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Duke Heart week ending September 6th 2020

Highlights of the week:

Fudim to Receive Zipes Award at ACC 2021

Marat Fudim

We are pleased to share that Marat Fudim, MD, MHS, one of our three newest faculty members in the Division of Cardiology, has been notified of his selection as the recipient of the 2021 Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist Award. He is the first Duke nominee to receive the honor.

The Zipes award is presented annually at the ACC Scientific Sessions to recognize a young scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine and who has amassed an impressive body of scientific research in either the clinical or basic domain.

“This is exciting for Marat, the Division and for all of the people who have mentored him,” said Manesh Patel, MD, chief of the Duke division of cardiology. “I think it speaks to his tireless work ethic and some of the innovation he has done in the early part of his career. Importantly, it also speaks to a great group of people at the divisional level who have taken an interest in mentoring and truly supporting others who are trying to do research, sometimes in different ways.”

Fudim’s nomination was centered upon the body of work he has accumulated researching the use of splanchnic nerve blockade in patients with congestive heart failure.

“I feel very honored to be selected,” Fudim said. “I consider this the highest award that I could qualify for at this stage of my career. It’s very exciting for me and I’m particularly happy for our research team and my mentors as this project was supported and made possible by a diverse group of investigators.”

Robert Mentz, MD, chief of Duke’s heart failure section, served on the ACC Selection Panel for the award and recused himself from voting.

There was a very high quality group of applicants overall,” Mentz said. “But it was clear amongst the others who were part of the voting that Marat was the ideal recipient for this. The panel members recognized his hypothesis-driven research that really has the potential to change how we approach our understanding of heart failure physiology.”

When asked to reflect on Fudim’s work and his selection for the award, Patel added, “There are a combination of things that were probably very enticing to the panel — the first is a new physiologic principal or opportunity to treat heart failure by thinking about the splanchnic compartment as a vascular sink. The second is the translational work of having the idea, testing it first in humans with a variety of blocks and then taking it to actual clinical trials.”

The award will be presented during the ACC’s Convocation Ceremony of the College’s 70th Annual Scientific Session, currently scheduled for Monday, March 22, 2021 in Atlanta, GA.  The Session runs March 20-22. Fudim’s travel, housing, and registration expenses will be paid by ACC. He will also receive a $1,000 monetary prize, and a chance to present his scientific work at ACC.21.

Congratulations, Marat! Way to go!

FAST FACTS: Did you know?

Douglas P. Zipes, MD, is distinguished professor emeritus at Indiana University. He did his postgraduate training at Duke from 1964 to 1968, and in 2007 was presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Duke University Medical Alumni Association. He is also a regular contributor to the Saturday Evening Post as a health columnist. To read more about his lifetime achievements, please visit https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/6515/zipes-douglas.

Virtual ESC Congress 2020 Wraps Up

The European Society of Cardiology’s 2020 Congress wrapped up this week.

Renato Lopes presented results from BRACE CORONA:

The trial sought to examine whether a 30-day suspension of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) would improve outcomes for COVID-19 patients. The primary outcome of the study was the number of days a patient spent alive and out of the hospital through the 30-day follow-up period. The study was sponsored by the D’Or Institute for Research and Education and the Brazilian Clinical Research Institute.

“These therapies have well-known benefits for patients with hypertension and heart failure, and this trial supplies high-quality randomized evidence to guide their usage while treating hospitalized patients with mild and moderate cases of COVID-19,” Lopes said. “Our trial found no clinical benefit to routinely suspending these medications, and this supports the recommendation that they should generally be continued for those who rely on them for managing hypertension or heart failure.”

Sean Pokorney presented on IMPACT-AFIB:

Although the intervention tested as part of IMPACT-AFib was found not to be effective, the design and implementation of the trial showcased the effective use of a new electronic data system to conduct a large-scale pragmatic trial.

