Highlights of the week:

Welcome New Cardiology Fellows; New CT Surgery Resident!

We are excited to welcome our new first-year cardiology fellows and a new resident for the cardiovascular and thoracic surgery I-6 training program this week. We are thrilled to have them join us! Please give a warm welcome to:

Cardiology Fellows:

Andrew Andreae, MD, completed residency at Duke; a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

Michael Cosiano, MD, completed residency at Duke; a graduate of Weill Cornell Medicine.

David Elliott, MD, completed residency at Duke; a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine

 

 

 

 

 

Nathan Goodwin, MD, completed residency at Duke; a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine

 

Aman Kansal, MD, completed residency at Duke; a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine.

 

 

Allie Levin, MD, completed residency at Massachusetts General Hospital; a graduate of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

 

 

 

Anthony Lin, MD, completed residency at the University of California at San Francisco; a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine.

 

Paula Rambarat, MD, completed residency with Massachusetts General Hospital; a graduate of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

 

Jessica Regan, MD, completed residency at Duke; a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

 

 

Belal Suleiman, MD, completed residency at University of Texas Southwestern; a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery resident:

Rebekah Boyd, MD, joins us from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

 

Rymer Named John Bush Simpson Assistant Professor of Medicine

Jennifer Rymer, MD, has been named the John Bush Simpson Assistant Professor of Medicine.

Rymer joined the Duke Cardiology faculty in July, 2020 as an interventional cardiologist. She was a fellow in cardiovascular medicine at Duke from 2014 to 2019 and did her internal medicine residency here from 2011 to 2014 following her graduation from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Rymer has 70 publications to her credit and serves on leadership and publication committees for the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, the Society for Vascular Medicine and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. She is also the recipient of the Walter Floyd Award for Excellence in Clinical Cardiology, the DCRI Harrington Research Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, the Women as One Research Award, the William Keating Career Development Award from the American College of Cardiology, and a Career Development Award from the American Heart Association.

The work she did during fellowship, particularly on the Inclusion and Diversity Task Force, led Rymer to devote some of her time to increasing the representation of representation in the field of cardiology. She was recently named the trainee liaison for the Department of Medicine’s Program for Women in Internal Medicine (PWIM) where she has helped create and facilitate programs tailored to the needs of women trainees.

She hopes to demonstrate, through her work with PWIM and elsewhere, that a career in cardiology is a fulfilling and rewarding choice for women. Rymer is also member in the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Congratulations, Jenn!

 

EP Fellows Celebrated at Year-End Dinner

Our graduating EP fellows were celebrated last weekend (Saturday, June 18) at The Roof restaurant on top of the Durham Hotel, which is an annual tradition for the EP section. A shout-out to Don Hegland, MD, EP Program Director, who continues to lead an outstanding fellowship program! Great work!

“Words cannot express how special these graduates are,” said Jon Piccini, MD, director of the electrophysiology section. “They are among the best fellows we have ever graduated from our program.”

Graduating fellows:

Adam Barnett, MD, is joining Prisma Health in Greenville, SC.

Eric Black-Maier, MD is joining Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME.

Zak Loring, MD, is joining the EP faculty here at Duke.

Mike Rehorn, MD, is joining Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists in Richmond, VA.

Shown in photos are:

Graduating fellows, L-R: Barnett, Black-Maier, Rehorn and Loring.

Graduating fellows with EP faculty.

Graduating fellows with their spouses and faculty.

Congratulations to all!

 

Latest AHA GWTG HF, CAD Awards for Duke Hospital Announced

We are pleased to announce the latest American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) Awards for Duke University Hospital, announced earlier this week. We have achieved the following:

GWTG Heart Failure Award — Gold Plus with Heart Failure Honor Roll and Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

This is the highest recognition level by the American Heart Association.

GWTG Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) — Mission: Lifeline Award: NSTEMI – Gold

GWTG CAD — Mission Lifeline: STEMI Receiving Center — Gold Plus

These achievements are based upon participation in GWTG-CAD and meeting the required Mission: Lifeline recognition criteria for data submitted through the 2021 calendar year. This accomplishment signifies a commitment to guideline adherence and quality improvement, not only on behalf of Duke University Hospital but for the entire STEMI System of Care.

Excellent teamwork!!! Congratulations to all!

 

Duke Heart at AAHFN 2022

Duke Heart was well represented at the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses (AAHFN) 18th annual meeting held June 15-18, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Stephanie Barnes served as the Planning Chair for the meeting. Shelley Thompson, Robert Mentz, Marat Fudim and Joey Harrington were speakers at the conference. There were also many past Duke nurses and physicians who were speakers and in attendance.

We have it on great authority that planning committee chair Stephanie Barnes did an absolutely fantastic job.

“The conference was a wonderful opportunity to learn and network and the quality of presentations was outstanding,” said Shelley Thompson, a conference speaker and nurse practitioner with the Duke Heart Failure team.

Rob Mentz concurred, “The AAHFN meeting, that Steph helped lead, was a tremendous success. I had never been to the meeting before and was truly impressed by the engagement, high quality talks, and phenomenal community the society has built.”

