!

Words of gratitude and appreciation for Dr. Carmelo Milano’s years at the helm of our Mechanical Circulatory Support team poured in after he announced that Jeff Keenan would be stepping into the role of surgical director. We wanted to share some of those thoughts here with the entire Duke Heart team:

Just wanted to point out that Carmelo has run the MCS program since joining the faculty at the turn of the century so this transition is the end of an era. On behalf of the heart failure docs and Cardiology – Carmelo, thanks for all of your care of patients at Duke, your leadership in the surgical LVAD world, and your tireless effort to make Duke the best place in the world for surgical care of end-stage heart failure patients. We are so fortunate to have you, Jacob, and Jeff to work with. Looking forward to the next 25 years with Jeff.  — Stu Russell, MD

Dr. Milano’s knowledge, passion for MCS therapies, and compassion for patients made the best leader for this therapy at Duke. I always knew we could count on him to get in to see any patient even when on vacation, or to get a case posted ASAP if it was best for the patient. His brilliant and humble approach helped us to partner with others and to draw the best and brightest to this field. It has been a privilege to partner with him to build the Duke program. — Laura Blue, NP

The advanced heart failure program at Duke has grown — under Dr. Milano’s leadership — into a world powerhouse. Thank you, Carmelo, and congratulations, Jeff. – Chet Patel, MD

I echo the remarks with much gratitude for Carmelo’s steady and visionary leadership in growing the MCS program in volume, quality, and evidence generation. And with equal enthusiasm and great anticipation for the dawn of a new era of innovation and team-based decision-making under Jeff’s leadership. As for our team, you can continue to count on our unwavering support, as we partner with you 24/7/365 in the care of these complex patients during some of the most vulnerable moments in their heart failure journey – the perioperative and critical care stages. Congratulations Jeff! – Mihai Podgoreanu, MD

 

AHA Sessions & Annual Duke Gathering

We are all looking forward to the 2024 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions coming up next weekend. Please join us at our Annual Duke-DCRI reception on Saturday, Nov. 16 from 5:30-8:30 p.m.!

• Where? Marriott Marquis Chicago – Grand Horizon E
• Time: 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
• Date: Saturday, Nov. 16

Questions? Please email Elizabeth.Evans@duke.edu or Willette.Wilkins@duke.edu

 

Selvaraj Receives DOM Research Award

Congratulations to Senthil Selvaraj, MD! We learned this week that he is one of two recipients selected by the Department of Medicine (DOM) for their inaugural Rising Star Research Excellence Award.

The Rising Star Research Excellence Award recognizes junior faculty in the DOM for their burgeoning excellence in producing new insights into important biomedical problems. These insights may be delivered using clinical, translational, or basic research approaches and are demonstrable by high-quality peer-reviewed publications, the acquisition of competitive external funding, and the development of sustainable research programs that enhance Duke’s research enterprise.

Great news, Senthil – congrats!

 

Shout-out to Schanze

We received the following shout-out for Emily Schanze from cardiac sonographer Katie Nobles for the exceptional work done by Emily last weekend:

“Hi all, I just wanted to send out this email to let you know that Emily, serving as North charge, this weekend has been an absolute superwoman for lack of better words. I’m pretty sure she figured out how to clone herself at some point. Not only did she handle scheduling the patients, dealing with Stats, and phone calls, but she also coordinated for taps, Ice Cases, TAVRs and TEE’s. Not to mention on top of all this she has been helping transport patients to and from their rooms to the north lab, along with helping with Definity or bubble studies as needed. I honestly don’t know how she managed to do everything she has done this week while going far above and beyond her “job title”. She even scanned a patient during lunch when needed!!!

I truly cannot applaud her enough for all she did this week! So appreciated!!!” — Kathryne “Katie” Nobles, RCS, Cardiac Sonographer, Cardiac Diagnostic Unit

In addition to being a very busy weekend, it was the CDU’s first week of the new reporting and viewing system, Lumedx. Way to go, Emily!

 

Shout-out to the CDU, Anesthesia & Support Teams

It was another amazing week in Duke Heart – with a lot of gratitude to share! We received the following messages regarding particularly high volumes in our CDU:

“I wanted to send kudos to the CDU staff at Duke North and anesthesia today. Our board had 20 procedures today with 10 TEEs alone (including one who had to be done in an EP lab due airway requirement pre-procedure), 3 TEE/CV, and many additional DCCVs that turned into TEE/DCCV due to missed anticoagulation doses. There was also a complicated mix of cases including several mitral valve evaluations, cardiac mass evaluations, congenital cases, and severe cardiomyopathies with rapid atrial arrhythmias.

Due to the nursing leadership of Shari Starr and April Dickerson we were able to run four rooms for procedures. The nurses themselves transported patients to make sure the work flow kept flowing without delays. The rooms were turned around extremely fast and consents were done in rolling fashion both from the imaging and anesthesia teams. Our anesthesia team (CRNA Brad Deen and attending Dr. Katherine Sun) were phenomenal and helped move the day along so that procedures would get done. CRNA Chad Ragains also volunteered to help on his admin day to move the day forward. Additionally, our sonographers were amazing with having TEE probes ready to go and supporting each other with breaks. Given the high TEE volume, we actually ran out of probes stocked at north a couple of times, and the sonographers expedited the cleaning and recycling to avoid any delays. Our fellow Jonathan Hanna also was prepared to get through the procedures and masterfully made sure things were organized to get it done. He was well read on all the cases and had them all triaged for who would need anesthesia. Furthermore, his enthusiasm and excitement was contagious!

With the help of the entire team we got through all procedures on the board to hopefully avoid adding on to the next day. This could not have been done without the CDU team effort. I certainly wanted to give them a shout out for their hard work and support. They are certainly a reason why Duke Heart Center is a special place.  I feel lucky to work with this team.” — Nishant Shah, MD

“Nishant – thanks so much for the note… to my knowledge, this is the largest number of procedures that we’ve ever done in a day in the CDU.  It also represents a continuation of the large number of procedures we’ve been doing on a daily basis for at least the past week, inclusive of long procedures (VSD closures, paravalvular leak closures, etc…) that we’ve been doing in the cath lab as well as our usual daily census of 150-200 TTEs.  

A huge thank you to the entire CDU team, including nursing, sonographers, fellows, attendings, CRNAs, anesthesia, and our colleagues in the EP lab for making this possible. 

You’ll remember that I sat in a room at the end of September and had the opportunity to tell our colleagues and young faculty not to overlook the quality of the people we get to work with and that I don’t spend an instant worrying about whether our team in the CDU will always endeavor to do the “right thing”.  This is yet another example of why I said that.” – Sreek Vemulapalli, MD

“Could not agree more, Sreek! Thank you so much Nishant and everyone! Our team is exceptional. Last few months we did many challenging but interesting cases. Yesterday, we had a very challenging VSD closure that lasted for 6 hours but ended with a great result. In addition, I want to thank our fellows for their hard work! And last but not least I would like to thank Anita for guiding us through every challenge! Fantastic job everyone!” — Fawaz Alenezi, MD

“While I will say it was a tiring day to get through all those cases. It was a very smooth and efficient day and it took us all to safely accomplish that and do the right things for our patients. It took the nurses there today (Shari, Hedva, Brandon, Randy, Kiah, Kelly and myself), our cardiology team John Hanna and Nishant, the anesthesia team, the sonographers (Courtney and Andrea) along with Hana our NA and the rest of the team to just know we were all busy and help support us and the rest of the team throughout the other needs. Final count was 19 procedures, 1 stress echo, among many more echos.  This truly represents the CDU, the strong will and determination we all have to assure we are taking care of not only our patients but each other. – April Dickerson

“Thanks to the whole CDU/Echo team for amazing commitment to our patients, colleagues, and fellows.” – Manesh Patel, MD

“Thanks for sharing the amazing work by the CDU team today and every day. We have a tremendous multidisciplinary team in the CDU performing quality exams and unique exams and procedures every day that make Duke Heart such a tremendous place to receive care! Kudos and thanks to the CDU team!!” – Jill Engel

Incredible work, everyone! Not only is our CDU a great place for care, but we also have amazing colleagues who are happy to share their kudos and shout-outs.  

 

2025 Duke Safety & Quality Conference Date Announced

The Duke Safety & Quality Conference will be held on April 17, 2025. Abstracts are due Sunday, January 5, by 5 p.m.

Click here to learn more and to review the submission criteria.

 

Duke Health Leadership Updates

Elizabeth Howe has been named Ambulatory Associate Vice President of Performance Excellence. The news was announced on Monday, Nov. 4 by Simon Curtis, COO of DHIP, and Heather Marstiller, COO of Duke Primary Care.

Morgan Jones has been named Chief Strategy Officer for DUHS. The news was announced on Tuesday, Nov. 5 by Craig Albanese, MD, CEO of DUHS.

