Chief’s message:

How do we keep up with it all?

Every week I am asked how do you/we keep track of all the things that the Cardiology Division, Duke Heart is doing.  In fact, this is often after someone has highlighted either something that we missed or something that we were able to capture and highlight for our faculty and friends of Duke Heart.  This weekend for instance – we had the following events:

• The Duke Cardio-Oncology Symposium with Oncology leaders like Susan Dent partnering with Chiara Melloni, Michel Khouri, Igor Klem and others to present the evolving science and care to 151 registrants
• Visit from Richard Schatz, a duke medical student and mentee of Joe Kisslo, who gave a great talk Friday night to faculty and fellows on his toughest cases including lessons learned. Amazing cases, saves, and technology in one of our Pioneers in interventional Medicine
• CRT Meeting in Washington DC with many of our Faculty and Fellows attending – including a Shock Symposium on Saturday with Sunil Rao, Mitch Kruckoff, Marc Samskey, Jason Katz, Jacob Schroder and other in attendance.
• American College of Cardiology SAP and MOC question writing in DC with Cary Ward and Maitreya Thakkar attending
• CTO2020 meeting in NYC with Izzy Othman and others in attendance
• Duke playing Virginia Tech at Home with lots of enthusiasm and interest after our last game against NC State.

Of course this list is not complete and doesn’t capture all the faculty and fellows who were on-call and taking care of the sick patients that we all strive to help.  I got so see several of them in action on STEMI call this weekend and would say again – we are blessed by the faculty, fellows, and staff that we have the opportunity to work with.

Nevertheless, its humbling to see the amazing interactions, impact and passion that turns into action from Duke Heart.  Each week Tracey Kopke diligently helps me try to wrangle all the stories and news and we hope that this brief update and set of highlights provides all with a bit of community to share and celebrate our collective work.

Highlights of the week:

U.S. News/Best Hospitals Voting is Open

Voting is now open in Doximity for U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals”. Please visit your Doximity account and enter your vote. Thank you!

Sketch to Receive Humanism in Medicine Award

We are pleased to announce that Michael Sketch has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. This award is sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and has been supported by Leonard Tow since 2003. Winners of this award demonstrate compassion in the delivery of care, respect for patients, their families, and healthcare colleagues, as well as clinical excellence. The committee found this year’s nominees exceptionally impressive, making it extremely difficult to select just one recipient for this award, so the committee decided to award the prize this year to two recipients (Sketch and Adeyemi Olufolabi of Duke Anesthesiology).

The award will be presented by Dean Mary Klotman at the annual Spring Faculty Celebration, which will be held at the Doris Duke Center, Duke Gardens on May 5.

We can think of no better choice for this award. Congratulations, Mike! You are a gifted clinician and a wonderful colleague.

 

Wrapping Up Heart Month

This is the last week of February… Thanks again to all of you who have helped celebrate Heart Month throughout Duke! Every single member of the Duke Heart team is a contributor to our success – from those who schedule appointments to those checking patients in; from those who transport them, to those providing imaging tests and direct care; from those who keep calendars for our busy MDs, to those who collect and interpret data for the many registries in which we participate; from those who schedule OR time to those who are managing our spaces and teams within the clinics and hospitals; from those who help support us with grants and contracts to those who mentor trainees…

We could go on, but you get the picture: we’re a huge squad doing some pretty amazing work. Maybe take a minute to recognize one another for the good stuff. You could make someone’s day!

Many thanks to our team in Lumberton for sharing some of their heart month photos with us! Chris Walters was the guest speaker at a community event held on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Biggs Park Mall. He presented “Heart Disease: Fact or Fiction” and participated in a community mall walking event called “Walk with a Doc”. The event was offered as part of a health fair sponsored by Southeastern Health. Walters is a Duke cardiologist providing non-Invasive cardiology services at Southeastern Health hospital’s Heart & Vascular clinic.

And finally, a shout-out to Jill Engel and Manesh Patel for sporting their red footwear during February!

 

CTICU Earns AACN Beacon Award, Gold Level

The Duke Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) at Duke University Hospital has earned a gold-level Beacon Award of Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).

The Beacon Award for Excellence — a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments — recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve this three-year, three-level award with gold, silver or bronze designations meet national criteria consistent with Magnet® Recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.

The AACN will honor the Duke CTICU and other Beacon Award for Excellence recipients with announcements in AACN Bold Voices, their monthly magazine, and will honor awardees at the 2020 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI), the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. The NTI will be held May 4-7 in Indianapolis.