Great work, Stephanie! Congratulations to all presenters!

 

Tcheng: Patient Safety Surrounding Medical Devices

Congrats to Jimmy Tcheng, MD and team. Their latest research article, Advancing Patient Safety Surrounding Medical Devices: Barriers, Strategies, and Next Steps in Health System Implementation of Unique Device Identifiers, was published this week in the journal Medical Devices: Evidence and Research. To check it out, visit: https://doi.org/10.2147/MDER.S364539

Harrington Article to be Featured by ACC.org

Congratulations to cardiology fellow Josephine Harrington, MD — her recently published expert analysis piece (co-authored with Manesh Patel, MD), The Next Wave of Anticoagulation: Results of PACIFIC-AF and the Future Role of Factor XIa Inhibition in Atrial Fibrillation, which appears on ACC.org, was selected by Dr. Kim Eagle, Editor-in-Chief of ACC.org, to appear as a featured item on the ACC.org homepage. Starting on Tuesday, June 28 and running through the weekend, the article will be one of the three images cycling across the top of www.acc.org.

Well done!

 

Ohman, Newby Participating in International Golf Tournament

Magnus Ohman and Kristin Newby participated in the William Harvey Golf Tournament held this past week in Europe. The tournament, according to Ohman, was developed by Drs. Will Fennel (Ireland), Peter Sleight (UK), and Tom Ryan, Sr. (US) in 1999 to foster international academic camaraderie. Teams from Great Britain, Ireland, the EU, and the US compete for a trophy over 4 days in a Ryder Cup style format. Dr. Kristin Newby is leading the US team as captain at Lake Garda, Italy. The team includes past presidents from ACC and AHA and “will do their best to take home the trophy among stiff competition from similar leaders on the European continent,” Ohman added.

We look forward to learning the results!!

Duke Health’s Commitment to Addressing Workplace Violence

At Duke Health, the safety and security of our patients and team members are our highest priorities. With recent violent incidents in health care settings and elsewhere, we have redoubled efforts to provide a safe environment at our facilities. Among additional and expanded security measures, we are:

• Evaluating and optimizing security presence at key hospital and clinic locations
• Providing additional emergency alert resources and support to care teams, notably those tending patients with behavioral health concerns
• Reviewing and revising the policies, procedures and training requirements for the management of security-related events
• Making fewer entrances accessible to visitors

All entities of Duke Health are gun-free zones for patients, visitors, students, providers and staff. We are continuing to evaluate and implement additional measures that foster an environment of wellbeing and health.

Remain Vigilant with Spam, Cybersecurity Concerns

There has been a recent uptick in patients and team members receiving health-related scam phone calls. If an employee or a patient room receives a scam call, please report the number that that received the call and the number that made the call to the Duke Health Service Desk at 919-684-2243 immediately.

Reminder: Exterior Doors

As part of this overall effort, it is critical to keep exterior doors closed. Allowing them to be propped open presents a security risk to our patients and our team members. Please do not prop exterior doors. Thank you!

COVID-19 Update

All the latest Clinical Operations updates related to COVID can be found at https://covid-19.dukehealth.org. Patient-facing resources on DukeHealth.org can be found here: https://www.dukehealth.org/covid-19-update/resources. Duke University maintains a resource page as well, which can be accessed here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/updates/for-staff.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

 

Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium

June 27 & 28. The Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium returns to Durham this year and is offered as a hybrid event. This symposium is sponsored by the Edna and Fred L. Mandel, Jr. Foundation.

Registration required. In person: Great Hall, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center, Durham, NC. For those who wish to attend virtually, the event will offer live-streaming. The link will be emailed prior to the program. Registrants who choose the virtual live-streamed webinar option will be able to obtain CE credit for the course. For more information, contact Christy Darnell.

 

June 28: The Changing Landscape and Economics of Perfusion Technology. 2-3 p.m. Virtual. Part of The Alliance Conversation Series offered by The Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance (The Alliance). Wendy Swafford, Sarah Casalinova & Amber Johnson of Duke will join Jeff Orlowski, LifeShare of Oklahoma as presenting speakers. Kevin Myer of LifeGift will serve as moderator.  Registration is required. The event is free. Event is geared toward transplant center, OPO, QI professionals and leadership.

 

June 30: Women in Cardiology. Arrive by 6:30 p.m. The WIC team has announced their next meeting will be at the home of Dr. Pamela Douglas. The theme of the event will be ‘Mentorship and Sponsorship’ with panelists Dr. Douglas, Dr. Jenn Rymer, Dr. Tracy Wang, and Dr. Camille Frazier-Mills. We are lucky to have such a group of incredibly accomplished women and we can’t wait to hear about their mentorship and sponsorship experiences and advice. Dinner will be provided. For more details, please contact cardiology fellow Karen Flores Rosario, MD.

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Cardiology Grand Rounds has concluded and will resume in September.