Congrats to both!

 

Duke Health Baxter IV Fluid Update

Thanks to all who continue to assist in our conservation strategies!

• Please continue to follow all previously communicated conservation strategies.
• Updates on this situation can be found on Duke’s Baxter Operational Updates page on Sharepoint.

 

Reflect and Connect During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be a busy, stressful, and isolating time for many. Duke Personal Assistance Service (PAS) is hosting three “Reflection and Connection” sessions that will use storytelling as a means of reducing stress and creating a stronger sense of connection with yourself and others.

The sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Participants will be guided through practices of a mini-mental makeover and expressive writing to reflect and nurture empathy and a sense of meaning in response to stress – whether personal, professional, or related to current events or the stress and pressures (and joys) of the holiday season.

Writing exercises are for the sole use and benefit of participants, who are not required to share anything they write. Registration is required. You can attend any/all of the sessions offered.

Dates:

• Tuesday, Nov. 26, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 4–5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 4–5 p.m.

Register Here  

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Nov. 10-16: National Nurse Practitioner Week

Nov. 18-22: Grief Awareness Week

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Nov. 12: Devices in Heart Failure with Marat Fudim. 5 p.m., Zoom only.

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

 

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

November 13: Board Review with Paula Rambarat and Nishant Shaw. Noon, DN 2001.

November 15: Fellow’s Forum with Paula Rambarat and APDs Noon, Zoom.

 

Grief Symposium, November 20

Duke Health will hold the 2024 Grief Symposium on Wednesday, November 20. The event is hosted by the DUHS Employee Experience team. The keynote speaker will be Rebecca Feinglos, founder of Grieve Leave, will present “Grief in Healthcare.” The symposium will also include a panel discussion on how to communicate immediately after a loss and a discussion with Dr. Tony Galanos on re-entry into the workplace after a significant loss.

Grief Symposium – Wednesday, November 20

• Education Event | 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
• Grief Circles | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Both in-person and virtual opportunities are available. Click here to register.

 

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, and Sudarshan Rajagopal.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

 

Cardio Sim Creator Competition

The ACC is accepting submissions for the Cardio Sim Creator Competition, a prestigious recognition for outstanding innovation in the field of cardiac simulation.

The submission deadline is Friday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m. To learn more, please visit this link.

Special thanks to Midge Bowers for alerting us to this opportunity! She is the only NP on the ACC Simulation Council and wanted to share this opportunity with all of our fellows, faculty and staff in Duke Heart.

 

Duke Health Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

You can join our support efforts in a number of ways:

• Check for updates on the Duke Health intranet page (NET ID required)
• Sign up to volunteer with our SMAT team to deploy to provide disaster relief.
• Make a financial donation to the American Red Cross.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News: 

November 1 — Jennifer Green

The Cardiology Advisor

Diabetes and Pregnancy: Cardiovascular Risk Postpartum

November 3 — Crystal Tyson (nephrology)

Time News (Cuba)

Discover the Dash diet, which can help reduce blood pressure

November 4 — Jennifer Rymer

tctMD

PAD Patients’ Views on Decisions and Outcomes Hinge on Sex, Race/Ethnicity: ELEGANCE

November 5 — Duke University Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review

Top-ranked hospitals for pacemaker placement, by state

November 6 — Nina Nouhravesh

MSN/Scripps News

Eggs might not be that bad for your heart health, study says

 

Highlights of the week:  Daylight Savings:

Hopefully you all got more use from your extra hour last night for sleep as we had daylight savings with fall back of one hour.  It is a good time to consider the significant scientific work that has happened over the last 7-10 years in circadian rhythm research.  This includes the 2017 Nobel Prize to three researcher that isolated the Period gene that produces the protein that builds up during nighttime hours and gets degraded during the day and the feeback loop.  There are significant newer insights into these control mechanisms and how they can affect many health conditions and disorders.  Finally, this last version of the AHA life’s goals includes in the Life’s essential 8 – sleep as one of the core health issues.  We have lots of ongoing work in this space – and will be interesting to see if the daylight savings system continues in the years to come.  Given the election week and many later nights with groups up – likely important to ensure we continue to focus on getting sleep and early am activity and daylight as they seem to improve overall well-being.

Happy Diwali!

We hope all who celebrated Diwali this past week had a joyous and peace-filled holiday!

Duke & UHC Reach Agreement

We were delighted to learn that Duke Health will remain in-network for patients with United Healthcare. For updates and additional information related to the agreement, you can read about it here and here. A UHC announcement can be found here.

Duke-Led Model Identifies Pathogenic Variants in Cardiac Patients, Offers Diagnostic Hope

Currently, many patients receive inconclusive results from genetic testing, leaving them without a clear diagnosis or a path forward for treatment, but a new model developed by researchers at Duke University could help increase the number of patients receiving positive test results, providing them with valuable information that could guide treatment decisions. Results were published on Oct. 29 in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.

By incorporating factors such as minor allele frequencies, gene expression in cardiovascular tissues, splicing effects, conservation scores, and the location of the variant relative to known pathogenic variants, their model predicts with high accuracy whether a variant is likely to be pathogenic.

The team used the model on the CathGen cohort – a collection of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization – and identified individuals carrying likely pathogenic variants. “A majority of those people carrying predicted pathogenic variants displayed symptoms that would allow us to provide a diagnosis based on genetics,” said Megan E. Ramaker, PhD, a postdoctoral associate with Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. Ramaker added that it would also help clinicians prescribe medicines to treat individual conditions more effectively, as some treatments are gene-specific.

While the model was developed with a focus on cardiovascular tissue, it can be adapted for other diseases. “You could input a tissue relevant to your disease of interest, like cancer, and modify the model accordingly,” Ramaker said. This opens up the possibility for researchers in other fields to fine-tune the model for their own needs.

Next, the team plans to work on expanding the use of this tool to larger genetic biobanks, such as the UK Biobank, All of Us, and OneDukeGen. They are also applying it to investigate genetic variants linked to cardiac amyloidosis, a rare inherited disease that leads to plaque buildup in the heart, similar to how Alzheimer’s disease affects the brain.

“There are a lot of machine learning tools to predict variant pathogenicity,” Ramaker said, “but this is the first one that is tissue-specific and publicly available.”

Ramaker’s co-authors include Jawan Abdulrahim, MD; Kristin M. Corey, MD; Ryne C. Ramaker, MD, PhD; Lydia Coulter Kwee, PhD; William E. Kraus, MD, and Svati H.Shah, MD, MS, MHS.

 

Kraus Celebrated

Bill Kraus, MD was celebrated on Wed., October 30 for his 30 years as medical director of Duke’s Cardiac Rehabilitation program. (A hat tip to the folks responsible for the t-shirts. Well done!)

Congratulations, Bill — you’ve impacted so many patients and all of your colleagues. Thank you for all you do!

 

Sketch Celebrated

Mike Sketch, MD was celebrated by several DHP team members on Friday, Oct. 25 to recognize his last week of rounding there. The team wanted to thank Sketch, ahead of his pending retirement, for his many years teaching the Duke house staff. In attendance was Jemi Galani and her team, along with a few of the cardiovascular fellows, as well as Anita Kelsey.

You’re going to be missed, Mike!

 

 

 

Shah Presented with the Gill H&V Award

Congratulations to Svati Shah! Shah was recently presented with the 2024 Gill Heart and Vascular Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cardiovascular Research. The award recognizes notable and life-long achievements in research that have had a sustained impact on understanding cardiovascular biology and disease and/or that have changed the standard of cardiovascular clinical care.

 

The award was presented to Shah on Sept. 20 during the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s 26th Annual Cardiovascular Research Day, held at Central Bank Center in Lexington, KY.

Congratulations, Svati!

 

 

 

 

 

16th Annual PH Symposium Held

Our 16th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium was held Friday, Nov. 1 at the Durham Convention Center. The program was geared toward pulmonologists, cardiologists, nurses, pharmacists, and other care providers involved in the care and treatment of patients with pulmonary hypertension. The event was also open to patients and their family members.

Overall, the event attracted more than 160 healthcare professionals and industry representatives, and more than 70 patients and family caregivers.

Speakers included Diane Ramirez of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Board of Trustees; Terry Fortin, MD; Sudar Rajagopal, MD, Jordan Whitson, MD,  and Richard Krasuski, MD (all of Duke Health), and H. James Ford, MD and Laura Nowicki, RN (of UNC), among many others.

The event was sponsored by Duke Health, UNC School of Medicine, and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association.

Great job, all!

 

Pena to Serve as Nurse Manager DUH 3300, Effective November 4th

Duke Heart is pleased to announce that Heather Pena, MSN, RN, CCRN, CPPS, will become Nurse Manager Operations for Duke University Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Stepdown Unit 3300 effective November 4th.