This is an outstanding achievement by the Duke CTICU. They earned the gold-level as first time applicants! There are more than 150 RNs on this unit, plus pharmacists, intensivists, surgeons, respiratory therapists, perfusionists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists and other staff members who comprise the CTICU team at Duke. This is a great example of Duke Heart teamwork in action.

The Duke CTICU is currently the only Beacon Award recipient unit at Duke. They are one of nine gold level ranked units, and one of only two ICU units, in North Carolina. To see a list of Beacon units, please visit: http://bit.ly/32kM4Xk.

Wonderful job, CTICU team. You make us proud!

.

Shah Elected to AAP

Congratulations to Svati Shah for her recent election to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). The AAP was established in 1885 as an elected society of America’s leading physician-scientists who exemplify the pinnacle of pioneering and enduring, impactful contributions to improve health. It was established by seven physicians, including Dr. William Osler and Dr. William Henry Welch, for “the advancement of scientific and practical medicine.” The competitively selected membership currently includes more than 1700 active members and approximately 600 emeritus and honorary members from across the world. The current AAP president is none other than Duke’s Mary Klotman.

This is great news and well deserved, Svati!

 

 

Shout-Out to Southpoint Sonography/CDU team

Thanks to a note from Andrew Wang to Sreekanth Vemulapalli, we learned about the great teamwork shown by our sonographers and CDU team – this time at the Southpoint clinic.

“Just want to give some positive feedback for the sonographers and CDU staff at Southpoint clinic. In the last two days, there have been three cases where I’ve been very impressed with the quality and access of echo studies:

• Patient who came for TTE to r/o structural heart issue and the images were so thorough and high quality, including visualization of the coronary ostia origins as requested. Had exercise treadmill test too. Jamie also called me about the results in real time. Family member commented on how attentive staff was.
• Patient for whom we made a late request for stress echo which was performed with very helpful info
• Late request for echo (during snow fall, no less!) to evaluate AS severity b/c of patient travel distance; echo was done

“Please extend my appreciation to the staff.  Also, as we think about CDU services at other clinics in the near future, hopefully this level of clinical care can be duplicated in those new settings.”

A big shout out to the full sonography and CDU team at Southpoint clinic! Shown here are a few of the team members: (L-R) Noelle Abbott, Amanda Morley, Stephen Shipman, Brenda Sedberry, Carter Davis, Jayne Cleve. Way to go, everyone!

Thakkar, Ward Serving on ACC SAP MOC Committee

Maitreya Thakkar was recently invited to become a performance question writer for the American College of Cardiology Self-Assessment Program Maintenance of Certification (SAP MOC) exams. The performance question writer committee is at the Heart House in Washington this weekend. Thakkar says it was a pleasant surprise when he met Cary Ward at the airport on his way to DC. Ward has been on the SAP MOC committee as a question writer and is it the same sub-group as Thakkar this weekend. “It has been a great experience being on the other side writing, reviewing and editing the questions,” Thakkar wrote to us. “Appreciate the support and encouragement from Cary. Proud to be a part of such a wonderful group of people at Duke!”

 

 

Duke CTSI Expansion

Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) celebrated their expansion with a ribbon cutting and celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 19 on the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, NC. Duke doubled its presence on the campus to 10,100 square feet, all of it home to the Translational Population Health Research Center, or “TransPop.”

Read more about it here. Congratulations to Kristin Newby, Ebony Boulware and team. Great job!

 

Heart Transplant Team Celebration

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the Duke Heart Transplant team in 2019 performed the highest number of heart transplants in the history of the program. As a combined adult, pediatric and multi-visceral program, the team performed over 90 heart transplant procedures.

The outcomes of these procedures have, to date, been excellent. They continue to expand their experience with transplantation in patients with congenital heart disease and use of the Transmedics Organ Care System. The team also became the first program in the U.S. to perform a Donation after Circulatory Death heart transplant and have completed five such procedures.

These are significant accomplishments due in no small part to incredible teamwork and a foundation of surgical and medical excellence built over many decades at Duke. In celebration of their banner year, the team held a celebration Thursday, Feb. 13 at Cucciolo Osteria in Durham. Incredible work, team!

 

ACC Scientific Sessions

Are you presenting at the ACC 2020 Scientific Sessions in Chicago? Please drop a note to Tracey Koepke, director of communications so that she can track your work. If you are on a late-breaker and you think there may be some press coverage, give her a head’s up. Thanks!

