Chief’s Message: Floyd Legacy
National Heart month and prepping for the upcoming ACC Scientific Sessions has me reflecting lately on mentorship and the gifts we bring to caregiving, and I’ve thought a lot about those who have come before us – those who have left a legacy with impact. One of the people who has come to mind for me is Dr. Walter Floyd, a longtime Duke cardiologist who retired nearly two decades ago and who died last fall.
Dr. Floyd was known not only as a skilled clinician – he was certainly that – but he was very well known and much beloved for being a gentleman who embodied empathy and compassion with his patients. Many of his patients stayed in touch with him for many years after his retirement – a fact uncovered by his family after his death when they discovered stacks of letters that he had saved.
He trained some of the finest physicians Duke has produced, including former division chief Gary Stiles, Tom Bashore, and many other current faculty members and past fellows / DUCCS members. In 1992, Dr. Floyd’s many friends, former students, and patients together established the Walter L. Floyd Fellowship in Cardiology which ensures that many more fellows will continue to benefit from his legacy – one that is truly special to us at Duke Heart in that it embodies the underlying spirit of 
humanity that drove Floyd as a caregiver. The Floyd Fellow in cardiology is voted by their peers each year as the fellow that best represents Dr. Floyd – finest clinical fellow with humanism and patient centered values. The plaque with all the named Floyd fellows is in the 7th floor hall and seen above.
Dr. Stiles once said of Floyd, “He is a warm human being who gives the best patient care and the best patient interaction of anyone I’ve seen at Duke.” Floyd’s deep compassion for patients led to his teaching motto that, “physicians don’t treat diseases, they treat patients.”
Floyd felt the relationship between clinicians and their patients to be critical to the future of medicine – developing a level of intimacy that allowed for getting to know your patient as an individual and not just focusing on the technical aspects of what is happening in their bodies.
We are very data driven as clinicians and researchers, so of course the numbers and the technological improvements in treatment are important. But Floyd, as a lifelong teacher, realized that this very technology can make it harder for residents and fellows to learn how to be compassionate and caring physicians. He was concerned that humanistic aspects would be set aside – that the focus would be test results and treatment options rather than compassionate understanding of how the illness was impacting this particular individual and his/her particular family members.
Let’s strive to build the type of relationships that Dr. Floyd espoused both with his patients and the students he mentored. His legacy lives on through all the clinicians who benefited from his direct teachings.
Highlights of the Duke Heart Week
Research Seminar Series Featured Ravi Karra
Ravi Karra was the guest speaker at the Feb. 22 Research Seminar Series held by the Department of Medicine. His topic was Vascular Guidance of Innate Heart Regeneration. Thanks to everyone who was able to join us – we had a good crowd!
If you weren’t able to join us, you can listen to the Voices of Medicine podcast that was done as a preview to his talk. To listen, click here: https://warpwire.duke.edu/w/qvQBAA.
Dodging the Rain & Celebrating
The Mentz’s and Rosen-Ward’s took a quick trip to Oak Island to 
celebrate Cary and Rob’s shared birthday on February 23. We are envious of anyone who managed to escape the rain in Durham this weekend. Belated happy birthday wishes to Cary Ward and Rob Mentz!
Duke Heart at the Sutherland
National Heart month is coming to a close this week. Yesterday was our keynote event, Duke Heart Day at The Sutherland in Wake Forest, NC. Special thanks to Maitreya Thakkar, Khyati Baxi and Anne Ford (obgyn) for serving as our panelists and for assisting with health 
screenings. Attendees enjoyed a cooking demonstration with red wine and dark chocolate, as well as opportunities to speak directly with care providers to learn more about heart disease prevention and treatments.
Our final event is coming up on Feb. 27 – we will hold a compression-only 
CPR training in the DMP for visitors and family members. We’ll also be teaching how to use an AED and how to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Many thanks to each one of our volunteers who helped with events this month. Special thanks to Leatrice Martin Short for planning and execution!
Renovations to EP/Cath Waiting Area to Begin March 5
Construction will begin early next month to renovate and enhance the waiting area for the Adult Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology Labs at Duke University Hospital. The renovations will expand the available seating area and add one more check-in bay. We’re also adding a consultation room and some new signage. Each 
modification we are making will serve to give patients and families greater comfort and more privacy, which should improve their overall experience in this particular area. We anticipate completion of the renovation by the end of fall 2019. 
Members of the Heart PFAC weighed in on our design. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Greg Shelton, Administrative Director for the Cardiovascular Invasive Labs.