The trial was the first to use the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) FDA-Catalyst System and Sentinel System network of electronic health record (EHRs) and insurance claims data from a diverse group of data partners. The trial enrolled 80,000 patients with atrial fibrillation who were at high risk of stroke and not taking medication.

COMBINE AF was presented by our Cardiology Fellow – Tony Carnicelli who has worked many hours across many institutions to put together the 4-5 large randomized atrial fibrillation trials.  This effort represents several years of work and hopefully we will start to soon see some of the important analyses from this work and the ESC presentation.

Registration for ESC was free – don’t forget that all presentations will be available in the ESC Congress platform with access to slides, videos and abstracts until September 30.

Duke Heart Grows By One!

Congratulations to the Pomeroy family! Jordan Pomeroy, a cardiology fellow, and his wife Summer, welcomed their son, River Scott Pomeroy, on Aug. 28 at 4:17 a.m. Jordan said they are all doing well and that “Everyone, including big sister — Parker Rose (17 months) — are excited to have the little man join our family!”

We are so happy for you and we can’t wait to meet him!

More Good News:

John Alexander was one of 243 people world-wide to be elected this year as a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology. Congratulations, John!

Robert Harrington has been awarded the American Heart Association’s Distinguished National Leadership Award for contributions to the association. Harrington’s many contributions to the organization have earned him the AHA’s Distinguished National Leadership Award. He will be honored on Oct. 27 in a livestreamed ceremony at the AHA 2020 National Volunteer Awards Event. Congratulations, Bob!

Zak Loring has a paper published online, ahead of print, in Europace this week. The article, “Machine learning does not improve upon traditional regression in predicting outcomes in atrial fibrillation: an analysis of the ORBIT-AF and GARFIELD-AF registries” can be found here. Jon Piccini and Eric Peterson are among his coauthors.

Marat Fudim and team have a paper in the September issue of JACC: Heart Failure. The article, “Splanchnic Nerve Block for Chronic Heart Failure” can be found here. Duke co-authors include Richard Boortz-Marx, Arun Ganesh, Adam DeVore, Chet Patel, Joseph Rogers, Aubrie Coburn, Inneke Johnson, Amanda Paul, Brian Coyne, Sunil Rao, J. Antonio Gutierrez, Todd Kiefer, David Kong, Cynthia Green, Schuyler Jones, Mike Felker, Adrian Hernandez and Manesh Patel.

Forbes has named both Duke University and DUHS among the “Best-in-State Employers” in North Carolina in 2020. According to the rankings released on Monday, Duke Health System placed sixth and the University 26th out of 100 employers in North Carolina.

All three DUHS hospitals have been recognized as LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leaders by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for perfect scores across areas of patient-centered care, support services, and inclusive health insurance policies for LGBTQ+ patients.

ICYMI: Duke University and Duke University Health System will not be implementing the payroll tax deferment program announced three weeks ago by Presidential Memorandum. Duke will continue to collect payroll taxes on behalf of all employees in order to avoid potential confusion, undue hardships, or other complications that might otherwise emerge during the filing of taxes for 2020 by our employees next year.

 

Duke Health Heart Walk Rally Day: Thurs. Sept. 10

On Thursday, Sept. 10, Duke will host a Heart Walk Rally Day. DUHS has set a goal to recruit at least 500 participants for this year’s Heart Walk. Ongoing support from those who are already registered for the Heart Walk, and all those who join us on our Rally Day, helps further the American Heart Association’s mission.

Please consider starting a team or joining one so that the Heart Center is well represented. You can register at www.triangleheartwalk.org/duke. If you are already registered as a team captain, between now and Thursday, please encourage your colleagues to join your team.

The local American Heart Association team will host three 15-minute Pep Rallies throughout the day to share more about this year’s event. Feel free to join one of the sessions via Zoom. The Pep Rallies will be held at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. and your team members are welcome to attend: Heart Rally Zoom meeting link.