 

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. Submissions by Noon, Wednesdays, to be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Duke Heart in the News:

June 21 — Peter Ubel (internal medicine)

MediQuality

Jury still out on vitamin, mineral supplements to prevent heart disease, cancer

https://duke.is/4cnp8

June 22 — Carol Krucoff (Duke Health & Wellness)

Yoga Journal

Ask the Teacher: Can I Practice Yoga with a Pacemaker?

https://duke.is/9rhyz

June 23 — Adrian Hernandez

Newsobserver.com

Coronavirus updates for June 23: Here’s what to know in North Carolina this week

https://duke.is/jksjr

June 23 — Jonathan Piccini

Courier-Gazette (Camden, ME)

Pen Bay Medical Center receives achievement award

https://duke.is/yqr29

June 23 — Richard Shannon and Beverly Gray (ob/gyn)

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Sam on Roe…with Covid

https://duke.is/vgghp

June 23 — Karen Alexander

Salisbury Post

Clinical research programs aim to improve lives, recruit local participants at NCRC

https://duke.is/z5msh

Chief’s message: Remembering, celebrating, and working to improve our future.

Happy Father’s day to all the dads and dad-figures throughout our team and in each of our lives.

This year, the holiday happens to coincide with Juneteenth, providing an opportunity to reflect how we can be better. In his all-staff letter, Vincent E. Price, president of Duke University wrote, “As we mark Juneteenth, we are reminded that racial equity and justice are not end goals to be reached or achieved—they are ongoing institutional and personal principles that must guide all that we do as a university.” In a message to all DUHS team members, Dr. A. Eugene Washington, chancellor for health affairs at Duke, wrote, “At Duke Health, we honor the full spectrum of diversity, and we value the richness that our differences bring to us. We have pledged that equity is our goal, inclusion is our practice, and belonging is the desired result. This is how we build upon the gifts that each of us brings to our mission of advancing health together.”

Like a lot of academic programs, this week also marked our end of year celebrations for graduating fellows and residents.  We were reminded about the amazing accomplishments of our fellows, the efforts of our wonderful faculty to teach, and the ability to recognize truly outstanding contributions. We hope each of you has an opportunity to reflect upon year-end and to celebrate not only our dads and our graduates, but our individual and collective blessings.

Highlights of the week:

Duke Heart Celebrates Year-End Graduates

Each of our fellowship and residency training programs celebrated their graduating trainees this week. We are pleased to share updates and photos with you. Congratulations to each of our graduates and a big shout-out to all of our program directors and associate directors: Anna Lisa Chamis; Camille Frazier-Mills; Chris Holley; Rob Mentz; Neha Pagidipati; Schuyler Jones; Kevin Harrison; Donald Hegland; Ben Bryner; Betty Tong, and Jack Haney.

The Interventional Cardiology and Structural Fellowship programs held their year-end celebration on Thursday evening at The Roof restaurant on top of the Durham Hotel in downtown Durham. They celebrated four graduates: Zach Wegermann, Sipa Yankey and Kevin Friede from the interventional cardiology fellowship and John D. Serfas from the structural fellowship.

• John D. Serfas, MD, has completed the Structural Heart fellowship and is entering Interventional Cardiology fellowship at Duke.
• Kevin Friede, MD, is joining the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill.
• Zach Wegermann, MD, is entering the Advanced Training in Cardiology fellowship as the Structural Heart fellow at Duke.
• Sipa Yankey, MD, is leaving Duke to enter the Structural Heart Fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill

The annual Gloria and Warren Newman Award, established in honor of Robert H. “Jess” Peter, MD, was presented to Zach Wegermann. Congratulations, Zach!

Our Cardiology Fellowship programs held their year-end appreciation event on Friday, June 17, at the Washington Duke Inn.

They celebrated the following graduates:

From the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship:

• Amanda Coniglio, MD, our outgoing chief fellow, is joining the advanced heart failure faculty at Rochester Regional Hospital.
• Jeff Dixson, MD, is going into general invasive cardiology practice with Alaska Heart and Vascular Institute in Anchorage, Alaska.
• Michelle Kelsey, MD, is joining the cardiology faculty at Duke. She will be a part of our prevention team at Duke Heart.
• Vanessa Blumer, MD, is heading to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation fellowship.
• Lauren Truby, MD, is heading to University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation fellowship.

From the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Fellowship:

• Sarah Goldstein, MD, has accepted a position with the congenital heart disease team at Yale University.

The following graduates are transitioning to another training program within Duke:

• Kelly Arps, MD, is entering Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
• Caitlin Drescher, MD, is entering Interventional Cardiology
• Navid Nafissi, MD, is entering Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
• Vishal Rao, MD, is entering the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology
• Toi Spates, MD, is entering the Adult Congenital Heart Disease
• Francis Ugowe, MD, is entering Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology

The following trainees have completed the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship:

• Anthony Carnicelli, MD, has accepted a position with the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
• Marc Samsky, MD, has accepted a position with Yale University.
• Christopher Wrobel, MD, is returning to the Cardiovascular Disease fellowship program for his third year. He will serve as Duke’s chief cardiology fellow for 2022-2023.