Heart PFAC Update
The Duke Heart Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) launched a year ago this month and the members have been fully engaged with weighing in on several projects within Duke Heart (including the renovation project to the Cath/EP waiting room area) and a number of initiatives that are launching across DUHS. We thank Brian Wofford, Vice President of Heart Operations for Durham County, and Mary Lindsay, Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Duke Heart, who –along with Georgina Dukes, our former strategic services associate–worked to get the PFAC up and running. We’d also like to thank Sue Ann Glower (wife of CT surgeon Don Glower) for serving as volunteer co-chair of the Council.
Our PFAC is one of several that have been created over the past few years at Duke as an effort to improve patient and family experiences while getting care within Duke University Health System. The members are volunteering their time to meet regularly as a group and to give their honest opinions and guidance to the leadership of Duke Heart – we appreciate the time they are giving to us; their insights are very valuable.
If you know of any patient (current or former) or any family members of a patient (current or former) who might be interested in serving on this Council, please contact Brian Wofford at brian.wofford@duke.edu. We welcome any suggestions you might have!
Don’t miss…
Boyd Hudson, one of our Duke respiratory therapists, made an important discovery regarding his heart last month while visiting the Children’s Museum of Alamance County. Two news stories are included in our links – please see “news”.
Good Catches, 3100!
The providers and staff on 3100 continue to receive Good Catch awards – thank you so much for your diligence and commitment to keeping our patients as safe as possible, especially with our latest goal of Zero Harm. This past week, Maita Encarnacion, RN and Shayne Gravitt, RN each received shout-outs – Maita for catching that a medication had been sent in the wrong form, and Shayne for finding that an incorrect drug had been dispensed. Great job!
New Clinical Leads Announced for Cardiac Invasive Labs
We are pleased to announce that Anna Mall and Vanessa Guzman have been named clinical leads for our Cardiac Invasive Labs.
Anna Mall, RN, CCRN, will become the Clinical Lead RN for the Duke University Hospital Adult Cardiac Catheterization Lab effective March 4. Anna has functioned as a staff and charge nurse for the Adult Cardiac Cath lab since 2014. Prior to that time, she worked as a critical care nurse at Duke Regional Hospital for five years. During her time at Duke, Anna has held a variety of leadership roles including serving on the Duke Heart Center Clinical Practice Council, Cath Lab Staff Advisory Committee, and several unit champion roles. She currently leads the Cath Lab Nursing Research Committee, which has an American Heart Association-accepted abstract, Understanding the Patient Experience of Pain and Discomfort During Cardiac Cath that will be presented at the AHA Quality Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Session in April. Anna has served in several volunteer leadership roles with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses since 2013, including several officer positions within the Triangle Chapter. Recently, she served as the Chair of the Program Planning Committee for AACN’s National Teaching Institute. She is currently serving a three-year term as the chapter advisor for Region 10/Illinois.
Anna earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois and a diploma of Nursing from Watts School of Nursing in Durham. She will complete her Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of North Carolina in December 2019.
Vanessa Guzman, BSN, RN, RCIS will become the Clinical Lead RN for the Duke University Hospital Adult Electrophysiology (EP) Lab effective March 4. Vanessa joined the Duke Heart team in December, 2013 as a staff nurse in the EP Lab and became an EP charge nurse in May, 2016. Vanessa obtained her Registered Cardiac Electrophysiology Specialist certification in June, 2017. During her time at Duke, Vanessa has held a variety of leadership roles including serving on the Invasive Labs Clinical Practice Committee, EP Mentorship Committee, EP Staff Advisory Committee, and Invasive Labs Orientation Committee. Prior to her time at Duke, Vanessa worked as a telemetry staff nurse at Nazareth Hospital in PA for three years. Vanessa earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from La Salle University in 2010.
Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Anna and Vanessa to their new roles!
Highlights of the Duke Heart Week
4th Annual Duke Heart Center/DCRI Fellows Presentation Skills Course
We had 23 fellows (list below) for the 4th Annual Duke Heart Center/DCRI Fellows’ Presentation Skills Course here in Durham, and it was another outstanding success. Special thanks to Andrew Wang, Sunil Rao, and Tracy Wang for directing the course.
Speakers included Andrew Wang, Sunil Rao, Tracy Wang, Jimmy Tcheng, Penny Hodgson, Sreek Vemulapalli, Mike Felker and Jenn Rymer.
More info here, regarding the course.