Show Your Care for One Another: Moments to Movement Wearables

In the Duke Health family, we treat people with respect. We value each other‘s differences. We care for each other through kindness, inclusion, and compassion. We do this because it’s the right way to be—and because it’s the first step in giving our patients the excellent care they deserve.

To help demonstrate our commitment, we are offering two ways you can show your personal support for our collective humanity:

  • A Black Lives Matter badge reel holder
  • A pin featuring the anti-racism ribbon

These items were developed by a team of four Duke Health team members who sought a concrete way to stand up for our values. Read their story here.

Duke Heart has received an initial supply of both items, with more on the way. Our initial batch is available starting Tuesday. For DUH-based heart teams, please see a nurse manager to obtain one or both items, along with a companion card that explains what the items mean.

Wearing these is completely voluntary. You can choose to wear one or both to take a stand for our values. Recognizing that many employees are working from home, we’re also providing virtual Zoom backgrounds and email signature files featuring the emblems. Look for them in an upcoming edition of Inside Duke Health (expected this week).

Flu Vaccination Campaign Began Sept. 1

Annual vaccination against the flu (or an approved medical or religious exemption) is a condition of employment at Duke University Health System. All team members must get their vaccination or otherwise demonstrate policy compliance by Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Details and resources all available on the Duke Health Influenza Resources site (NET ID required): https://influenza.dh.dukehealth.org.

Upcoming Opportunities/Save the Date:

Cardiology Grand Rounds Returns (Virtually)!

Grand Rounds returns — this week we will have an M&M Conference with Kevin Friede. Please join us on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 5 p.m. via Webex. Meeting number: 120 364 2432. Password: hScPc638mjC.

REACH Equity Center Seeking Candidates

The Duke Center for Research to Advance Healthcare Equity (REACH Equity) seeks candidates to co-lead the Research, Education, Training (RET) Subcore.

The RET Subcore is responsible for: (1) Facilitating opportunities for health disparities investigators across the campus at all levels (students, trainees, faculty) to share their work, find collaborators, and identify mentors or mentees.  (2) Administer programs to support research education and fund small pilot awards related to the Center’s theme.

Programs currently led by the RET Subcore include:

  • REACH Equity Summer Undergraduate Research Program (RESURP): An eight-week summer undergraduate health disparities education and mentored research program
  • Research Voucher, Research Scholars Development, Transdisciplinary Think Tank pilot award programs which provide funding for faculty and trainees conducting research related to the Center’s theme
  • RWIP: Bi-monthly Research Works in Progress interactive seminar series
  • Annual Health Disparities Research Colloquium

Additional administrative duties include participation in monthly Executive Operating Committee meetings, annual Internal Advisory Board, Stakeholder Advisory Board, and Steering Committee meetings, and other activities related to achieving the Center’s aims.

Faculty selected for this position will co-lead the core with Kevin Thomas and work closely with the REACH Equity Director, Kimberly Johnson, to continue current activities and expand activities of the RET Subcore in response to increased interest in health disparities research among trainees and faculty across the campus.  The position includes funding to support time associated with the role (approximately 10% effort support).

For more information on the RET Subcore, please visit: https://sites.duke.edu/reachequity/cores/research-education-training-subcore/

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Assistant or Associate Professor in any Department, Division, Center, or School
  • MD or PhD or equivalent
  • Any discipline
  • Clinical research experience, preferably in health disparities

If you are interested, please submit your CV and a letter describing your interest in the position and detailing relevant experience (prior leadership roles, research experience, research education and training experience, mentorship, etc.) by October 2 to Cheryl Miller, cheryl.j.miller@duke.edu

REACH Equity faculty will interview a small number of applicants.  While there is some flexibility, selected candidate may start position as early as November 1.