Graduating from the Clinical Cardiology Electrophysiology Fellowship are:

• Adam Barnett, MD, is joining Prisma Health in Greenville, SC.
• Eric Black-Maier, MD is joining Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME.
• Zak Loring, MD, is joining the cardiology faculty here at Duke. He will be on the electrophysiology team.
• Mike Rehorn, MD, is joining Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists in Richmond, VA.

The following fellows are transitioning from the Cardiovascular Disease fellowship to Advanced Training in Cardiology: Jessica Duran, Josephine Harrington and Anthony Peters.

As is the custom at year-end, the following annual recognition awards were presented on Friday evening during the Cardiology Fellowship celebration:

Fellow-selected awards

The Outstanding Service Award was presented to Emily Towery. This award is for a hospital staff member who demonstrates dedication and excellence in fellow education.

The Bashore Faculty Teaching Award was presented to Nishant Shah, MD. This award is given to a faculty member demonstrating dedication and excellence in teaching.

The Fellow Mentorship Award was presented to Neha Pagidipati, MD. This award is given to a faculty member demonstrating dedication and excellence in mentoring fellows’ careers.

Faculty-selected awards, which are made possible through the generosity of Duke philanthropic donors:

The Walter F. Floyd Award is a peer-selected award that goes to a fellow demonstrating the most outstanding clinical skills and acumen. This year’s recipient is Willard Applefield, MD.

The Joseph G. Greenfield Award is given to a fellow demonstrating excellence, dedication and contribution to research. This year’s recipient is Vishal Rao, MD, MPH.

The Cassell-Saperstein Award is given to a fellow demonstrating commitment to teaching and a passion for clinical education. This year’s recipient is Michelle Kelsey, MD.

The Brandt and Belinda Louie Award is given to a fellow demonstrating excellence in all three missions of Duke Heart: clinical, education, and research. This year’s recipient is Kelly Arps, MD.

The year-end celebration for our trainees in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery was celebrated as a virtual event on Friday, June 17.

Congratulations to the following:

• Babatunde Yerokun, MD has taken a surgery position at Saint Thomas Hospital for Specialty Surgery in Nashville, TN.
• David Ranney, MD has taken a surgery position at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI.
• Doug Overbey, MD will remain at Duke as our very first trainee in the new Congenital Cardiac Surgery Fellowship.

As you can see, it was a big week for trainees throughout Duke Heart – congratulations to all of you. Your hard work, commitment and excellence shines and we are so proud of all that you’ve accomplished!

Duke Heart at ASE 2022

Duke Heart was well represented at the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Scientific Sessions held June 10-13 in Seattle, WA. Madhav Swaminathan, MD, MBBS, MMCi, FASE, Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Duke Anesthesiology, and Professor of Anesthesiology, Duke University School of Medicine, served as the President of ASE from 2021-2022. By all accounts an amazing year of leadership and well represented the entire field and Duke Heart.  Dr. Pamela Douglas was honored during the ASE gala event.  A number of our faculty and staff spoke and presented research, including Pamela Douglas, MD; Anita M. Kelsey, MD; Joseph Kisslo, MD; David Adams, ACS; Alicia Armour, ACS; Colin Dunbar II, RDCS; Dallas Gardner, RDCS; Melissa Lefevre, RDCS, and Richard Palma, ACS. Cardiology fellow Manasi Tannu, MD, an ASE Foundation Top Investigator grant winner, also presented (see below “kudos”). Two students from our Cardiac Ultrasound Certificate Program received ASE Foundation student scholarships — Nick Medlock received the Waggoner Award and Daisy Chang received the Katanick Award.

Congratulations to all!

Kudos to Tannu

First-year cardiology fellow Manasi Tannu, MD, who was awarded an American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Foundation top investigator grant in early May, presented her work at the ASE scientific sessions in Seattle this past weekend. Her presentations included:

1. Echocardiography based estimation of pulmonary vascular resistance and outcomes in patients with pulmonary hypertension.
2. Prognostic value of right ventricular-pulmonary artery coupling in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Congratulations to Dr. Tannu and her co-authors!

DUHS AONL Nurse Leaders Advocate on Capitol Hill

Roughly 120 nurse leaders from 33 states – including several from Duke — met last week with state and federal representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to advocate for the American Organization of Nursing Leadership’s (AONL) 2022 legislative priorities. This included national strategies to address the nursing shortage and support legislation that promotes safety from violence for healthcare employees. DUHS nursing leaders (shown in photos) met with the offices of Representative David Rouzer, Representative David Price, Senator Thom Tillis, Senator Richard Burr, and Representative Ted Budd.

Pictured below from left to right are Katrina Green (Administrative Director Clinical Education & Professional Development), Frank Demarco (Associate CNO Emergency Services), and Laura Dickerson (Clinical Operations Director Heart Services)

Great work – and thank you for representing Duke Health and North Carolina!