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

Cardiology Grand Rounds

This week we’ll be having a faculty meeting. Please join us on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7:15 a.m., DN 2003.

Upcoming Grand Rounds:

• March 3: Anthony Carnicelli, Clinical Reasoning Conference
• March 10: Heart Center Grand Rounds
• March 17: Faculty Meeting at 5 p.m.
• March 24: Carolyn Lam, Duke-NUS
• April 14: Ryan Tedford, MUSC
• May 12: Michelle Kittleson, Cedars Sinai

 

Update: ACC DCRI/Duke Heart Annual Reception

We are looking forward to seeing the Duke team at the upcoming ACC Scientific Sessions in Chicago! The location of the DCRI/Duke Heart annual reception has changed. It will be held in the Regency A Ballroom. Please make sure you update your calendar! Also, gentle reminder, this is a Duke-only event.

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:

 

February 14 — Renato Lopes

Medscape

GI Bleeding on Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fib Foremost a Colon Cancer Red Flag

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/925291?src=rss

 

February 15 — Monique Starks

ThePilot.com (Southern Pines, NC)

Column: Do You Have the Heart for Life Quality Over Quantity?

http://bit.ly/2V2D6MI

 

February 17 — Andrea Coviello (Endocrinology)

WRAL Tech Wire

Personalized digital wellness helping people prevent, manage chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease

http://bit.ly/2wsZu7v

 

February 19 — Brett Atwater

Medscape

Declining Physical Activity May Herald HF Hospitalization, Death

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/925441?src=rss

 

February 20 — Manesh Patel

MDmag.com/HCP Live

Manesh Patel, MD: Lessons Learned from the Beaumont Conference

https://www.mdmag.com/conference-coverage/beaumont-2020/manesh-patel-md-lessons-learned-from-the-beaumont-conference

 

February 20 — L. Kristin Newby and Ebony Boulware

Salisbury Post

Duke University doubles office space at NC Research Campus in Kannapolis

Duke University doubles office space at NC Research Campus in Kannapolis

Highlights of the week:

Heart PFAC Recruiting, Promoting Heart Month

Volunteers from the Duke Heart Patient & Family Advisory Council joined us outside of Duke University Hospital’s Atrium Café this week. They hosted an information booth to promote the work of our PFAC and encourage patients and family members to consider joining. They also worked to provide information around heart disease and the importance of regular blood pressure screenings. Many thanks to Kathryn Daily, Tommy Humphries and Jim Taylor, our PFAC volunteers, and to Tracey Koepke, director of communications, for coordinating the space and materials.

Cardiovascular Academic Accelerator Fellows Course

We had the 5th year of our Fanatastic faculty – Andrew Wang, Tracy Wang, Sunil Rao, Adam DeVore, Mike Felker, Sreek Vemulapalli, Penny Hodgson, and others helping our next generation learn how to present, write, and evaluate academic studies.  Great to see the interaction and enthusiasm.

Ward Presentation at Grand Rounds

Cary Ward led an interactive Cardiology Grand Rounds on the important topic of clinician burnout. She did an excellent job summarizing the issue and leading a discussion on possible solutions. One easy takeaway, stop work and have lunch with a Heart Center colleague!

 

Every Heartbeat Matters Award

Carmelo Milano and the Duke Heart for Honduras team has been awarded the Thoracic Surgery Foundation Every Heartbeat Matters Award for their outreach work in Honduras. The team will receive $30,000 in grant funding which is made possible through the support of the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation.

The Duke Heart for Honduras team made a trip in July 2019 to the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to perform heart surgeries at Instituto National Cardiopulmonar. Another trip is being planned for later this year. The TSF grant award will provide critical funding toward offsetting costs of the next trip.

In the award notification, the TSF noted that, “Members of the Charitable Outreach Initiatives Committee and the TSF Board are very excited about your surgical outreach project, and we know that your contributions to our specialty, and to underserved populations, will be significant.”

Congratulations to the full team! Great job and we look forward to watching the program continue to grow.

 

Al-Khatib Elected to AUC

Congratulations to Sana Al-Khatib on her election into the Association of University Cardiologists, a professional organization limited to an active membership of 135 academic cardiologists from across the U.S.

Members, who are elected by their peers, are leaders and top investigators in academic cardiology. We are pleased to see Sana’s thought leadership and commitment to academic medicine recognized by this highly selective association.