Heather will co-manage 3300 with Kasey Jacobson until November 29. Heather earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UNC at Chapel Hill in 2012 and her Master’s in Nursing Leadership from East Carolina University in 2022.  She joined the Duke Heart Team as a new graduate nurse on 3200 in July 2012 and has served as Strategic Services Associate, Patient Safety and Quality Improvement since 2019. 

During her time at Duke, Heather advanced on the clinical ladder by becoming a CNIV and has held a variety of roles on 7West including Clinical Lead, Preceptor, Charge Nurse, HAI champion, and numerous committee roles.  As an SSA, she has been heavily involved with safety and quality initiatives including, reduction in HAI, pressure injuries, falls, and CT Evidence-Based Care.  She has been part of many team building and leadership activities throughout the Heart Center and beyond, including support of the career ladder and onboarding/education initiatives, support of Healthy Work Environment, and multiple presentations at national conferences annually.

Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Heather to her new role.

 

Sanner to Serve as Nurse Manager DUH 6 East, Effective November 4th

Duke Heart is pleased to announce that Abigail “Abby” Sanner BSN, RN, CNML, CCRN will become Nurse Manager Operations for Duke University Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Stepdown Unit 6 East effective November 4th.

Abby will co-manage 6 East with Ciarra Ashley until Ciarra transitions to her new role in December. Abby earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Rockford University in 2018. She joined the Duke Heart Team as an experienced nurse on 7 East in May 2020 and has served as Assistant Nurse Manager since August 2022.

During her time at Duke, Abby advanced on the clinical ladder by becoming a CNIII and has held a variety of roles on 7 East including Preceptor, Charge Nurse, and Skin Care Champion. As Assistant Nurse Manager, she has been involved with safety and quality initiatives including the development of an ICU float to cardiology step-down guide, AirTAP trial for pressure injury prevention, and the institution of the “welcoming team” for new graduate RNs, especially those new to the Raleigh/Durham area. She has been part of team building and leadership activities throughout the Heart Center including presenting at Heart Center Charge Nurse meetings and development and implementation of the Heart Center Leadership Escalation Pathway to help provide support to off-shift charge nurses.

Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Abby to her new role.

 

Cardio Sim Creator Competition

The ACC is accepting submissions for the Cardio Sim Creator Competition, a prestigious recognition for outstanding innovation in the field of cardiac simulation.

The submission deadline is Friday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m. To learn more, please visit this link.

Special thanks to Midge Bowers for alerting us to this opportunity! She is the only NP on the ACC Simulation Council and wanted to share this opportunity with all of our fellows, faculty, and staff in Duke Heart.

 

Duke Regional Leadership Changes

In a letter to staff on Oct. 30, Greg Pauly and Tom Owens announced that Devdutta Sangvai, MD, MBA, will step down as president of Duke Regional Hospital. He will remain at Duke to continue his research and to care for patients.

The announcement states:

“Colleagues,

With a deep sense of gratitude for his service leading Duke Regional Hospital (DRH) through significant change and transition, Dr. Devdutta (Dev) Sangvai, MD, MBA, has decided to step down from his role as President to pursue his passion for academic medicine and research at Duke.  Dr. Sangvai, who has dedicated over two decades to clinical excellence and innovative healthcare administration, is returning to his academic roots at Duke to focus on teaching, advancing clinical research, and contributing to family medicine.

Dev’s leadership across the Duke University Health System (DUHS) enterprise has been transformative. His strategic initiatives have notably advanced population health management, created partnerships to promote equity in care, and launched value-based care models that significantly impacted patient outcomes. Under his leadership, Duke Regional Hospital has achieved recognition for social responsibility and excellence in care, including Magnet Hospital accreditation and advanced certifications in diabetes and behavioral health care.  Throughout his tenure, Dev’s commitment to the health system and the broader community has been unwavering, marked by national leadership roles and innovations that have set a high standard in patient care.

In the interim, we have asked Jason Carter, Chief Operating Officer (COO), to serve as the President at Duke Regional, while continuing his COO responsibilities.  We are appreciative of Jason’s willingness to step in during this time. Dev has graciously offered to collaborate with Jason and the leaders across his portfolio to help with the transition through the end of the calendar year.

As Dev steps down to embrace his academic and research pursuits fully, please join me in thanking him for his invaluable contributions. We look forward to his continued impact in advancing medical knowledge and inspiring future generations.”

 

Shout-out to Grover!

We are thrilled to welcome Phoenix Grover, who joined us in August as our new cardiovascular genetic counselor in the HF clinic! This week, she went above and beyond by preparing and discussing genetic testing results for a family seen in Clinic. Phoenix created a thoughtful presentation with visuals to clarify the results and guide the family on potential risks. She demonstrated exceptional thoroughness, patience, and empathy, addressing all their concerns with care.

Thank you, Phoenix, for your dedication to helping families navigate cardiomyopathy care. Great job! — Karen Flores Rosario, MD

 

Shout-out to Duke Heart from Pauly

ICYMI, in a message to staff this week from Greg Pauly, president of Duke University Hospital, our team received a shout-out regarding our work with the BiVACOR total artificial heart. That portion of his message reads as follows:

“I am thrilled to share that our Duke Health Cardiothoracic team recently performed the world’s second BIVACOR Total Artificial Heart procedure for a patient waiting for a heart transplant. This device completely replaces a patient’s heart and pumps blood through the body, which allows our teams additional time to find a match and offers patients a lifesaving option they would not have otherwise had. This allowed the patient to live with the device for 10 days before undergoing a heart transplant here at DUH.  Thank you to our teams for your incredible commitment to this life-saving work.”

Way to go, team!

 

Duke Health Baxter IV Fluid Update

Thanks to all who continue to assist in our conservation strategies!

• Please continue to follow all previously communicated conservation strategies.
• Updates on this situation can be found on Duke’s Baxter Operational Updates page on Sharepoint.

 

Attend the 2024 Grief Symposium on November 20

Duke Health will hold the 2024 Grief Symposium on Wednesday, November 20. The event is hosted by the DUHS Employee Experience team. The keynote speaker will be Rebecca Feinglos, founder of Grieve Leave, who will present “Grief in Healthcare.” The symposium will also include a panel discussion on how to communicate immediately after a loss and a discussion with Dr. Tony Galanos on re-entry into the workplace after a significant loss.

Grief Symposium – Wednesday, November 20

• Education Event | 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
• Grief Circles | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Both in-person and virtual opportunities are available. Click here to register.

This event is being held during Grief Awareness Week (Nov. 18-22), which is designed to increase awareness of issues about grief and loss in the workplace, promote strategies for healthy grieving, and encourage staff self-care. Events and activities during the week include a staff memorial service and other events designed to normalize grief.

 

Election Day & Voting Resources

If you did not vote early – please plan to vote on Tuesday! Before heading out to do so, make sure to bring an acceptable form of photo identification, which can include a North Carolina driver’s license, an approved Duke ID card (students only), and others. Duke Votes is an excellent resource for non-partisan voting information and resources for voting here in North Carolina or in your home state if you are not a North Carolina resident.

To allow Duke employees flexibility in casting their vote, Duke University and Duke Health encourage supervisors to cancel nonessential meetings on November 5 and be flexible with scheduling to enable staff members who are unable to vote outside normal work hours to do so before, during, or after their assigned shifts. On Election Day, Karsh will not be a polling location, so you will need to cast a ballot at your assigned polling place.

Thank you for participating in our democracy!

 

Duke Health Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

You can join our support efforts in several ways:

• Check for updates on the Duke Health intranet page (NET ID required)
• Sign up to volunteer with our SMAT team to deploy to provide disaster relief.
• Make a financial donation to the American Red Cross.

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Nov. 10-16: National Nurse Practitioner Week

Nov. 18-22: Grief Awareness Week

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

November 5: CTA in 2024: Physiology, Plaque, and Planning PCI with Jonathan Leipsic. 5 p.m. DN 2002 or via Zoom.

November 12: Devices in Heart Failure with Marat Fudim. 5 p.m., Zoom only.

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

 

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

November 6: EP Conference with Tess and Aubrie. Noon, DN 2001.

November 8: Current AFib Management Guidelines with Jon Piccini. Noon, Zoom.

November 13: Board Review with Paula Rambarat and Nishant Shaw. Noon, DN 2001.

November 15: Fellow’s Forum with Paula Rambarat and APDs Noon, Zoom.

 

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, and Sudarshan Rajagopal.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

Duke Heart in the News: 

October 20 — Leanna Ross

Daily Republic

‘Weekend warriors’ may gain same health benefits as people who spread out exercise

October 21 — Annemarie Thompson

Kansas City Star*

How to manage heart and stroke risks before, during and after non-heart surgery

*appears in 30+ affiliates nationally

October 23 — Renato Lopes

Amazing Health Advances

Wearable Heart Monitor Increases Diagnosis of Irregular Heart Rhythm

October 23 — Manesh Patel

Medscape

The Rising Tide of Atrial Fibrillation: Is Primary Care Ready?

