J.J. Bax Visits Duke Heart as Inaugural Pamela S. Douglas, MD Duke CV Imaging Visiting Scholar

Jeroen J. Bax of Leiden University in the Netherlands presented our Cardiology Grand Rounds last week. Bax is the immediate past president of the ESC and highly regarded as leading clinical cardiologist in Europe.  Bax joined us as the inaugural Pamela S. Douglas, MD Duke CV Imaging Visiting Scholar.

The visit highlighted the importance of putting imaging, clinical research and clinical care all in one path and practice.  The DCRI noon lecture and the Grand Rounds were amazing were amazing examples of how imaging and clinical research can be done.  They served as a great example to honor the work that Dr. Douglas has done throughout her career.

Piccini to Lead Electrophysiology Section

We are excited to announce that Jonathan Piccini, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine with Tenure will assume the role of Director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Section in Duke’s Division of Cardiology. Jon graduated from the Northwestern University Medical School, completed his internal medicine training at Johns Hopkins, and completed his cardiology and electrophysiology fellowships here at Duke.

Since joining the faculty in 2011, Jon has been dedicated to patient care, education, and research. He has many accomplishments during his time here at Duke, but most remarkable has been his ability to establish and grow both clinical and research programs. He has spearheaded the lead management program, now one of the world’s largest programs, through team-based collaboration with the cardiothoracic surgery and radiology programs to achieve a remarkable safety record. He has also established new programs at Duke, including the Arrhythmia Core Lab at the DCRI and expanded others including the Duke Center for Atrial Fibrillation. He has also been a champion for collaboration including working with Duke Anesthesia and the heart failure section to develop the Neurocardiology Service. Jon is a recognized leader in the field of electrophysiology, serving as the chair and PI for several national and international clinical studies testing new treatments for heart rhythm disorders. Most importantly he has mentored and guided several EP fellows into successful academic medicine careers.

We are very excited to see Jon lead our electrophysiology group. Jon expressed that he is “honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve the Duke EP community in its mission to discover and deliver outstanding and innovative care to those with heart rhythm disorders. I am excited and thankful to work with our EP group to continue and build on the great legacy of Duke EP.”

Daubert Named Senior Vice Chief, Division of Cardiology

We are excited to announce that Jim Daubert, MD, has agreed to take on the role of Senior Vice Chief for the Division of Cardiology in the Duke Department of Medicine. In this role, he will serve as a key leader in the redesign of our heart service line as we look to deliver high quality care and value to patients across the region, Duke University Health System and Duke Heart Network. 

Jim was a Duke Chief Resident, Cardiology and Electrophysiology (EP) fellow. Following fellowship, he started the EP program at the University of Rochester Medical Center in 1992, where he helped lead the influential MADIT trials, before returning to Duke in 2009 to head up the EP section. Over the last 10 years, Jim has led the significant growth in the EP section, recruited many of our current EP faculty, and overseen our expansion of clinical and research programs.  Jim has done all of this while remaining a leader in the field of electrophysiology receiving the JACC Simon Dack Award for Outstanding Scholarship; Serving as Associate Editor, JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology since 2014; serving as a Member of the Governance Committee of the Heart Rhythm Society; and Chair of the Program Directors Subcommittee of the Fellowship Committee of Heart Rhythm Society. Perhaps most importantly, Jim has been a thoughtful leader who has helped our Division grow the next generation of EP leaders while ensuring quality arrhythmia care. He will join the ABIM CCEP Exam Committee in 2020.

We look forward to having Jim be a part of Heart Leadership.

Mentz to Lead Heart Failure Section

We are delighted to announce that Robert J. Mentz, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Population Health will assume the role of Director of the Heart Failure Section. Rob graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine, completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and completed his cardiology and heart failure fellowships here at the Duke Heart Center. He has numerous accomplishments as a clinician and as a cardiovascular investigator. He currently serves as an Associate Editor at Circulation: Heart Failure and has been named a rising star by the American College of Cardiology. We are excited about his willingness to serve as Director. His tremendous work in the heart failure community and as a clinical trialist has significantly advanced the care and outcomes of patients with heart failure. From an early stage, Rob has demonstrated skills and success as a mentor that have shown his passion and ability as a leader. Rob has demonstrated these talents in his service to the Division as the Director of the Duke University Cooperative Cardiovascular Society (DUCCS), which he revitalized with new energy. He has also shown his ability to successfully mentor in the Duke Heart Center, the DCRI, and the Department of Population Health – in addition to his role as an Associate Program Director for the Cardiology Fellowship Program. We look forward to having Rob work with the leadership team to execute the vision for the future of our heart failure section and its role in leading the country in patient care, medical education, and clinical investigation.

Please join us in recognizing and thanking G. Michael Felker, MD, MHS, Professor of Medicine, who has served in this role since 2013. While serving as the Heart Failure section Chief, Mike was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in 2014, led and coordinated several multi-center trials, and was awarded the Robert M. Califf Award for Excellence in Mentoring in 2017. He currently serves as the principal investigator for the NIH funded Heart Failure Network and the Center Director for the Duke AHA Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) grant studying the overlap of HF and Diabetes. He has also been an Associate Editor for JACC-HF since 2012 and is the co-editor of Heart Failure, the leading heart failure textbook.