 

Duke Heart Grows by One

Congratulations to Emily and Mike Towery on the birth of their son, Amos. The family reported, “After 72 hours of labor, Amos Richard Towery came into the world weighing 7 lbs, 15 oz! We are so in love with him and we are all doing great!”

Emily, a cardiology device nurse, and Mike, a PA, are both members of our cardiology team. We are so excited for them and can’t wait to meet Amos!

Photos of the Week

In a move that surprised us all, Terry Fortin has traded in her flip phone for an iPhone. Congratulations, Terry!

Mike Sketch, Richard Stack, and Chris O’Connor ran into one another as they were out and about town this weekend. They first met in 1988 at Duke. They shared a photo with us – it’s always great to see friends and colleagues!

Duke Children’s Hospital #1 in NC

Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center continues to rank as the No. 1 children’s hospital in North Carolina by U.S. News & World Report, with nine pediatric specialties ranked among the best in the nation. Duke Children’s also retained a prominent position in the region and nationally – ranking fourth in the southeast and 27th in the nation in the magazine’s annual listing. Duke also received top marks in this year’s list for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery, placing seventh nationally. To read the full news release, please visit: https://duke.is/zphv9. Congratulations to all!

Medicine Grand Rounds Update

The Department of Medicine announced last week that they are moving Medicine Grand Rounds to an 8 a.m. time slot in order to maximize in-person attendance, especially among trainees. The time change from noon to 8 a.m. went into effect on Friday, June 17. MGR will continue to be offered both in-person and virtually. All sessions are recorded and available for viewing on the Duke Medicine Grand Rounds website.

Reminder: Exterior Doors

It is critical to keep exterior doors closed. Allowing them to be propped open presents a security risk to our patients and our team members. Please do not prop exterior doors. Thank you!

COVID-19 Update

All the latest Clinical Operations updates related to COVID can be found at https://covid-19.dukehealth.org. Patient-facing resources on DukeHealth.org can be found here: https://www.dukehealth.org/covid-19-update/resources. Duke University maintains a resource page as well, which can be accessed here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/updates/for-staff.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

AHA Aortic Stenosis Webinar features Vemulapalli

June 21: Undertreatment of Aortic Stenosis: A Conversation to Understand the Problem and Consider Solutions. Panelists include Sreekanth Vemulapalli, MD. 6-7 p.m. EDT. This national webinar is part of the American Heart Association’s Target: Aortic Stenosis initiative. For a full list of presenters and panelists or to register (registration is required), please visit: https://bit.ly/3OrktdS.

June 24: Be The Match Registry Drive. 8 a.m. – 3 p.m., Duke University Hospital outside of Atrium Café. If you’re between the ages of 18-35 years old, consider registering as a potential stem cell/bone marrow donor via Be The Match. Help support our cardiology team member and ALL survivor, Dayana Ramos.

Did you know that every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer? You can help be part of their cure. It’s quick and easy — with just a swab kit, it can be determined if your bone marrow or stem cells can save a patient’s life. Come to event to learn more or visit https://bethematch.org. Test kits are available through the registry website.

June 30: Women in Cardiology. Arrive by 6:30 p.m. The WIC team has announced their next meeting will be at the home of Dr. Pamela Douglas. The theme of the event will be ‘Mentorship and Sponsorship’ with panelists Dr. Douglas, Dr. Jenn Rymer, Dr. Tracy Wang, and Dr. Camille Frazier-Mills. We are lucky to have such a group of incredibly accomplished women and we can’t wait to hear about their mentorship and sponsorship experiences and advice. Dinner will be provided. For more details, please contact cardiology fellow Karen Flores Rosario, MD.

Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium

June 27 & 28. The Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium returns to Durham this year and is offered as a hybrid event. This symposium is sponsored by the Edna and Fred L. Mandel, Jr. Foundation.

Registration required. In person: Great Hall, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center, Durham, NC. For those who wish to attend virtually, the event will offer live-streaming. The link will be emailed prior to the program. Registrants who choose the virtual live-streamed webinar option will be able to obtain CE credit for the course. For more information, contact Christy Darnell.

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Cardiology Grand Rounds has concluded and will resume in September.

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. Submissions by Noon, Wednesdays, to be considered for weekend inclusion.

Duke Heart in the News:

June 11 — Robert Mentz

CBS Mornings/Eye on America (Boston, MA)

Spirituality can improve outcomes for patients with heart failure

https://duke.is/pk2j9

June 12 — Adrian Hernandez

The New York Times

Ivermectin Has Little Effect on Recovery Time From Covid, Study Finds

https://duke.is/rbb7p

June 15 — Adrian Hernandez

Newsobserver.com

Ivermectin does not shorten COVID-19 illness, according to large Duke clinical trial

https://duke.is/yvrcu

June 16 — Christopher Granger

Medpage Today

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Impact on Long-term Survival

https://duke.is/cwnys

June 16 — Sunil Rao

tctMD

Risking COVID-19 for Professional Gain? Spring’s In-Person Meetings in Hindsight

https://duke.is/w5hg3

June 16 — Adrian Hernandez

Axios

Ivermectin doesn’t meaningfully aid COVID-19 recovery, study finds

https://duke.is/jcs27

June 17 — Renato Lopes

World Stock Market/CNN Vital Signs

CNN Vital Signs explains how to avoid thrombosis

https://duke.is/8qx3t

 

Division of Cardiology Publications Indexed in PubMed June 9-15, 2022

Alexander KP. Meaningful Evidence for Anticoagulation in the Gray (Elder) Zone. JAMA Cardiol 2022 Jun 1;7(6):581-582. PM: 35416911.