*also appears in MD Edge/Cardiology News

October 23 — Duke Health

Becker’s Hospital Review

50 top hospitals for cardiac surgery: Healthgrades

October 23 — Redford Williams (Psych/Beh Health)

The People’s Pharmacy

Show 1405: Why Does Anger Harm Your Heart?

October 28 — Stuart Knechtle (Surgery/Transplant)

IVOOX

CDO Magazine Podcast Series: We Want to Offer Transplantation Equitably to All Patients in the US — Duke

October 29 — Svati Shah

The Business Journals/American Heart Association

U.S. could save $28 billion by 2040 through improved women’s cardiovascular health

October 29 — Brittany Zwischenberger

Live Science

‘Wake-up call’: Women are more likely than men to die of complications after heart surgery

October 30 — William Kraus

Only My Health (India)

10,000 Steps Is A Myth; Here’s What Science Says You Should Do Instead

October 30 — Oyomoare Osazuwa-Peters

Medpage Today

After COPD Hospitalization, Some Groups At Risk of ASCVD

October 31 — Duke Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review

Titanium heart makes Time’s ‘Best Inventions’ list

October 31 — Duke Hospital

Black Doctor

Best Hospitals for Black America 2025

October 31 — Manesh Patel, Suresh Balu & Michael Pencina

Healthcare Innovation

Researchers: AI Development Should Focus on Top Clinician Needs

Chief’s message:  Seeing the world from other people’s perspective.

In the important novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch tells Scout  “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”  This provides Scout with an important lesson as she stands in Boo Radley’s shoes and sees how much she has meant to him and how he sees the community they live in. This is one of the many lessons from the book that provide to be timeless and help us understand how they were able to make progress in their community.

This advice is particularly important in our current environment where things at times seem so polarized, so short in information exchange, and so hard to engage our community and patients to improve health. As we consider how we will continue to evolve and work on improving patient care – we spend more time on working to ensure we remain a trusted source for health care and health information. Part of our current CV service line and training of our fellows is constantly working as teams and learning the multiple perspectives of our patients, team members and staff in caring for our patients.  No matter how tumultuous the next few weeks are for our region and country, focusing on thinking and understanding our patients, colleagues, neighbors and community will help Duke Heart continue to improve CV health.  Recently, we are encouraged as we have seen some signs of improvement in Western North Carolina and the tremendous unity and purpose that our entire state has had in supporting that region.  Finally, we have just completed our interviews of the many amazing star residents considering Duke Heart as their destination for continued training and are awed by the caliber of people that see our organization as one of the top places to get trained in cardiovascular medicine.

Updates of the week:

Duke Health Baxter IV Fluid Update

Thanks to all who continue to assist in our conservation strategies!

• To order IV fluids, call the Fluid Distribution Center at 919-681-6851. The center remains open 24/7.
• Please continue to follow all previously communicated conservation strategies.
• Updates on this situation can be found on Duke’s Baxter Operational Updates page on Sharepoint.

Voting Resources

Early voting concludes Nov. 2, including at Karsh Alumni Center (for Durham County residents).

Hours are as follows:

• Monday – Saturday: 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Sundays: 2 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• 2: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Same-day voter registration will also be available during this time.

Before heading to the polls, make sure to bring an acceptable form of photo identification, which can include a North Carolina driver’s license, an approved Duke ID card (students only), and others. Duke Votes is an excellent resource for non-partisan voting information and resources for voting here in North Carolina or in your home state if you are not a North Carolina resident.

In order to allow Duke employees flexibility in casting their vote, Duke University and Duke Health encourage supervisors to cancel nonessential meetings on November 5 and be flexible with scheduling to enable staff members who are unable to vote outside normal work hours to do so before, during, or after their assigned shifts. On Election Day, Karsh will not be a polling location, so you will need to cast a ballot at your assigned polling place.

Thank you for participating in our democracy!

Duke Health Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

You can join our support efforts in several ways:

• Check for updates on the Duke Health intranet page (NET ID required)
• Sign up to volunteer with our SMAT team to deploy to provide disaster relief.
• Make a financial donation to the American Red Cross.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Oct. 17-Nov. 2: Early voting period, November 2024 General Election.

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Oct. 29: Working Towards Elimination of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Our Lifetime with Andrea Beaton, MD. 5 p.m. DN 2002 or via Zoom. 

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

October 30: Board Review with Paula Rambarat and Nishant Shah. Noon, DN 2001

November 1: HF/Txp Fellows’ Case Conference with Jawan Abdulrahim. Noon, via Zoom.

 

Duke Heart Fall 2024 CME Courses

Upcoming symposia:

November 1: the 16th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium at Durham Convention Center, 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Course directors are Dr. Terry Fortin and Dr. Jimmy Ford (of UNC).

Questions? Contact Christy Darnell.

 

Last Call for Nominations: MLK Humanitarian Award

Nominations are now open for Duke’s first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. Dr. King’s enduring legacy inspires this initiative, which will celebrate Duke Health faculty and staff who embody his vision of “It starts with me…” The award will honor those who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to a nonprofit’s mission in keeping with Dr. King’s principles.

Nominations will be accepted through October 29. The awards will be announced in January during Duke’s annual recognition of the MLK holiday.

Learn more about the award here.

SOM Leadership Development Programs

Applications for the 2025 SOM Leadership Development Programs are now open. This includes the ADVANCE-UP, ALICE, DCLP, and LEADER programs.

Applications are due by Friday, Nov. 1. To learn more, click here. Programs are hosted by the SOM Office for Faculty.

 

Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, and Sudarshan Rajagopal.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

Duke Heart in the News: 

News coverage will return Nov. 4.

Chief’s message:  Fall Changes

Hopefully you all had some time to experience the fall changes to the weather and trees in our area.  This time of year is marked with the shorter days with less light, North Carolina State Fair, nearing the end of our cardiology fellowship recruitment (nearly 1000 applicants for our 10 spots) and lots of great sporting events including the start of Duke Basketball and this year the Duke Football team some recent key wins and a 6-1 record.  Unfortunately, this time of year also sees an increase in cardiovascular events in our community and an uptick in hospital care needs.  Our teams lean on each other even more in these busy times.  We have a photo included from a “rodeo” themed get-together at the Granger house this weekend with our visiting professor Bernard Gersh and the CICU team members.

You will also see story below of the passing of Scott Braswell.  We are saddened by the loss of such a great supporter of the Heart mission, but more importantly – the loss of such a great member of our community – someone who was engaged in supporting  North Carolina and our people in so many ways.  Our thoughts are with his family.

Lastly, we received news of Dr. Allan Kirk deciding to step down as the Chair of the Department of Surgery.  Over the last 10 years, Allan has led the remarkable growth in the research and surgical care of patients at Duke, the creation of several new departments of surgery, and elevated the surgical research group to be the leading NIH-funded research program in the country. He has also supported many innovative initiatives that will have long lasting impact.  Over the next several months there will be a national search for his successor, and we will have several opportunities to help celebrate his contribution to Duke Health. From the Duke Heart perspective, I will note that Allan has been a north star for our teams, always putting patients, trainees and faculty at the forefront of our decision-making and thought process, looking and working to identify solutions that help our team achieve our highest potential.  When you see him, please thank him for his service to Duke Health.

Updates of the week:

In Passing: HCLC Member, Scott Braswell

We are deeply saddened this weekend by the passing of Scott Braswell, a member of our Heart Center Leadership Council. Braswell, who died Tuesday, was an enthusiastic supporter of Duke Heart and one of the newest members to join our HCLC. We appreciated getting to know and work with him — he will be missed.

Services are planned for Saturday, Oct. 26. Visitation for family and friends is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Nashville Methodist Church, Nashville, NC. A Memorial Service will follow at 2 p.m. Rev. Scott Dodson and Rev. Luke Whitehead will officiate.

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Appalachia Service Project (Johnson City, TN), Nashville Methodist Church (Nashville, NC), or Samaritan’s Purse (Boone, NC). A full obituary has not yet been posted online, but a tribute page and all service information are available here.

Our thoughts are with Scott’s family, friends, colleagues, and our HCLC team.

 

Kirk Stepping Down as Chair, Dept. of Surgery

After more than a decade of service, Allan D. Kirk, MD, PhD, will be stepping down as chair of the Department of Surgery effective June 30, 2025. Kirk will continue at Duke as the David C. Sabiston, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Surgery. The news was announced this week by Mary E. Klotman, MD, executive vice president for health affairs at Duke and Dean, Duke University School of Medicine, and Craig Albanese, MD, MBA, chief executive officer, Duke University Health System.