The Fellows that attended are below including a Map of where they have come from over the last 4 years.
| Last Name | First Name | Fellowship Institution |
| Al Badarin | Firas | Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute/ University of Missouri-Kansas City |
| Bravo Jaimes | Katia Marisa | University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston |
| Cardoso | Rhanderson | Johns Hopkins University |
| Countouris | Malamo | University of Pittsburgh |
| Cruz Rodriguez | Benjamin | Texas Tech University Health Science Center – El Paso |
| Faridi | Kamil | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center |
| Golbus | Jessica | University of Michigan |
| Greene | Stephen | Duke University |
| Gulati | Gaurav | Tufts Medical Center |
| John | Leah | Medical University of South Carolina |
| Kurtz | Joshua | Medical University of South Carolina |
| Lau | Emily | Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Lima | Bruno | Emory University |
| Lowenstern | Angela | Duke University |
| Lyle | Melissa | Mayo Clinic (Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education) |
| Madan | Nidhi | Rush University Medical Center |
| Morrison | Justin | University of Colorado |
| Omer | Mohamed | UMKC |
| Reddy | Siddharth | Allegheny Health Network |
| Steiner | Jill | University of Washington |
| Strobel | Aaron | University of Colorado |
| Tantrachoti | Pakpoom | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center-Lubbock |
| Zhuo | David | University of Virginia Health System |
New Mandel Award for CVRC Researchers
The Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC) is launching a new Mandel award for CVRC researchers forming collaborations with the Cardiology Clinical Research Unit to support translational research into the causes and treatment of hypertension, atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular diseases. The Mandel Translational Research Award will provide funding of $60,000 (plus indirect costs at 15 percent) for a one-year period. If you would like additional details about this opportunity or have questions please contact Maria Price Rapoza via email. Applications are due April 17, 2019 and should be emailed as a PDF to maria.rapoza@duke.edu. Mandel Award funding is made possible due to the generous support of the Edna and Fred L. Mandel Jr. Foundation.
Love Your Heart Lecture with Matthew Brennan
Matthew Brennan presented our 2019 Love Your Heart Lecture at the Durham Center for Senior Life on February 12. He was highly engaging and well received by the attendees. He made his presentation between cases in the Cath Lab and we thank him for doing so! We appreciate when our clinical providers and other staff members take time to spread important heart health messages throughout Durham. Events such as this one held throughout the Triangle represent important opportunities to show our commitment to the towns in which we all live and work. Great job, Matt!
Duke Heart Grows By One!
Congratulations to Ryan Plichta (CT Surgery) and his wife, Jennifer Plichta (surgical oncology) on the birth of their daughter, Kathleen Rose, on February 12. Mom, dad and baby are doing well and we could not be more happy for them. What a great way to celebrate heart month!
Save the Date: ACC Duke Reception (March 16)
ACC.19 is just a month away and we know everyone is busy preparing for presentations, meetings, and collaborations — but don’t forget to add the Duke ACC Reception to your calendar if you’re headed to New Orleans! RSVP, please: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=zzog9o7ab&oeidk=a07eg3bfqyh236e1021
When
Saturday, March 16, 2019 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM CDT
Where
Omni Riverfront Hotel’s Rex Ballroom
701 Convention Center Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70130
Go Red for Women 2019 Circulation Issue Co-Lead by Duke Cardiologist – Sana Al-Khatib
As Senior Associate Editors for Circulation, Sana Al-Khatib and Biykem Bozkurt (Medical Care Line Executive, DeBakey VA Medical Center and Vice-Chair of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine) co-led the 2019 Go Red for Women issue. The issue that will be published on February 19, 2019 covers a wide spectrum of topics related to cardiovascular disease in women ranging from prevention and risk stratification to myocardial infarction, pregnancy, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. There is a variety of article types including 6 original research papers, 2 state-of-the art papers, 2 in-depth reviews, 3 frame of reference papers, and 1 research letter. By highlighting some of the best research on cardiovascular disease in women, the Circulation editorial team is hoping that this issue will ignite more interest in and greater commitment to conducting transformative research in this field. They would love to get your feedback on the issue and encourage you to consider submitting papers for the 2020 Go Red for Women issue. “We are very pleased with the quality of papers published in this 3rd issue of the Go Red for Women and hope readers will enjoy them as much as we have”, Sana commented.
Chief’s Message: Changing the Map
This month we consider during Heart Month about how are we doing for people with cardiovascular disease in the US and worldwide. We are reminded that we have a lot more work to do.