Del Brutto VJ, Diener HC, Easton JD, Granger CB, Cronin L, Kleine E, Grauer C, Brueckmann M, Toyoda K, Schellinger PD, Lyrer P, Molina CA, Chutinet A, Bladin CF, Estol CJ, Sacco RL. Predictors of Recurrent Stroke After Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source in the RE-SPECT ESUS Trial. J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Jun 7;11(11):e023545. PM: 35656979.

Don CW, Zwischenberger BA, Kurlansky PA, Rao SV, Sharma G, Lawton JS, Tamis-Holland JE. 2021 ACC/AHA/SCAI Coronary Artery Revascularization Guidelines for Managing the Nonculprit Artery in STEMI. JACC Case Rep 2022 Apr 6;4(7):377-384. PM: 35693904.

Eikelboom J, Rangarajan S, Jolly SS, Belley-Cote EP, Whitlock R, Beresh H, Lewis G, Xu L, Chan N, Bangdiwala S, Diaz R, Orlandini A, Hassany M, Tarhuni WM, Yusufali AM, Sharma SK, Kontsevaya A, Lopez-Jaramillo P, Avezum A, Dans AL, Wasserman S, Felix C, et al. The Anti-Coronavirus Therapies (ACT) Trials: Design, Baseline Characteristics, and Challenges. CJC Open 2022 Jun;4(6):568-576. PM: 35252829.

Figtree GA, Redfors B, Kozor R, Vernon ST, Grieve SM, Mazhar J, Thiele H, Patel MR, Udelson JE, Selker HP, Ohman EM, Maehara A, Karmpaliotis D, Eitel I, Granger CB, Ben-Yehuda O, Stone GW, Kosmidou I. Clinical Outcomes in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation MI and No Standard Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors. JACC Cardiovasc Interv 2022 Jun 13;15(11):1167-1175. PM: 35680197.

Garg A, Rout A, Farhan S, Waxman S, Giustino G, Tayal R, Abbott JD, Huber K, Angiolillo DJ, Rao SV. Dual antiplatelet therapy duration after percutaneous coronary intervention using drug eluting stents in high bleeding risk patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Am Heart J 2022 Aug;250:1-10. PM: 35436504.

Kern MJ, Applegate B, Bittl J, Block P, Butman S, Dehmer G, Garratt KN, Henry T, Hirshfeld J, Holmes DR, Kaplan A, King S, Klein LW, Krucoff MW, Kutcher MA, Naidu SS, Pichard A, Ruiz CE, Skelding KA, Tobis JM, Tommaso C, Weiner BH, White C. Conversations in cardiology: Late career transitions-Retool, retire, refocus. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2022 Jun;99(7):2136-2144. PM: 35446473.

Mann DL, Hernandez AF, Braunwald E. Could Neprilysin Be Already Inhibited by BNP in the LIFE Trial?-Reply. JAMA Cardiol 2022 Jun 1;7(6):657-658. PM: 35507336.

Memon MM, Siddiqui AA, Amin E, Shaikh FN, Khan MS, Doukky R, Krasuski RA. Novel oral anticoagulants versus vitamin K antagonists in patients with atrial fibrillation after transcatheter aortic valve replacement: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2022 Jun;99(7):2101-2110. PM: 35476221.

Nelson MB, Gilbert ON, Duncan PW, Kitzman DW, Reeves GR, Whellan DJ, Mentz RJ, Chen H, Hewston LA, Taylor KM, Pastva AM. Intervention Adherence in REHAB-HF: Predictors and Relationship With Physical Function, Quality of Life, and Clinical Events. J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Jun 7;11(11):e024246. PM: 35656973.

Pahuja M, Leifer ES, Clarke JD, Ahmad T, Daubert MA, Mark DB, Cooper L, Desvigne-Nickens P, Fiuzat M, Adams K, Ezekowitz J, Whellan DJ, Januzzi JL, O’Connor CM, Felker GM, Piña ILAssessing race and ethnicity differences in outcomes based on GDMT and target NT-proBNP in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: An analysis of the GUIDE-IT study.Prog Cardiovasc Dis Mar-Apr 2022;71:79-85.PM:35490873

Salah HM, Minhas AMK, Khan MS, Abramov D, Agarwal R, Fudim M. Trends and Characteristics of Hospitalizations in Patients With Heart Transplant. Curr Probl Cardiol 2022 Aug;47(8):101210. PM:35460682