What a tremendous honor, Sana. Well deserved!

Perfusion News:

We are happy to share some great news from our perfusion team:

• Travis Siffring is now a Fellow of Pediatric Perfusion. He joins Greg Smigla, Dave Kaemmer, Rich Walczak and Desiree Bonadonna in use of the “FPP” credential.
• Scott Snider has been re-elected as Treasurer of the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology (AmSECT).
• Desiree Bonadonna has been nominated and approved as a Fellow of the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion, joining Ian Shearer, Greg Smigla, and Rich Walczak as AACP fellows.

 

Shown here are Siffring, Snider and Bonadonna (L-R). Congratulations and way to represent Duke Heart!

Cardiovascular Professionals Week

Feb. 9 -15 was Cardiovascular Professionals Week, a national week of recognition for professionals working in cardiovascular care across all specialties. Shown here are photos of some of our cardiovascular teams. Shown from L-R, top to bottom: the Cardiac Diagnostic Unit (CDU), 7200; CDU, Southpoint; CDU, 2K; and Cardiac MRI.

 

We are grateful for each of our team members and the care they provide to our patients. Thanks so much for sharing these photos with us!

 Duke Basketball back in gear with great game and past athletes coming.

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

Cardiology Grand Rounds

This week, Chris Longenecker of Case Western Reserve University is our guest speaker. His topic is “Innovations in CVD Prevention for People Living with HIV” Please join us on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:15 a.m., DN 2003.

Upcoming Grand Rounds:

• March 24: Carolyn Lam, Duke-NUS
• April 14: Ryan Tedford, MUSC
• May 12: Michelle Kittleson, Cedars Sinai

 

Upcoming Duke Heart sponsored CME Events:

February 22: Third Annual Cardio-Oncology Symposium: Improving Cancer Outcomes and Optimizing Cardiovascular Health. Washington Duke Inn & Conference Center, Durham, NC.

April 18:  Seventh Annual Duke Sports Cardiology Symposium. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. (Registration coming soon.)

May 2: Twentieth Anniversary Andrew G. Wallace Symposium in Preventive Cardiology: My How Times Have Changed. Washington Duke Inn & Conference Center, Durham, NC.

June 4-5: Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.

July 8: Heart Safe Choices. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.

 

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:

 

February 7 — Monique Starks

Healio/Nephrology

In-hospital cardiac arrest care, outcomes similar in patients on dialysis, general population

http://bit.ly/2Hhm8Cd

 

February 10 — Duke is mentioned

USA Today

Here’s how to solve the looming shortage of doctors: Nurse practitioners.

http://bit.ly/2SK3R5x

 

February 13 — Duke is mentioned

Carolina Journal

Effort toward reforming CON laws to promote competition meets resistance

Effort toward reforming CON laws to promote competition meets resistance

Highlights of the week:

AHA Go RED for Women: Wear Red Day

Thanks to all those who wore red on Friday (Feb. 7) to support Wear Red Day! Here are a few shots shared by our team members throughout Duke Heart.

February is heart month, so keep sharing your photos with us as you find ways to celebrate!

Also on Friday, Neha Pagidipati was the guest speaker at the American Heart Association Triangle area Go Red Breakfast. Thank you for representing Duke Heart!

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week

This week is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week (Feb. 7-14) and we’d like to give a big shout-out to Andrew Lodge, Rachel Gambino, Chris Lappe and Michelle Figuerres who just returned from a medical mission trip in La Paz, Bolivia. The team travelled to the Hospital del Nino in La Paz under the sponsorship of Gift of Life International to provide heart defect surgery to underprivileged children who otherwise would not receive this type of care. The team performed ten surgeries in five days (nine pump cases and one coarctation).