Dr. Kirk’s career began at Duke, where he earned his MD and PhD in immunology. He completed his surgical residency at Duke and a multi-organ transplant fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. His pioneering work in co-stimulation blockade and personalized immune management has been instrumental in advancing the field of organ transplantation. Throughout his career, Dr. Kirk has held numerous prestigious positions, including chief of transplant research for the Armed Services Transplant Service and chief of the intramural organ transplant program at the National Institutes of Health. Before returning to Duke in 2014 as chair of the Department of Surgery, he served as vice chair for surgical research at Emory University.

During his tenure as chair, Dr. Kirk has led the Department of Surgery through unparalleled clinical and academic growth. Under his visionary leadership, the department has recruited numerous esteemed surgeons and scientists, building nation-leading clinical programs in specialties such as organ transplantation and cardiac surgery. He fostered the creation of several new departments, including Neurosurgery, Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences, Urology, and Emergency Medicine, and expanded Duke Surgery to the Greensboro area through a partnership with Central Carolina Surgery. He oversaw the creation of the perioperative clinical service line, standardizing surgical and anesthesiology leadership across Duke Health. He led the department through transformative events including the COVID-19 pandemic and the creation of the Duke Health Integrated Practice.

Dr. Kirk elevated the Duke surgical research program to lead the nation in NIH funding, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration and significantly growing research infrastructure. He established numerous programs to support the career development of surgeon scientists, resulting in multiple prestigious awards and fellowships for surgical trainees. Additionally, he launched innovative initiatives incorporating artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies into surgical practice, including the Surgical Black Box and the Surgical Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Lab.

Gary Faerber, MD, chair of the Department of Urology, will lead a committee through a national search to identify Dr. Kirk’s successor. Dr. Kirk has graciously agreed to stay on as chair longer, if needed, to ensure a smooth transition in leadership. In their message, Klotman and Albanese expressed their deepest gratitude to Dr. Kirk for his extraordinary leadership and dedication to advancing surgical science and practice. We all look forward to his continued contributions to our community and the field of surgery.

 

Shout-out to Swaminathan!

Congratulations to Rajesh Swaminathan – we learned this week he was selected as the Collaborating Physician of the Year by physician assistants at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center during PA Week.

Well-deserved, Raj!!! Way to go!

 

 

 

Kittipibul Earns Mario Award

We are excited to share the great news that cardiology fellow Mark Kittipibul has been awarded one of two Mario Family Foundation Award for his project, Leveraging Exercise Stress Echocardiography for Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction. His project aims to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed HFpEF in patients undergoing exercise stress echo and to evaluate the impact of systemic HFpEF probability assessment during exercise stress echo and tailored recommendations on HFpEF diagnosis and management. His faculty mentor is Marat Fudim.

The Mario Family Foundation Award supports two patient-oriented research proposals (clinical or translational) from fellows in training within any of the Divisions in the Duke Department of Medicine. The total one-year funding for all proposal expenses is $35,000.

About the Mario Family Foundation

Ernest Mario, PhD, founded the Mario Family foundation, a private charitable organization, in 1997. Dr. Mario is a native of New Jersey. He received a bachelor of science in Pharmacy from Rutgers University, and Masters and PhD degrees in Physical Sciences from the University of Rhode Island. During his distinguished career, he held a variety of leadership roles in several pharmaceutical companies. In recognition of his leadership in the pharmaceutical industry and support for the school, the Rutgers school of pharmacy was renamed the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in 2002. Dr. Mario served on the Duke Board of Trustees, and he was chairman of the Duke University Health System board of directors. He was named Trustee Emeritus of Duke University in 2007, and is the second longest serving trustee in the school’s history. He was awarded The University Medal in 2009, Duke’s highest recognition of service to the school.

Congratulations, Mark!

 

Annual Cardiovascular Research Symposium

Our Cardiovascular Research Symposium is now a four-institution event and will be hosted this year by Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. The Symposium will be held Dec. 3-4, 2024 at Weill Cornell’s Belfer Research Building, 413 East 69th Street, NYC.

The keynote speaker this year is Anthony Fauci, MD. Previous Duke Cardiology faculty member Geoff Pitt is the Cornell host for the December event, and Howard Rockman is the Duke organizer. Current Duke Cardiology faculty speaking include Conrad Hodgkinson, Rockman, Ching Zhu, and Sudarshan Rajagopal.

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center and the Cardiovascular Institutes of Stanford and Penn are partnering to present the Symposium, which will rotate locations each cycle.

Registration and additional information can be found here.

 

Respiratory Care Week

It’s Respiratory Care Week 2024 (Oct.20-Oct.26) — time to recognize our respiratory therapists! Each October the American Association for Respiratory Care uses this week to advance the work of respiratory therapists in healthcare. It’s an opportunity to recognize the tremendous dedication and impact of respiratory therapists on patient care and improved outcomes.

Our RT team at Duke is amazing — thank you for everything you do!!

 

National Healthcare Quality Week

It’s also Healthcare Quality Week (Oct 20-26), a recognition period for celebrating and raising awareness of the positive impact those working in healthcare quality and safety have in their organizations and communities. Our quality and safety teams play a vital role in improving patient outcomes, enhancing organizational efficiency, and fostering a culture of excellence within healthcare.

Healthcare Quality Week was established in 1985 by the National Association of Healthcare Quality to recognize and celebrate the contribution of healthcare quality experts in their various organizations.

Thank you to all members of our team who specifically focus on quality and safety improvement each and every day!

 

Last Call for Open Enrollment!

Open Enrollment is underway and ends at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25. This is your opportunity to review your medical, dental, vision, and reimbursement account benefit elections for the coming year and to make any changes necessary to ensure your choices continue to meet your needs.

Full information can be found on Duke’s Open Enrollment 2025 website.

 

Duke Health Baxter IV Fluid Update

Thanks to all who are assisting  in our conservation strategies!

• Physical command centers have closed.
• To order IV fluids, call the Fluid Distribution Center at 919-681-6851. The center remains open 24/7.
• Please continue to follow all previously communicated conservation strategies.
• Updates on this situation can be found on Duke’s Baxter Operational Updates page on Sharepoint.

 

Voting Resources

Early voting is underway through Nov. 2, including at Karsh Alumni Center (for Durham County residents).

Hours are as follows:

• Monday – Saturday: 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Sundays: 2 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• 2: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Same-day voter registration will also be available during this time.

Before heading to the polls, make sure to bring an acceptable form of photo identification, which can include a North Carolina driver’s license, an approved Duke ID card (students only), and others. Duke Votes is an excellent resource for non-partisan voting information and resources for voting here in North Carolina or in your home state if you are not a North Carolina resident.

To allow Duke employees flexibility in casting their vote, Duke University and Duke Health encourage supervisors to cancel nonessential meetings on November 5 and be flexible with scheduling to enable staff members who are unable to vote outside normal work hours to do so before, during, or after their assigned shifts. On Election Day, Karsh will not be a polling location, so you will need to cast a ballot at your assigned polling place.

Thank you for participating in our democracy!

 

Duke Health Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

You can join our support efforts in several ways:

• Check for updates on the Duke Health intranet page (NET ID required)
• Sign up to volunteer with our SMAT team to deploy to provide disaster relief.
• Make a financial donation to the American Red Cross.

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Oct. 17-Nov. 2: Early voting period, November 2024 General Election.

Oct. 20-Oct.26: Respiratory Care Week

Oct. 20-Oct.26: Healthcare Quality Week

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Oct. 22: In the Fall of the Sparrow: Neuroprognosis in Cardiac Arrest with Matthew Luedke, MD. 5 p.m. Zoom only. 

Oct. 29: Working Towards Elimination of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Our Lifetime with Andrea Beaton, MD. 5 p.m. DN 2002 or via Zoom. 

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

October 23: HF/Txp Fellows’ Case Conference with Mike Cosiano. Noon, DMP 2W96

October 25: No conference. Interview Day.

October 30: Board Review with Paula Rambarat and Nishant Shah. Noon, DN 2001

November 1: HF/Txp Fellows’ Case Conference with Jawan Abdulrahim. Noon, via Zoom.

Duke Heart Fall 2024 CME Courses

Upcoming symposia:

November 1: the 16th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium at Durham Convention Center, 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Course directors are Dr. Terry Fortin and Dr. Jimmy Ford (of UNC).

Questions? Contact Christy Darnell.

 

DIHI – Innovation Projects RFA 2025

The Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI) announces the next emerging ideas and innovation funding cycle. Applications are open to faculty, staff, trainees and students of Duke University and Duke University Health System. Proposed innovation projects should address actual and important problems encountered by care providers, patients and their loved ones in our clinical enterprise and represent urgent health challenges nationally.

For the 2025 funding cycle, priority will be given to ideas aligned with the thematic area of improving provider and staff experience, the patient journey, and clinical outcomes using advanced technology solutions.