As Section Chief, under Mike’s leadership the section has grown from 8 to 19 faculty and we have experienced a dramatic growth in both Heart Transplant and VAD care. He also led the redesign of the HF inpatient services (Tx, VAD, HFS) in the setting of this ongoing clinical growth. Additionally, he helped start the Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant Cardiology ACGME Fellowship. Mike has identified and supported several junior and mid-career faculty, and has mentored over 23 past and current fellows.  Over 60 percent of these fellows have attained academic appointments. Additionally, more than 50 percent of the HF section faculty have NIH funding. Mike is currently also serving as the DCRI Transformation Strategic Planning leader and on the DCRI Executive Director Search Committee. He has done all this with humility, humor, and truly a servant mindset. We thank Mike for his incredible leadership of the HF Section and look forward to his continued leadership in the Division.

 

DUHS CAREhub Initiative

Over the past few months, Duke University Health System has begun an effort to figure out how we can better use our beds across all three hospitals. Termed CAREhub, this effort has four main groups (see image). Several members of the Duke Heart team have been involved in this work, as have team members from other service lines. We’ll provide updates as their work continues. The overall goal is to help all service lines achieve their goals while making their day-to-day processes easier to manage (i.e. reduction in transfer delays, fewer bed holds, etc.).

Shout-out to Spates, Yankey

Anna Lisa Crowley shared the following this week, from Kim Nolte, a PA in Duke Gynecologic Oncology: “I wanted to let you know about the fantastic job your fellows did today. I had a patient coming to the cancer center for a problem visit, who fell when she was walking in. Dr. George Yankey and Dr. Toi Spates stopped and helped my patient. They assessed her acutely and then helped her to check in at the cancer center. She was so appreciative of how kind they were to her and what a great job they did taking care of her. After they ensured the patient was taken care of they came and found me in clinic to let me know what happened. They both really went above and beyond to ensure the patient was taken care of and that appropriate hand-off had been given.”

Sipa and Toi, you’re superstars! Way to represent Duke Heart!!

2019 Year in Review: Last Call for Accomplishments

Final call for your 2019 accomplishments! We are looking for important discoveries, grants, papers of note, clinical programs, or innovations that we can highlight for the School of Medicine and the Health System.

Please send your list via email to Tracey Koepke and Manesh Patel by tomorrow, Jan. 27, so that we can work to catalog your accomplishments from the past year. Many thanks to those of you who have shared your work with us so far!

Duke Health ‘Live’: The Power of You

This week!!! Join Dr. Eugene Washington, Chancellor, and your Duke Health colleagues for the chancellor’s annual address.

Tuesday, January 28

4 -5 p.m.

Great Hall, Trent Semans Center

Reception to follow

 

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

GME Special Visiting Professor, Carol Bernstein

The Office of Graduate Medical Education has invited Carol Bernstein, MD, Vice Chair for Faculty and Well-Being at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein School of Medicine, to visit Duke this week. She is a psychiatrist, co-chaired the ACGME’s Task Force on Physician Well-Being and is the recipient of many teaching and professional awards.  She is a national expert on the topics of burnout, depression, and physician suicide.

The plenary session on Monday afternoon, Stress, Burnout & Depression Among Physicians: Challenges & Opportunities, will be live-streamed and recorded. (Click here to access.) This is a good opportunity to learn from a national authority on a truly important and relevant topic.

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

This week we welcome Erin Michos, director of Women’s Cardiovascular Health at Johns Hopkins, for Sex and Gender and their Impact on the Cardiovascular Health of Women. Please join us on Tuesday, Jan. 28. 7:15 a.m., DN 2003.

Upcoming Grand Rounds:

• February 4: Fellow presentation by Titus Ngeno. Topic: central line-associated bloodstream infections
• February 11: Cary Ward
• February 18: Chris Longenecker, Case Western
• March 24: Carolyn Lam, Duke-NUS
• April 14: Ryan Tedford, MUSC
• May 12: Michelle Kittleson, Cedars Sinai

 

National Heart Month

February is national Heart Month. Key dates to make note of are:

• 7 – Wear Red Day. If you’re on social media and interested in posting, please tag our local AHA affiliate by using #goredtriangle.
• 7-14: Congenital Heart Defect Week
• 28: Triangle Heart Ball, Raleigh Convention Center

 

Save the Date: ACC 2020 Reception, Chicago!

The annual Duke ACC Reception will be held March 28 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in the Grant Park Room at the Hyatt Regency, Chicago.

 

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:

January 17 — E. Magnus Ohman

Medscape

‘Uber of Interventional Cardiology’ Pushes Stents Over Surgery

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/923926?src=rss

January 22 — Yuichiro Yano (Family Medicine & Community Health)

Health Day

‘Yo-Yo’ Blood Pressure Numbers in Youth a Bad Sign for Health Later

http://bit.ly/2TVtq6a