We can see by looking at the US county map for CV mortality (hat there continues to be a disproportionate mortality among the rural southeast United States. This is something that we are aware of but unfortunately in the past have not had the ability to touch all the social determinants of our communities health. It is therefore, something that as heart providers and health systems that we will almost certainly have to increase our focus on as we move forward. In an effort to address some of these, Duke Heart is starting a relationship in our region with the American Heart Association to address some of these CV risk factors in our region – 7 counties for Life’s Simple 7. We will share more as we partner with community leaders to build the set of community interventions to help address the social, cultural, and personal factors to build a heart health lifestyle. We look forward to partnering with you all and our community to change the map for CV disease in the southeast.
Please also note we have added a new feature “Image of the Week” to our newsletter.
Highlights of Duke Heart Week
Highlights of the week:
Shout-out for Schocken
A very special shout-out to Doug Schocken for his outstanding patient care. We received a letter from one of his patients who stated they ha
d only written one other such letter of gratitude to a physician and it occurred 25 years ago. This particular patient commented on Schocken’s ability to provide perspective on their condition; their gratitude for his insight and understanding, and his guidance – the letter ended with “please accept my heartfelt thank you for the difference you have made in my life.”
Excellent job! Also, a truly fitting reminder that care providers who look beyond the numbers and the condition to see their patient in full – as a fellow human – often make the greatest impact on that person’s well-being.
Demuro to Serve as Nurse Manager DUH CDU, CMRI and EKG, Effective March 1
Duke Heart is pleased to announce that Terri Demuro, BSN, RN, CCRN will become Nurse Manager for Duke University Hospital’s Cardiac Diagnostic Unit, Cardiac MRI, and EKG effective Friday, March 1. Terri has served as Clinical Lead for the DUH Cardiovascular Short Stay Unit (CVSSU) since 2013. Terri joined the Duke Heart team in 2002 as a staff nurse in the Adult EP Lab. Prior to that time, she worked as a critical care nurse at JFK Medical Center in NJ for 17 years. During her time at Duke, Terri has held a variety of leadership roles including nurse manager of the Adult Cath Lab and the CVSSU. She currently serves on the Duke Health System Oversight Committee for Duke’s Safe Patient Handling and Mobility program, Move Often, Very Early, and Safely (MOVES) and Falls, and the Heart Center Clinical Practice Council. She is the chair of Duke’s Invasive Labs orientation committee, and is involved in community outreach in various settings.
Terri earned her BSN from the University of Mount Olive in 2017 and her Associate of Science in Nursing from Middlesex College in 1985.
Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Terri to her new role.
ICYMI
The latest issue of Clinical Practice Today: Cardiovascular Update has been published. If you would like a copy of the print version, let Tracey Koepke, Duke Heart’s director of communications know. You can see the online version here: https://bit.ly/2TELRJj
Heart Month Events
Feb. 14: Duke Heart at Cameron Indoor: It Takes a Team to Care for Your Heart
Joining Duke Heart at the Duke vs. VA Tech women’s basketball game. 7 p.m., Cameron Indoor Stadium, 115 Whitford Drive. We will offer free heart health risk-factor screenings, stroke education and wellness tips. Compression-only CPR education will also be available.
Volunteers are still needed. We need just a few more staff members to assist with our heart and stroke health risk-factor screenings from 6:00 p.m. until the end of the game. If you can help, let Leatrice Martin Short know by 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 11. Credentials are needed to get into Cameron for this event! Leatrice can be reached at 919-477-7611.
Feb. 23: Duke Heart Day at The Sutherland
Our special community outreach event for National Heart Month will be on February 23 at The Sutherland in Wake Forest, NC from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
For more information on any of our Heart Month events, please contact Leatrice Martin Short at 919-477-7611.
Chief’s Message: February Heart Month
Heart Month Kicks-off with Wear Red Day & Little Hats, Big Hearts
February represents the Heart Month to raise awareness for heart disease. 
Every month is heart month given the burden of disease, but we hope to increase engagement and awareness among all or our patients and friends. Duke Heart celebrations for heart month are in full swing! On Friday, 
Duke Heart hosted a booth outside of the Duke Atrium Café to celebrate National Wear Red Day for Women. The team provided red awareness ribbons, heart health information and the opportunity to register for door prizes. Our grand prize was four tickets to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte and our winner was Sherry Perry. Congratulations, Sherry!
Included here is our DUH booth, the team at our new Heritage Clinic location (including our Clinician Maitreya Thakkar. Also our Medical Center Library & Archives staff also supported the efforts. Thanks to all Wear Red participants!
Meanwhile, Durham Police Department again helped support Duke Heart and our congenital heart program through the American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts initiative. Approximately 480 crocheted and knit red hats were delivered to the birthing unit at Duke 
University Hospital and to Duke Regional Hospital. The hats were knit by officers and staff in the DPD. Little Hats, Big Hearts is an effort to help spread heart disease awareness to new moms as well as provide information related to congenital heart defects, the most common birth defect world-wide. All babies born at DUH and Duke Regional during the month of February will receive a hat. Check out news coverage from Friday morning, below (see news). Also see the NY Times story on Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissections in women by our fellow Haider Warraich in the News section.