Due Date: Proposals are due by 11:59 p.m., October 25, 2024.

The application packet can be found here.

Up to ten applications will be selected for support. Most proposals are expected to request funding in the range of $25,000 to $60,000 over one year.

Questions? Please email DIHIrfa@duke.edu.

 

Call for Nominations: MLK Humanitarian Award

Nominations are now open for Duke’s first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. This initiative is inspired by Dr. King’s enduring legacy and will celebrate Duke Health faculty and staff who embody his vision of “It starts with me…” The award will honor those who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to a nonprofit’s mission in keeping with the principles of Dr. King.

Nominations will be accepted through October 29. The awards will be announced during Duke’s annual recognition of the MLK holiday in January.

Learn more about the award here.

 

SOM Leadership Development Programs

Applications for the 2025 SOM Leadership Development Programs are now open. This includes the ADVANCE-UP, ALICE, DCLP, and LEADER programs.

Applications are due by Friday, Nov. 1. To learn more, click here. Programs are hosted by the SOM Office for Faculty.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News: 

October 11 — Mark Kittipibul and Robert Mentz

Endocrinology Advisor

Semaglutide Lowers Heart Failure Risks in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, CKD

October 11 — Duke University Hospital (BiVACOR)

Becker’s Hospital Review

The titanium heart keeping transplant patients alive

October 13 — Adam DeVore and Donavon Harbison

WTVD-TV (Durham, NC)

Titanium heart implant pioneers treatment to help patient make it to transplant

October 14 — Adam DeVore, Carmelo Milano, and Donavon Harbison

KUMV-TV (Minot, ND)

Innovative artificial heart implant helps patients survive to heart transplant

October 14 — Leanna Ross

The Minnesota Star Tribune via Tribune News Service

Study supports ‘weekend warriors’

October 14 — Sana Al-Khatib

Healio

Top in cardiology: COVID-19 linked to increased CV risk; semaglutide improves HF symptoms

October 14 — Duke Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review

Hospitals with highest, lowest 30-day mortality rates for heart attack patients

October 15 — Leanna Ross

The Daily Item

‘Weekend warriors’ may gain same health benefits as people who spread out exercise

October 15 — Leanna Ross

The Columbian

To stave off disease, stay active

October 16 — Mark Kittipibul and Robert Mentz

The Cardiology Advisor

Semaglutide Lowers Heart Failure Risks in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, CKD

October 16 — Allan Kirk

Wall Street Journal

The Future of Everything: ‘It’s Spare Parts for People’: Blood Vessels Grown in a Lab

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Chief’s message:

 This week we have highlights around some work our heart failure and transplant teams are doing around a total artificial heart.  The story ran on NBC news this last week and builds on work this group has done over the last several years around supporting people with failing hearts.  Moreover, it highlights the tremendous teamwork with the cardiologists, CT surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, the research teams, ICU, wards, and overall care teams to help patients move through our system to get innovative therapies.  We have examples across all of our disciplines for patients we care for in cardiometabolic prevention, arrhythmia care, heart failure, coronary and vascular care, and valvular heart disease.  Thanks to the teams that helped this latest innovation get to our patients.

On a more solemn note, we also have information below around one of our past cardiology fellows, now cardiologist in practice passing away suddenly – Rip Waters.  Our community grieves the loss of such a kind and thoughtful person.  Details of the memorial and places for donation are provided below.  We will keep Rip and his family in our collective thoughts and prayers.

Highlights and Updates of the week:

Duke Transplant Team Helps Pioneer Total Artificial Heart

A young Graham, NC, father became the second person in the world to receive a BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart (TAH) as a bridge to transplant, living with the device for 10 days before undergoing a heart transplant at Duke University Hospital.

The device completely replaces a patient’s heart muscle, providing the essential mechanics to circulate blood throughout the body. For patients with biventricular heart failure awaiting a heart transplant, the device provides blood circulation until a donor heart becomes available.

Use of the device at Duke was part of a first-in-human clinical study aiming to evaluate the safety and performance of the BiVACOR TAH. The device provides an option for eligible patients with severe biventricular heart failure or univentricular heart failure in which left ventricular assist device support is not recommended.

“While there are many ways to bridge patients with end-stage heart failure as they await heart transplant, all conventional strategies were unsuccessful for our patient, who had dysfunction of both the right and left side of the heart,” said Duke transplant surgeon Carmelo Milano, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. “The BiVACOR TAH effectively replaced his entire heart and restored normal circulation. He was able to be successfully transplanted 10 days later.”

The Duke patient is a 34-year-old education consultant who is expecting his fourth child. Donavan Harbison, a recreational runner and former NC Central University football player, began feeling poorly in late 2023 and thought he had pneumonia.

To his surprise, he was diagnosed with heart failure.

“It was shocking,” said his wife, Lindsey Harbison. Hoping to manage the condition with medications along with diet and lifestyle changes, Harbison learned earlier this spring his condition was genetic and likely the cause of his father’s early death.

After further tests, his doctors at Cone Health in Greensboro, Daniel R. Bensimhon, MD, and Aditya Sabharwal, DO, found that he had end-stage biventricular heart failure and referred him to Duke for a heart transplant.

“We can offer our patients VADs, ECMO, and other technologies, but the ability to offer our patients the very highest level of care, such as heart and dual-organ transplant, as well as access to advanced devices such as the BiVACOR TAH — that does not happen unless you’re aligned with a partner like Duke Health,” Bensimhon said. “It allows us to get our patients super high-level therapies, fairly close to home, that they would not have access to otherwise.”

With his condition deteriorating quickly, Harbison received a ventricular assist device, but it could not provide the level of assistance needed. After ruling out other technologies, Harbison and his Duke team opted to move forward with the artificial heart.

“There was definitely a feeling of the fear of the unknown,” Donavon Harbison said, “but at that point, I had resolved to take the leap of faith and do everything I could do to increase the success of what would happen.”

“Now, I’m looking forward to getting back to making memories with my family, my kids, my wife, just doing the things you often do and take for granted, like putting my kids to bed at night.”

Harbison received the BiVACOR device in early August – the second in the world after the first implantation occurred at Texas Heart Institute a few weeks earlier. With the device providing strong blood circulation, Harbison gained enough strength within 10 days to receive a donated heart.

“Many end-stage heart disease patients are actually too sick to qualify for heart transplants,” said heart surgeon Jacob Schroder, MD, surgical director of Advanced Heart Failure at Duke and a member of the transplant team that implanted the device. “Current technologies are effective for some patients, but still leave others without options. Having another way to bridge a path to transplant would fill a tremendous void and truly be a lifesaver.”

The BiVACOR TAH utilizes an electro-mechanical rotary blood pump that is a simpler construction than other investigational devices. It has no valves, and a motor drives a single magnetically levitated rotor that simultaneously pumps blood to both the body and the lungs.

“It was a remarkable opportunity for our team to witness the recovery and subsequent bridge-to-transplant of our second courageous BiVACOR TAH patient at Duke,” said Daniel Timms, Ph.D., founder and chief technology officer of BiVACOR. “He and his family embraced a positive attitude toward this new technology, which not only helped extend their lives together, but their experience will provide hope for many others with end-stage heart failure.”

The BiVACOR device is the second total artificial heart implanted via clinical trial at Duke. In 2021, the heart transplant team became the first in the world to successfully implant a different technology, manufactured by CARMAT.

The Duke heart transplant team has been a world leader in pioneering new technologies that make heart transplantation accessible to more patients,” said Adam DeVore, MD, medical director of the Duke Heart Transplant program. “With long waiting lists for the limited numbers of donor hearts, it’s imperative that we continue to find innovative ways to maximize scarce resources.”

The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart Early Feasibility Study is led nationally by cardiologist and Principal Investigator Joseph G. Rogers, MD, president and CEO of Texas Heart Institute in Houston. Rogers spent many years with us at Duke and remains an adjunct professor of medicine in cardiology at Duke School of Medicine. He served as interim chair of the Duke Department of Medicine for just over a year before being named Chief Medical Officer for DUHS in 2018. He joined THI in 2021.

“It has been rewarding to watch the evolution of this pump and see it finally get to human trials,” said Rogers. The BiVACOR device has been in development and preclinical testing with Texas Heart Institute for nearly 12 years, he added. “We’ve watched the device transition from very early prototypes to pre-clinical testing, and finally to human implant.

Rogers says the field has always needed a reliable, total artificial heart. “So many of the patients we care for can get by with a left ventricular assist device because their right hearts work reasonably well, but there is a cohort of patients who, heretofore, had no real viable therapy. I think this device offers that patient population promise and hope that we finally have a total artificial heart that will be not just an outstanding blood pump, but a reliable device that could support people for prolonged periods.”