Segar MW, Patel KV, Hellkamp AS, Vaduganathan M, Lokhnygina Y, Green JB, Wan SH, Kolkailah AA, Holman RR, Peterson ED, Kannan V, Willett DL, McGuire DK, Pandey A Validation of the WATCH-DM and TRS-HF Risk Scores to Predict the Risk of Incident Hospitalization for Heart Failure Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Multicohort Analysis. J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Jun 7;11(11):e024094. PM:35656988

Solomon SD, Claggett BL, Miao ZM, Diaz R, Felker GM, McMurray JJV, Metra M, Corbalan R, Filippatos G, Goudev AR, Mareev V, Serpytis P, Suter T, Yilmaz MB, Zannad F, Kupfer S, Heitner SB, Malik FI, Teerlink JR Influence of atrial fibrillation on efficacy and safety of omecamtiv mecarbil in heart failure: the GALACTIC-HF trial. Eur Heart J 2022 Jun 14;43(23):2212-2220. PM:35325102

Chief’s message:

As we come to the end of the academic year, we are reminded of the amazing faculty, fellows, residents, administrative and clinical staff and colleagues we have.  The year end is punctuated with having to say goodbye to many of our graduating fellows (we have our end of year party this upcoming week), and unfortunately some departures of faculty (you will see the note around Tom Gehrig and Magnus Ohman below).  We also have a set of year end recognitions and awards (School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, and Resident awards).  These times of change are moments to reflect and hopefully we can all celebrate these amazing life accomplishments and recognitions along with appreciating those that are leaving Duke.  We intend to celebrate our entire community over these next few weeks and look forward to sharing in the Pulse.

Highlights of the week:

Gehrig Departs Duke; Heads to UVA Health

Dr. Thomas Gehrig, associate professor of medicine in cardiology, and an integral part of our team for 24 years, will be moving to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (UVA). His last day with Duke Heart will be June 15.

Tom is one of our most cherished and beloved clinician-educators, a true role model for all of us and someone adored by his huge patient population. To say he will be greatly missed by everyone at Duke is quite the understatement.

For those of you who are unaware of his background, Tom is a hard-core University of Florida Gator, having been born in central Florida. He completed both his undergraduate and medical school studies there (where he, by the way, graduated number one in his class in med school). He went on to internal medicine house staff training at the University of Virginia, staying on as their Chief Resident, before joining the Duke Cardiology program in 1995 to focus on interventional and structural heart disease. He has remained at Duke ever since as a member of the Duke Heart Physicians (DHP) clinical group. He was a star then and remains a star now. As a fellow he won the Floyd Award for Clinical Excellence and as a faculty member won the Bashore Teaching Award, the Waugh Educational Award, and the School of Medicine’s Tow Humanism Award.

Over the last 24 years Tom has had a major impact on all that is Duke cardiology. His incredible work ethic, his outstanding clinical and teaching skills, his photographic memory, his kindness, his ability to work with virtually anyone, his respect for the staff and coworkers, and his loyalty to medicine and to Duke are all just part of who he is. He never knows a stranger, and he is the first to offer a helping hand when there is a need. Tom will be an associate professor of medicine at UVA, and they are extraordinarily lucky to have him. Fortunately, he knows some of the folks there already, and they know him. We can all be honored and proud that we were able to be associated with him while he was at Duke.

Tom would like to continue to be connected with his friends and colleagues here. His email at UVA is TRG2Z@virginia.edu. He says his job description at UVA will be similar to what he does here at Duke with a little more time off. His wife, Dr. Paola Gehrig, will be the W. Norman Thornton Jr. Professor and Chair of the Department of OB/GYN at the University of Virginia.

We all wish Tom and Paola the very best, as they represent the very best.

The above background and the following photos from recent celebrations for Tom and Paola are courtesy of Tom Bashore, MD and Cary Ward, MD – many thanks!

Asked about his time at Duke and in Durham, Gehrig says it’s a bittersweet time for his family. They’ve loved raising their children here, have enjoyed the uniqueness of the Triangle area and being part of their respective healthcare teams (his wife Paola has been on the faculty at UNC School of Medicine/UNC Lineberger). He adds that he’s had fantastic mentors, particularly Kevin Harrison, Tom Bashore and Andrew Wang – but also a great career partnering with the rest of the cardiology faculty. He says he jokes about probably being the only general cardiologist at Duke because he “takes on whatever comes along, so to speak.”

“Duke has been a wonderful place to have a career where I could practice any type of cardiology I wanted to and have supportive people around me,” Gehrig says. “The camaraderie here has always been fantastic. I think it has been unmatched, really, the camaraderie among physicians in our division in particular, but also with the surgical division. And I’m going to miss the patients – the south is known for a lot of things, I suppose, but definitely for its kind, wonderful people. I’ve got 1400 patients I see on a regular basis that are going to be hard to walk away from.”

As he looks to the future in Charlottesville, it’s a circling back to where he and Paola both did residency and where they have a lot of good friendships already in place. The opportunity to return to Virginia was something they always thought they’d be interested in, he says, and it literally came up out of nowhere and everything just fell into place. He jokes that it’s Paola that UVA really wants, that he’s just the ‘baggage’ along for the ride.