Highlights Duke Heart Week
GWTG-AFIB 1st Results Published
Congrats to Jonathan Piccini and the Get With the Guidelines – AFIB Clinical Working Group and Hospitals team on their newly published study results in Circulation, just in time for National Heart Month! Their findings were published online on Thursday, Jan. 31, ahead-of-print. Oral anticoagulation patients with atrial fibrillation and CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2 improved dramatically (>95%) in GWTG-AFIB. https://bit.ly/2t0DOuB. Great work!
DeVore Receives PCORI Grant
Adam DeVore has received funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to integrate Patient-reported Outcome Measures into our heart failure clinics. This grant will allow us to capture KCCQ-12 and other data through MyChart and tablets available in the waiting room prior to clinic visits at Duke South. These data will be available in Epic for clinic visits and then integrated into the PCORI Common Data Model for other initiatives. The grant is a collaboration with investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Congrats Adam!
Research Seminar Series Features Dennis Abraham
Dennis Abraham was the invited presenter for the January 25 session of the Department of Medicine’s Research Seminar Series. Abraham spoke about his work with the two-pore potassium channel TREK-1 and examining its role in cardiac function and how it ties to heart failure. He is one of many physician-scientists at Duke who are welcoming trainees and fellows with an interest in basic science to explore opportunities to work in his lab. He is also interested in forming and expanding collaborations with other clinicians and scientists whose work may dovetail with his research as well as his clinical care of heart failure patients. Abraham was recently featured on the Department of Medicine’s Voices of Medicine podcast – it offers great insight into the work he is doing. You can listen here: https://warpwire.duke.edu/w/qvQBAA/. Really cool work, Dennis!
Thomas Scholarship Will Be Awarded to HS Students Interested in Medicine
Following up on a story we first mentioned in December, the newly created Kevin L. Thomas, MD Scholarship will benefit participants in the Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program (H-PREP). H-PREP, which has programs at medical schools nationwide, introduces high school students from underrepresented populations to careers in the health sciences. To read more about the scholarship and how it will be distributed, please see: https://bit.ly/2GhxNBE
Lavine at Duke for Grand Rounds
Kory Lavine of Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis presented on Precision Medicine Approaches to Heart Failure at our grand rounds this week. Thanks to all who joined us!
Shout-out to Fellows, Faculty
Way to represent! Several of our Duke Heart fellows and faculty members attended a special gathering (the “Pro-state Bowl”) this past week. While 
there, they helped to honor and support Tony Galanos, who was celebrating a birthday. Talented at work and on the field, but particularly good at showing our Duke colleagues how much we care. That’s the way it should be! Thanks to Don Hegland for the head’s up.
CVRC Labs to Host Students from Women and Math Mentoring Program
The Cardiovascular Research Center is working with Durham’s Women and Math Mentoring Program this year and will be a tour location for 8th grade girls interested in STEM careers. Special thanks to Dennis Abraham, Neil Freedman and Andrew Landstrom and their lab teams for agreeing to host field trip participants. We know the students will not only learn a great deal, but will also find it enjoyable to meet and interact with the members of these labs! The tour will take place sometime in March or April, and we will follow up with coverage here in Pulse. To learn more about the Women and Math Mentoring Program, please visit: womenandmathmentoring.org
Another Good Catch for 7100!
Leah Shannon, RN, another of our eagle-eyed and amazing team nurses on 7100, was awarded this week with a Good Catch Award for discovering that appropriate lab tests had not been ordered on a patient. Way to go, Leah! Thank you for living the Duke Values and helping us drive towards our goal of “Zero Harm.”
Duke Heart OnTheGo Ramps Up
DukeHeart OnTheGo will launch an email blast this week and, as a Pulse subscriber, you will receive this email. Duke Heart OnTheGo is a CME mobile learning application allowing you to learn anywhere, anytime. Manesh Patel, Andrew Wang and Jon Piccini are on the editorial board. There is no fee to subscribe or utilize the CME modules. To learn more, please see: https://dukeheartonthego.com. If you have questions about the app, please contact Christy Darnell via christy.darnell@duke.edu.
ICYMI
Didn’t make it to Keystone with Geoff Ginsburg for Digital Health: From Science to Application held January 21-25? Check out the video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDpvNIy6FY&feature=youtu.be
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