In terms of collaborating with investigators at Duke on the trial, Rogers said, “You can’t ignore the Duke Heart Failure program for any clinical trial conducted in the U.S. It’s the top-tier program with high-volumes, outstanding care, and a team committed to clinical research and excellence. Duke now has the largest advanced heart failure program in the U.S., and probably in the world. It is also arguably the most academically impactful and has trained some of the most brilliant minds in heart failure in the last 15 years.”

Further reflecting on Duke’s HF program, Rogers adds, “It has been fulfilling to look back at the program and see just how remarkable it is. The physicians and surgeons who are leading it are taking it places that we never would have even dreamed it could go.”

Incredible work, team!

 

In Memoriam: Rip Waters, MD, former Duke CV Fellow

We learned this week of the passing of cardiologist Richard Everely Waters, II, MD, a former cardiovascular fellow at Duke, on Sept. 24 in California. He was 53.

He is survived by his wife Erica, and their children Ella (20) and Reed (19). He is also survived by his mother, Joanne Waters, brothers Robert (Sara) Waters and Randall (Janée) Waters, sister-in-law Lindsay (Scott) Horner, nieces and nephews Tucker, Claire, Kellen, Isabella, Alexandre, Grant, and Gavin, and parents-in-law, Leon and Denise Reed. He was preceded in death by his beloved father and namesake, Richard E. Waters.

Though Rip valued his job as a cardiologist, his most cherished and gifted roles were as a husband, father, son, brother, and friend.

His obituary reads, in part:

Rip was a brilliant student, and continued his academic pursuits, seeking excellence at all times. He graduated from Stanford in 1993 with a BA in Economics. After college, he spent a year traveling and serving as a medical volunteer in Peru, then continued on to Vanderbilt Medical School, receiving his MD in 1998. He completed internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2001, and cardiovascular fellowship at Duke University Hospital in 2005. After completing his training, he returned home to Stockton, where he sought to always provide outstanding cardiology care to the community. He joined Stockton Cardiology Medical Group in 2005 and was a partner there for the remainder of his career. He was a dedicated clinician and loved to hear every person’s story. He also worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he served in many leadership roles. He was most proud of being part of the structural heart team, which brought non-invasive heart valve replacement (TAVR) to Stockton.

The full memorial piece can be found here.

“Rip Waters left a legacy of always being kind to patients, colleagues, staff, and students,” said Anna Lisa Chamis, MD, program director of Duke’s Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship. “I try to pass on his legacy to our fellows to always be kind even when frustrated in a given situation.”

Chamis and several other cardiology faculty members trained with Waters at Duke during fellowship and became good friends with him. We know Rip will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family, friends and colleagues.

Private family services were held at Cherokee Memorial Park in Lodi. A Celebration of Rip’s Life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the San Joaquin Medical Society Scholarship Loan Fund, 3031 W. March Lane, suite 222W, Stockton CA 59219, or the charity of your choice.

 

Cardiac Imaging Symposium Held 

The Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium was held yesterday, October 12 in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center.

The event, designed for cardiac sonographers, imaging cardiologists, and other healthcare professionals involved in cardiovascular imaging, had more than 90 participants attending either virtually or in person. Ten companies joined us as vendors.

The event had terrific lectures as well as hands-on demonstrations conducted in small breakout sessions for participants.

Co-course directors were Drs. Anita Kelsey and Sreekanth Vemulapalli. Invited presenters included Fawaz Alenezi, Alicia Armour, Ashlee Davis, Andy Dhimitri, Dallas Gardner, Sarah Hatton, Michel Khouri, Batina Kight, Christopher Kontos, Jayne Leypoldt, Nicholas Medlock, Rachel O’Brien, Jon Owensby, Richard Palma, Danny Rivera, Eddy Sandoval, and Andrew Wang.

 

Shown here, L-R, are Alenezi, Palma, Sreek Vemulapalli, Ashlee Davis, Alicia Armour, and Anita Kelsey.

Nicely done, all!

 

Duke Health Baxter IV Fluid Update

On behalf of our Heart & Vascular leadership, kudos to all team members for your ongoing and amazing efforts within our clinical areas to ensure excellent care and conservation of supplies during the Baxter shortage.

Here’s the latest:

As Duke Health continues to monitor the impact of the Baxter Healthcare manufacturing plant closure, we would like to express heartfelt thanks to everyone who is working so tirelessly to review our processes to develop and implement conservation strategies. Your efforts are enabling us to protect our supply of these critical fluids while continuing to provide safe, quality care for our patients.

Thanks to our ongoing conservation efforts, our supply of critical fluids appeared sufficient going into the weekend. Please take note of the following:

• The DUH incident command center will be open from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. To contact the command center, call 919-684-2222.
• To order IV fluids, call the Fluid Distribution Center at 919-681-6851. The center remains open 24/7.
• If you use emergency stock, please call the fluid center to have your emergency supply replenished.
• When returning Code Carts to the pharmacy, please be sure to also return all IV fluids that were not used for patient care.
• For Duke North and DMP ORs: please put aside empty Baxter 1000 ml bottles of sterile water for Irrigation and 0.9% Sodium Chloride for Irrigation with the cap on the cart at the DMP OR Front Desk.
• For procedural areas: DUH is tentatively planning to transition to distilled water for GI endoscopy procedures starting on Tuesday, October 15. Infection Prevention is finalizing the SOP for collection, cleaning, and filling bottles with distilled water. Other DUHS GI endoscopy sites should review the SOP this weekend and determine readiness for transition on Monday. Supply Chain has obtained enough distilled water to support this process for all GI endoscopy across the system. DUH is also collecting used bottles of the Baxter 1000 ml bottles of Sterile water for Irrigation and 0.9% Sodium Chloride for Irrigation with the cap in preparation for this change.
• Please ensure that we continue to follow all previously communicated conservation strategies.

Please note this update from late last week regarding warmer storage for irrigation solutions in OR/Procedural settings:

• Irrigation solutions in plastic pour bottles may be stored in the warmer for up to 28 days. Use-by dates for these solutions may be extended from 14 days to up to 28 days total.

Thank you again for your collaboration and dedication throughout this situation.

 

UHC Negotiations Update

For several months, Duke University Health System leadership has worked diligently to negotiate a new agreement with UnitedHealthcare (United) that protects our patients’ access to Duke Health and appropriately reimburses us. However, United has yet to agree to such terms and is likely to remove Duke Health from its network on October 31, 2024. If this occurs, patients with UnitedHealthcare insurance will have to pay more out of pocket to access care at Duke Health beginning November 1, 2024.

Significant operational planning is underway to minimize disruption to patients and clinical teams in the event that this occurs. For now, teams and clinicians should continue care as usual. Resources for Duke Health teams, including leader talking points and team member tips, as well as patient resources, can be found in this email message that was shared earlier in the week. Information is also available on Leadership Exchange. 

DUHS has posted a publicly available statement regarding our ongoing negotiations with UnitedHealthcare (UHC). It can be found on the DUHS News & Media site. Here is the link.

 

Campbell To Serve in ACC Sessions Planning Role

Congratulations to Kristin Bova Campbell, clinical pharmacy specialist in electrophysiology at Duke! We learned this week that she will serve as the Cardiovascular Team Lead for the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions for both 2026 and 2027.

The CV Team Lead works closely with the chair, vice chair, and other team leads to direct and manage the work of the Annual Scientific Session Program Committee, focusing on areas of the meeting related to CV Team member education and the role of the CV Team in patient care.

What a huge honor — congrats, Kristin!!

 

Great Catch, Watts!

Katland Watts, CNII, a team member with our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Duke University Hospital earned a Great Catch Award recently, which was presented to her on Monday, October 7:

Cardiac ICU Nursing colleague, Katland (Katie) Watts, received an order for Digoxin to treat a persistent/complex patient condition. Katie reviewed the labs prior to administering the medication and found electrolyte imbalances that made her question the appropriateness of this medication. She recalled learning in nursing school less than two years ago some concern regarding Digoxin and potassium levels and took the extra step to both research the drug and contraindications AND call the primary team for clarification. Based on current potassium and magnesium levels, the primary team agreed administration of this drug could result in potential harm or toxicity. The order was held until further assessment and planning for safe management could occur. Because of Katie’s clinical expertise and meticulous practice, she prevented harm from reaching the patient.

Way to go, Katie!

 

Open Enrollment Starts Monday

Open enrollment is your opportunity to review your medical, dental, vision, and reimbursement account benefit elections and make any changes necessary to ensure your choices continue to meet your needs.

If you wish to participate in the Health Care or Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts for 2025, you must enroll (or re-enroll). Participation in the reimbursement accounts does not automatically continue from year to year.

If you do not make changes to your medical, dental or vision coverage, your current medical, dental and vision coverage elections for 2024 will continue for 2025.

