Highlights of the week:

Shah & Douglas Receive $5 Million NIH Grant Award

Congratulations to Svati Shah and Pamela Douglas! They received notification this week that the National Institutes of Health has awarded them a grant of $5 million to study the clinical and molecular epidemiology of vulnerable plaque. The grant will use integrated -omics to identify novel pathways and circulating biomarkers that are associated with vulnerable plaque characteristics and incident cardiovascular events using biospecimens from the PROMISE, ROMICAT, Framingham Heart Study and Jackson Heart Study.

Way to go!

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

CVRC to Hold Open House

The Duke Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC) will hold an open house on Friday, September 13 from 5-6:30 p.m. to celebrate their newly renovated space in the Carl Building. Everyone from Duke Heart is welcome to attend. There will be opening remarks from leadership; refreshments, and a tour of the space. We look forward to seeing you there and to celebrating with our CVRC team! So that we may have an accurate head count, please let Cheryl Woodard know by Sept. 9^th if you plan to attend. Her email is cheryl.woodard@duke.edu.

Duke Heart-sponsored CME

Registration is now open for the following Duke Heart-sponsored CME activities:

• September 7^th: 9^th Annual Duke EP Summit, J.B. Duke Hotel
• September 21^st: 2^nd Annual Duke Heart Symposium for APPs, J.B. Duke Hotel
• November 1: 11^th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium, Durham Convention Center.

The following CME activities will take place in 2020, but formal registration is not yet open:

• April 18^th: 7^thAnnual Duke Sports Cardiology & Sudden Death in Athletes Symposium, Trent Semans Center
• May 2^nd: 20^thAnnual Andrew G. Wallace Symposium — Preventive Cardiology: My How Times Have Changed, Washington Duke Inn
• June 4^th – 5^th: Duke/Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium, Trent Semans Center

 

Flu Vaccination Blitz to Begin Sept. 19

Duke will kick off our annual flu vaccination campaign with a 24-hour Duke Health Mass Flu Vaccination Blitz on Thursday, September 19. Mass vaccination clinics will be available at each of the hospitals, with peer vaccination available throughout DUHS and the PDC.

 

Following the drill, the annual flu vaccination program will continue providing many additional opportunities to receive the vaccine. A schedule of vaccination clinics will be posted on the employee intranet in early September. This list will be updated throughout the vaccination season. Vaccination is also available at Employee Occupational Health and Wellness (EOHW) offices during business hours.

 

ICYMI: NC Medicaid Open Enrollment

North Carolina is changing the way it offers health insurance coverage for most people eligible for Medicaid. Eligible patients have until September 13, 2019 to choose a health plan offered by one of four managed care companies in our area. These companies are AmeriHealth Caritas, Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthyBlue, UnitedHealthcare, and WellCare. Each plan offers the same basic benefits and services. Duke Health and other health systems are currently finalizing contracts with these four companies and intends to participate in one or more of these managed care health plans.

 

Have news to share?

If you have news to share with the Pulse readership, please contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart 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 Duke Heart family. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged.

 

Duke Heart in the News:

August 1 — Anthony Viera (Family Medicine & Community Health)

Consumer Reports/Yahoo News

What to Know About Prediabetes, Prehypertension, and Other Prediseases

https://news.yahoo.com/know-prediabetes-prehypertension-other-prediseases-000815847.html

 

July 29 — Sreekanth Vemulapalli

tctMD/the heart beat

RAS Inhibition After TAVR Gains More Support, but RCT Still Needed

https://www.tctmd.com/news/ras-inhibition-after-tavr-gains-more-support-rct-still-needed