Please contact Cheryl Miller for more information: chery.j.miller@duke.edu

NOTE: Duke Heart’s Larry Jackson is a current awardee and can provide details about the experience

DIHI: Request for Applications (RFA 2021 Innovation Projects)

Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI) announces the next emerging ideas and funding cycle for innovative ideas and projects. Proposed projects should address actual and important problems encountered by care providers, patients and their loved ones and represent urgent health challenges nationally. For the upcoming funding cycle, DIHI is specifically interested in innovations in areas that: (a) Improve value of care through novel strategies, (b) Create digital solutions for care and monitoring (home monitoring, wearables etc.), (c) Advance health equity, (d) Enhance provider and staff experience and well-being, (e) Accelerate population health solutions and strategies, and (f) Enhance patient engagement and experience.

Please visit https://dihi.org/events/dihi-rfa for additional information and instructions. The deadline for submitting applications is midnight October 9, 2020. All proposals are required to have a Duke Health operational lead as a cosponsor to be accepted for review. If the DIHI team can be of any assistance in the formulation of ideas or connections, please contact Suresh Balu. We look forward to your innovative solutions.

2020 Triangle Heart Walk Going “Digital”; Will Be Held Oct. 10

Sign up is open for the 2020 Triangle Heart Walk which is going virtual! Instead, the American Heart Association is planning for a nation-wide digital experience across several weeks leading up to the main event on October 10. You can register at: www.TriangleHeartWalk.org/Duke. Pep Rally Day is Sept. 10 – watch your email this week for messages from Dr. Tom Owens, chair of our local Heart Walk.

12th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium

November 13: Zoom Webinar. Noon – 4:30 p.m. For more information, please visit this page.

COVID-19 Updates:

All the latest official DUHS information regarding coronavirus/COVID-19 response at the following locations:

 

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.

Something Just for Fun:

Thanks for reading to the end! Hope each of you have a glorious Labor Day! Let’s wrap it up with our colleagues who made the news this week:

Duke Heart in the News:

August 24 — Richard Krasuski

SI.com/Sports Illustrated

SI Survey: Doctors Say They’d Play in the NBA and NHL, but not NFL and MLB

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/08/24/doctor-covid-survey-daily-cover

August 30 — Renato Lopes

Healio/Cardiology Today

Invasive approach to stable ischemic heart disease may benefit in HF, LV dysfunction

https://www.healio.com/news/cardiac-vascular-intervention/20200830/invasive-approach-to-stable-ischemic-heart-disease-may-benefit-in-hf-lv-dysfunction

August 31 — Jonathan Piccini

MDEdge

RATE-AF trial boosts digoxin for rate control in permanent AFib

https://www.mdedge.com/familymedicine/article/227714/arrhythmias-ep/rate-af-trial-boosts-digoxin-rate-control-permanent

August 31 — Renato Lopes

tctMD/the heart beat

Revascularization Benefits ISCHEMIA Patients With Mild LV Dysfunction or HF

https://www.tctmd.com/news/revascularization-benefits-ischemia-patients-mild-lv-dysfunction-or-hf

September 1 — Renato Lopes

MedPage Today

‘Definitive Data’: Continuing ACE/ARB Tx Safe in COVID-19

https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/esc/88399

 

September 2 — Renato Lopes

MDedge/Cardiology News

First randomized trial reassures on ACEIs, ARBs in COVID-19

https://www.mdedge.com/cardiology/article/227885/hypertension/first-randomized-trial-reassures-aceis-arbs-covid-19

September 2 — Renato Lopes

Managed Healthcare Executive

Duke Scientist: Patients With COVID-19 Should Stay on ACE Inhibitors, ARBs

https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/duke-scientist-patients-with-covid-19-should-stay-on-ace-inhibitors-arbs

September 2 — Sean Pokorney

Medscape

IMPACT-AFib: Single Mailing Fails to Budge Oral Anticoagulant Uptake for AFib

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/936781

September 3 — Sean Pokorney

tctMD/the heart beat

Got Mail? Letter-Based Intervention Doesn’t Boost OAC Initiation for A-fib

https://www.tctmd.com/news/got-mail-letter-based-intervention-doesnt-boost-oac-initiation-fib

 

 

 

 


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