Upon their return, Dr. Lodge shared the following about his team members with their respective leadership within Duke Heart:

Rachel Gambino, perfusionist: “First, it was an absolute pleasure to work with her. Second, her preparation for the mission was meticulous. She looked into every conceivable detail before we left and spent weeks salvaging tubing that would have been otherwise discarded to bring with her to construct circuits and/or donate to the hospital there. Third, on site she was extremely conscientious in her preparation for each case and worked seamlessly with the local perfusionist there (who was also excellent). Rachel shared much of her knowledge and practice with Valeria, her Bolivian counterpart, but did so in a constructive and educational manner, never making the local staff feel inadequate or substandard in any way. She was able to troubleshoot any problems that arose, including adapting to the high altitude physiology that we encountered. (La Paz is at about 12,000 feet above sea level)

Chris Lappe, respiratory therapist:  “From the first day, he made an immediate impact on the care of the patients in the ICU. Not only did he help to take care of the patients that underwent surgery as part of the mission, but he also participated in the care of all of the other patients in the unit. Two notable examples were his involvement with a chronically ventilated patient who underwent heart surgery in October of last year and a patient who had repair of a tracheo-esophageal fistula some weeks ago. This latter infant has had problems with right lung collapse and the surgical team was contemplating pneumonectomy. Within hours of Chris’ involvement with the patient, the lung was re-expanded. He worked tirelessly throughout the mission, frequently putting in 14 hour days, and worked seamlessly with the local staff and the rest of our team.”

 

 

Michelle Figuerres, OR nurse: “Michelle has accompanied our team on previous mission trips to the Philippines. To her credit and as an indicator of her level of performance on these prior missions, she was requested by name by the sponsoring organization for this trip. She spent weeks ahead of time gathering supplies and helped me tremendously by keeping a detailed inventory for us and for the sponsor. Her performance in the OR was excellent as usual. She also worked closely with the local operating room staff. She had a big impact on their practice there, helping them to learn how to set up for a case quickly and efficiently to the point that they now will be comfortable using one scrub nurse instead of two for cardiac cases.”

 

Our congenital heart surgery team is incredibly gifted. Thank you for all that you do to make Duke Heart one of the premiere programs in the country and for sharing your gifts with those who would not otherwise receive this type of care. Way to go!

Heart Failure Awareness Week

This week also happens to be Heart Failure Awareness Week (Feb. 9-15). In recognition of our heart failure team and the work they do, we’d like to share that in 2019, the Duke Heart Transplant Program transplanted 93 people and led the nation with innovative techniques such as donation after circulatory death (DCD) transplantation. This was our highest volume year for heart transplants since the program began in 1985 and we have now successfully transplanted just over 1,400 people.

Another impressive fact? The team implanted 102 HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs), making Duke the largest LVAD center by volume in the United States. Amazing work continues to be done at Duke on behalf of patients with heart failure!

If you’re on Twitter, share your love of our heart failure team this week! #HFWeek2020

Shout-out for Duran

A shout-out this week for cardiology fellow Jessie Duran from Dan Mark:

“I rounded with Jessie Duran on her first ever Duke CICU fellow call day/night a few days ago and just wanted to comment that she hit it out of the park. I am not easily impressed but she handled herself in such a calm, organized, assured way, even teaching a bit on rounds, that I thought I should mention it to you. Her clinical thinking on complex patients is very advanced for her level of training. She did the double black diamond run like she had been skiing it for years.”

Way to go, Jessie! Many thanks to Anna Lisa Crowley for sharing this note with us. Keep up the great work, fellows!

 

Good Catch Award for Dorris!

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

Cardiology Grand Rounds

This week, Cary Ward will be speaking on an important topic to the entire division, clinician wellness. The title of her talk is, “Where did all the Wellness Go?” Please join us on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7:15 a.m., DN 2003.

Upcoming Grand Rounds:

• February 18: Chris Longenecker, Case Western
• March 24: Carolyn Lam, Duke-NUS
• April 14: Ryan Tedford, MUSC
• May 12: Michelle Kittleson, Cedars Sinai

Upcoming Duke Heart sponsored CME Events:

February 22: Third Annual Cardio-Oncology Symposium: Improving Cancer Outcomes and Optimizing Cardiovascular Health. Washington Duke Inn & Conference Center, Durham, NC.

April 18:  Seventh Annual Duke Sports Cardiology Symposium. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. (Registration coming soon.)

May 2: Twentieth Anniversary Andrew G. Wallace Symposium in Preventive Cardiology: My How Times Have Changed. Washington Duke Inn & Conference Center, Durham, NC.

June 4-5: Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.

July 8: Heart Safe Choices. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.