Duke’s annual open enrollment period for medical, dental, vision and reimbursement account benefits for 2025 is from October 14 at 8 a.m. — October 25 at 6 p.m.

• Up to $640 of your unused Health Care and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account funds from 2025 can be carried over to the subsequent year.
• All selections made during the open enrollment period will be effective January 2025.

Benefits information has been mailed to all staff. All information can also be found on Duke’s Open Enrollment 2025 website.

 

Early Voting at Karsh Starts on Thursday

Durham County registered voters can vote early at Karsh Alumni Center starting Thursday, October 17, and ending Saturday, November 2.

Hours are as follows:

• Monday – Saturday: 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Sundays: 2 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• 2: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Same-day voter registration will also be available during this time.

 

Duke Health Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

Duke Health continues to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Western North Carolina.

“In support of the huge need for disaster relief, the health system has donated a wide variety of much-needed supplies, personnel, and drugs to our neighbors and colleagues to the west,” said Craig Albanese, MD, MBA, CEO of DUHS, in a statement last week to all employees. “I’m so proud that more than 300 of our team members have volunteered to deploy to provide clinical and non-clinical support where needed. Additionally, many of our team members have donated their time and expertise locally, and thousands of dollars have been raised through various fundraising efforts. If you are interested and able to do so, please click here to contribute to the American Red Cross. However you are able to support relief efforts, know it will go a long way and truly make a difference.”

You can join our support efforts in many ways:

• Sign up to volunteer with our SMAT team to deploy to provide disaster relief.
• Make a financial donation to the American Red Cross.
• Check for updates on this Duke Health intranet page (NET ID required)

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Sept. 15 to Oct. 15: Hispanic Heritage Month

Oct. 17-Nov. 2: Early voting period, November 2024 General Election.

Oct. 20-Oct.26: Respiratory Care Week

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Oct. 15: Mechanical Circulatory Support in Cardiogenic Shock: Where Interventional and Heart Failure Collide with Imran Aslam, MD. 5 p.m. Zoom only.

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

• 2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

October 16:  No conference. Interview Day.

October 18:  Fellows’ Meet and Greet Lunch with visiting professor Bernard Gersh. Noon, DMP 2W91

October 23: HF/Txp Fellows’ Case Conference with Mike Cosiano. Noon, DMP 2W96

October 25: No conference. Interview Day.

October 30: Board Review with Paula Rambarat and Nishant Shah. Noon, DN 2001

 

Duke Heart Fall 2024 CME Courses

Upcoming symposia:

November 1: the 16th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium at Durham Convention Center, 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Course directors are Dr. Terry Fortin and Dr. Jimmy Ford (of UNC).

Questions? Contact Christy Darnell.

DIHI – Innovation Projects RFA 2025

The Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI) announces the next emerging ideas and innovation funding cycle. Applications are open to faculty, staff, trainees, and students of Duke University and Duke University Health System. Proposed innovation projects should address actual and important problems encountered by care providers, patients, and their loved ones in our clinical enterprise and represent urgent health challenges nationally.

For the 2025 funding cycle, priority will be given to ideas aligned with the thematic area of improving provider and staff experience, the patient journey, and clinical outcomes using advanced technology solutions.

Due Date: Proposals are due by 11:59 p.m., October 25, 2024.

Application packet can be found here.

Up to ten applications will be selected for support. Most proposals are expected to request funding in the range of $25,000 to $60,000 over a one-year period.

Questions? Please email DIHIrfa@duke.edu.

 

Call for Nominations: MLK Humanitarian Award

Nominations are now open for Duke’s first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. This initiative is inspired by Dr. King’s enduring legacy and will celebrate Duke Health faculty and staff who embody his vision of “It starts with me…” The award will honor those who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to a nonprofit’s mission in keeping with the principles of Dr. King.

Nominations will be accepted through October 29. The awards will be announced during Duke’s annual recognition of the MLK holiday in January.

Learn more about the award here.

 

SOM Leadership Development Programs Update

Applications for the 2025 SOM Leadership Development Programs are now open. This includes the ADVANCE-UP, ALICE, DCLP, and LEADER programs.

Applications are due by Friday, Nov. 1. To learn more, click here. Programs are hosted by the SOM Office for Faculty.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News: 

October 4 — Theresa Fink/Duke Lifepoint, Conemaugh

Becker’s Hospital Review

Duke LifePoint names physician group COO

October 4 — Annemarie Thompson

Renal & Urology News

AHA and ACC Update Cardiovascular Management Guideline for Noncardiac Surgery

October 5 — Duke Health

Times of India

These signs of a heart attack can appear in young , super-fit people weeks before

October 5 — Robert Mentz

European Heart Journal & Podcast

New light shed on the treatment of heart failure and on novel therapeutic targets

EHJ podcasts are located here: https://duke.is/v/qhfm

October 6 — Gregory Pauly

Yahoo News/McClatchy/Charlotte Observer

Hospitals brace for IV, dialysis fluid shortages after Helene shuts down NC producer

October 7 — Adam DeVore, Carmelo Milano, Donovan Harbison

NBC News Now

‘My heart was gone’: Second person to receive a titanium heart shares experience

October 8 — Leanna Ross

News & Observer* (via AHA News)

‘Weekend warriors’ may gain same health benefits as people who spread out exercise

*and 30 McClatchy news affiliates

October 8 — Duke Children’s

US News & World Report

U.S. News Announces the 2024-2025 Best Children’s Hospitals

October 8 — Duke Children’s (peds cardiology/CT Surgery)

WNCN-TV (Raleigh/CBS News)

Duke Children’s Ranked Highly for Pediatric Cardiology, Heart Surgery

October 8 — Duke Children’s (peds cardiology/CT Surgery)

Cardiovascular Business

The top 25 children’s heart hospitals in the US

October 8 — Duke Children’s Hospital (peds cardiology/CT Surgery)

State children’s hospitals earn top rankings

WGHP-TV (Greensboro-High Point, NC)

October 8 — BiVACOR/Duke Heart

Black News/Radio Zindagi (NYC)

Experimental Artificial Heart Helps Save Life

October 8 — Adam DeVore, Carmelo Milano, Donavon Harbison

WRAL-TV (Raleigh)

NC father embraces new life after becoming 2nd person to receive titanium heart at Duke Hospital

October 8 — Adam DeVore, Donavon Harbison

WTVD-TV (Durham)

Graham resident, former NCCU football player becomes 2nd in world to receive total artificial heart

October 8 — Carmelo Milano, Donavon Harbison

WXII-TV (Winston-Salem, NC)

Second chance at life

October 8 — Carmelo Milano, Donavon Harbison

WNCT-TV (Greenville, NC)

NC home to innovative heart transplant

October 8 — Adam DeVore, Carmelo Milano, Donavon Harbison

WCNC-TV (Charlotte)

NC father becomes second person to receive titanium heart at Duke hospital

October 8 — Adam DeVore, Carmelo Milano, Donavon Harbison

NBC News Daily (and NBC affiliates nationally)

Heart transplant innovation helps NC man’s recovery

October 8 — Carmelo Milano, Donavon Harbison

WRC-TV (Washington, DC)

Heart transplant innovation aides man’s recovery

October 9 — Crystal Tyson

Best Life

Doctors Say This Heart-Healthy Diet Is “The Way to Go” for Lower Blood Pressure

October 9 — Carmelo Milano, Jacob Schroder, Adam DeVore

Duke Today

Duke Transplant Team Helps Pioneer Total Artificial Heart

October 9 — Jeffrey Kuller (OB/GYN)

Juta Medical Brief (Africa)

Heart defect risk for babies conceived through IVF – Swedish study

October 10 — Donovan Harbison/BiVACOR

WSOC-TV (Charlotte, NC)

Artificial Heart helps North Carolina man bridge gap until heart transplant

October 10 — Harry Severance

Becker’s ASC Review

Are business skills the ticket to reclaiming physician autonomy?

October 10 — Sana Al-Khatib

Healio/Cardiology Today

VIDEO: ‘Clear lack of data’ on digital CV health tools for women concerning

October 10 — Carmelo Milano and Donovan Harbison

WNYT-TV (Albany, NY)

NewsChannel 13 Live at 12:30

October 10 — Carmelo Milano and Donovan Harbison

WPTF-AM (Raleigh, NC)

Duke uses innovative device to bridge patient from heart failure to heart transplant

October 10 — Mark Kittipibul and Robert Mentz

Renal & Urology News

Semaglutide Lowers Heart Failure Risks in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, CKD

October 10 — Marat Fudim

Medical Dialogues (India)

Greater Splanchnic Nerve Ablation Shows Feasibility But No Clinical Benefit In HFpEF Patients: REBALANCE-HF Trial

October 11 — Marat Fudim

Healio/Cardiology Today

New consensus statement outlines benefits, challenges of device-based therapies for HF