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 31 — Monique Starks

The New York Times

CPR, by Default

January 31 — Yuichiro Yano

Medical News Today

Blood pressure: Why averaging readings may be dangerous

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/variable-blood-pressure-heart-disease-risk

February 4 — Michael Nanna

AARP

Why a Woman’s Heart Disease Is Different From a Man’s

https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/women-heart-attacks.html

February 5 — Duke is mentioned

MD Magazine/HCPLive

Inactivity Causing Problems for Older Adults

https://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/inactivity-problems-older-adults

It’s February! National Heart Month

February is national Heart Month. Here are the key dates:

• 7^th: Wear Red Day. If you’re on social media and interested in posting, please tag our local AHA affiliate by using #goredtriangle.
• 7^th –14^th: Congenital Heart Defect Week
• 9^th – 15^th: Heart Failure Awareness Week (#HFWeek2020)
• 28^th: Triangle Heart Ball, Raleigh Convention Center

Duke Heart Grows by Four

Just in time for Heart Month!!! We are delighted to share the newest members of our Duke Heart family. Please join us in welcoming the following babies – all of whom were born in January to Duke Cardiology fellows:

• Emily Black-Maier, born Jan. 11^th to Eric and Allison Black-Maier. (upper left)
• Amelia Grace Carnicelli, born Jan. 19^th to Anthony and Ashli Carnicelli. (upper right)
• Arya Loungani, born Jan. 19^th to Rahul and Leena Loungani. (lower left)
• Layton Paul Rehorn, born Jan. 27^th to Michael and Laurel Rehorn. (lower right)

   

 

All babies and parents are doing well. Congratulations to all!

Kisslo to Receive ASE Award for Outstanding Achievement

Joseph Kisslo will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Perioperative Echocardiography Award at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Foundation’s 11th Annual Research Awards Gala on Sunday, June 21, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, CO.

Kisslo was the first to use phased array ultrasound imaging in the human body and the first to describe most of the disease for which the technique is now commonplace. Not only has his work shaped the field of echocardiography, it helped establish Duke Heart as one of the premier cardiovascular treatment centers in the world. Congratulations, Dr. Kisslo!

 

Agarwal Named to ABIM Writing Task Force

Richa Agarwal has been named to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Writing Task Force for Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology beginning March 1. Way to go, Richa!

 

 

 

 

STS 2020 Held in New Orleans

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 56th Annual Meeting and Exhibition was held Jan. 25^th to 28th at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA.

Duke Heart presenters included Jill Engel; Betty Tong; G. Chad Hughes; Julie Doberne; Matt Hartwig; Brittney Zwischenberger; Jatin Anand, and Oliver Jawitz.

Great job, everyone — the CT Surgery team has had a tremendous year!

     

Michos Visits Duke Heart

We welcomed Erin Michos, director of Women’s Cardiovascular Health at Johns Hopkins as our Cardiology Grand Rounds presenter this past week. The title of the talk was “Sex and Gender and their Impact on the Cardiovascular Health of Women.”

Thanks to everyone who joined us!

Shown here are Michos and those who joined for the visiting professor luncheon.

 

Hamill Named Medicine CRU Associate Director

Jennifer Hamill, RN, MSN will become the Medicine Clinical Research Unit (CRU) Associate Director effective March 2. Hamill has been with the Duke Heart Center CRU for the past nine years, initially as a clinical research coordinator, then as Research Practice Manager and most recently as Director of Research Development. She has been instrumental in leading efforts to streamline processes in the Heart Center and across Duke, collaborating with both the Duke Office of Clinical Research to standardize hiring in clinical research, and the Duke SOM Office of Regulatory Affairs and Quality and DUHS to improve patient access to investigational new drugs via an Expanded Access service program created at Duke.

Congratulations, Jennifer! They are lucky to be gaining your expertise. Thanks for all you’ve done for Duke Heart and our CRU!

Shout-outs for Coniglio, Arps

Anna Lisa Crowley shared a note with us that she received this week from Jordan Pomeroy regarding Amanda Coniglio:

“I wanted to send out some kudos to Amanda Coniglio for helping me greatly on my last CICU shift (Jan 25th-26th). Amanda was the overnight hospitalist who helped with several floor related RRT/Codes…she continued to provide outstanding care for the Code Blue patient once transitioned to the CICU. This occurred as we had simultaneous Code Blues in the CICU requiring all hands on deck to provide care. Furthermore, she assisted with a new patient admission to the CICU while the residents were rounding and I was placing emergent central/arterial lines.  Amanda exemplified dedication to her patients and extraordinary support for her fellow. Please let folks know how appreciative I am!”

In another great note Anna Lisa Crowley shared with us, Nazish Hashmi (Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine) recognized Kelly Arps:

“I wanted to send you a quick note recognizing Dr. Arps. She was the fellow on EP and was consulting on a few of my patients last week while I was on 7W. We had a particularly tough patient together and she went above and beyond to help us manage her. She helped us brainstorm and think outside the box to determine this patient’s etiology for shock. I really appreciated the time she took to go through this patient’s history and made suggestions beyond the cardiovascular system. All your fellows are excellent, but Dr. Arps stands out. Just wanted to give her a shout out for a job done with so much care and pride.”

We have incredible fellows and a terrific fellowship program and it shows!!! Many thanks to Amanda Coniglio and Kelly Arps for representing Duke Heart so beautifully this week.

 

Speaking of Trainee News…

Congratulations to Dennis Narcisse, Jr. and to Jessica Regan for being named Chief Residents for 2021-2022. Narcisse will join the Duke Cardiology fellowship program in July; Regan is the Duke Cardiovascular Research Center’s 2020 Mandel Fellow.

Three Chief residents are selected in their final year of residency and typically complete one year of fellowship before returning to start their chief resident year. The three are:

Dennis Narcisse, MD, MS, Durham VA Medical Center

Dennis is a graduate of Mississippi State University and The University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He will be a fellow in Cardiology in 2020-21.

Jessica Regan, MD, Duke University Hospital

Jessica is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She will be completing the R38 Research Pathway for residents in 2020-21.

Nancy Yang, MD, Duke Regional Hospital/Ambulatory Medicine

Nancy is a graduate of Duke University and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She will be a fellow in Gastroenterology in 2020-21.

 

ICYMI

Congratulations to Melissa Daubert, Joseph Sivak, Allison Dunning, Pamela Douglas, Brian Coyne, Tracy Wang, Dan Mark and Eric Velasquez for their article, Implications of Abnormal Exercise Electrocardiography With Normal Stress Echocardiography, published January 27^th, online, in JAMA Internal Medicine. You can view the article online and/or download the PDF here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2759744

**Novel Coronavirus/University Requirement**

The U.S. Department of State has issued a Level 4 – Do not Travel to China advisory and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. As a result, all individuals returning to the U.S. from mainland China are asked to self-isolate for 14 days. In addition, all foreign nationals (other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents) who have been to mainland China in the last 14 days are temporarily banned from entering the country.

All Duke University/Duke Health students, faculty and staff who will return to the U.S. from China after 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 2, 2020, are expected to immediately self-isolate and complete the following survey: http://duke.is/P6zI4D. (All information provided on this survey will be secure and kept confidential.)

All members of the Duke community are encouraged to monitor the Duke coronavirus website for the latest updates.  Please share this information with others as appropriate. Thank you!

 

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

Cardiology Grand Rounds

This week, Duke Cardiology fellow Titus Ngeno will present on central line-associated bloodstream infections. Please join us on Tuesday, Feb. 4. 7:15 a.m., DN 2003.

Upcoming Grand Rounds:

• 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

 

Upcoming Duke Heart sponsored CME Events:

February 22: Third Annual Cardio-Oncology Symposium: Improving Cancer Outcomes and Optimizing Cardiovascular Health. Washington Duke Inn & Conference Center, Durham, NC.

April 18:  Seventh Annual Duke Sports Cardiology Symposium. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. Registration coming soon.

May 2: Twentieth Anniversary Andrew G. Wallace Symposium in Preventive Cardiology: My How Times Have Changed. Washington Duke Inn & Conference Center, Durham, NC. Registration available: https://medicine.duke.edu/education-and-training/continuing-medical-education/events/20th-anniversary-andrew-g-wallace

July 8: Heart Safe Choices. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. Registration available: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9SMO19RPQRIlD5r

August 19: Heart Safe Choices. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. Registration available: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZloVF33mF9IeYl

September 19: Third Annual Duke Heart Symposium for Advanced Practice Providers. J.B. Duke Hotel & Thomas Executive Conference Center, Durham, NC. Registration coming soon.

November 11: Heart Safe Choices. Trent Semans Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. Registration available: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_byjHXJyNzeulaJv

November 13: Twelfth Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium. Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park, NC. Registration coming soon.

 

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 27 — Melissa Daubert

Healio/Cardiology Today

Positive ECG, negative echocardiography may identify patients with elevated cardiac risk

http://bit.ly/38S7tZG

January 28 — Duke University is mentioned

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Tips to be fit: Is your doctor treating your issues or age?

http://bit.ly/2GLbbZ2