We know otherwise, of course. UVA is getting an amazing clinician in Gehrig. He’s a clinician who considers his patients to be the very best population at Duke, and he’s a beloved colleague who will be missed on a daily basis.

In addition to Bashore and Ward, we asked others for their thoughts on Tom. Here is what they shared with us:

From Tom Povsic, MD:

“It has simply been an honor to be a fellow and faculty colleague of Tom’s. I can think of no one who exemplifies a “man for others” better than Tom. With Tom it is always about those around him: his colleagues, the fellows and students who have been lucky enough to learn from him, and most of all his patients. It is daunting to take care of or cath one of his patients, not only because of how they regard him, but because of the level of care he provides (I have it from reliable sources the he broke the curve for the rest of us taking cardiology boards) and the empathy and concern he imparts to them. Duke cardiology, our trainees, staff and Duke cardiology patients will sorely miss Tom. I can think of no one to whom I would rather entrust a family member or loved one’s care. We will find people to see his patients, but he will not be replaced.”

From Andrew Wang, MD:

“Dr. Tom Gehrig, over 24 years as a Duke Cardiology fellow and faculty member, was the epitome of a master clinician and educator. He had a keen sense of what the patient and learners needed in the moment and over time. His care of his patients and the trainees whom he taught were exemplary and highly respected by all. He is the cardiologist that you would want caring for your family or yourself. As a colleague, he was always willing and eager to lend a hand (or two), his sage advice and kind support. His daily contributions to our division will be greatly missed, and UVA is very fortunate to have him on their faculty.”

From Jimmy Tcheng, MD:

“I’ve had the privilege of having Tom as a friend, colleague, and confidant for nearly 25 years. I can recall as if just yesterday when he began his Duke cardiology fellowship in 1998 – inquisitive and eager to learn while already advanced beyond his years in clinical acumen. His humanistic qualities were readily apparent, his remarkable ability to relate to patients, to engender trust – all qualities that set him apart from day one. In the cath lab, he proved to be a “natural”, rapidly mastering the techniques and technologies of interventional cardiology. We have since shared many days shoulder to shoulder in the cath lab, with his facility to integrate clinical knowledge, patient characteristics, and technical command consistently providing the perspectives needed to chart the best possible course for our patients. His steadying influence and balanced approach have been consistent and remarkable qualities that we would all do well to emulate. And not only is he the “physician’s physician” – but a great teacher and educator as well. Tom will be deeply missed – his thoughtfulness, compassion, brilliance, perspectives and wit truly set him apart as the “Best of Duke”. I wish him the best in his future endeavors, he is leaving Duke a better place.”

From Schuyler Jones, MD:

“Tom has been a great teacher and partner for me over the last 20 years. He’s a consummate professional and a master clinician, but more than that, he’s a really great guy and someone I always felt I could reach out to for advice and guidance. Like the rest of the Duke cath lab, I’ll miss his sarcastic banter with the staff and fellows, and his total dedication to patient care and quality. Best of luck to Tom and Paola as they return to Charlottesville.”

From Manesh Patel, MD:

“It’s bittersweet to have someone like Tom Gehrig leave Duke.  Tom has been one of our best clinicians with a focus on teaching our fellows, delivering the highest quality care, but most of all just being a great friend and partner.  UVA is lucky to have him and I am sure he and Paola will enjoy the return.  We will miss someone that we could call at anytime about a patient and he would provide sage and thoughtful guidance, with compassion and understanding.  He is truly one of our best, and we wish him well and hope to continue to work together in the future.

Shown in photos are:

DHP GROUP:  From Left: Mike Sketch, Tom Bashore, Anita Kelsey, Tom Gehrig, Cary Ward, Andrew Wang, Kevin Harrison

The Gehrigs:  their son Joe Gehrig, Tom & Paola Gehrig

Gehrig and OP Staff: Michelle Johnson, Christine Beyer-McFarlane and Edana Christy with Tom

Gehrig and faculty:  From Left: Andrew Wang, Paul Rosenberg, Rob Mentz, Cary Ward, Tom

Best wishes, Tom!!

Magnus Ohman to retire from clinical medicine to become Vice-President of Global Development of Cardiometabolic therapeutics for Amgen

Magnus came to Duke from Dublin, Ireland in 1987 to complete a cardiology fellowship and to build on his translational research work on beta-adrenergic receptors with Dr. Gary Stiles.  A meeting with Dr. Galen Wagner changed his trajectory.  Galen suggested that Magnus should connect with Dr. Robert Califf to see if Magnus may be some interest in working on clinical trials at Duke, given Magnus’ exposure to the Clinical Trials Unit at University of Oxford with Richard Peto and Rory Collins. Magnus became the 6^th Duke Databank fellow and started working with Rob on the TAMI trials. He later became one of the founding members of the Duke Clinical Research Institute in 1996, with Dr. Chris Granger, Dr. Dan Mark, Dr. Chris O’Connor and Dr. Bob Harrington, among others.  The Duke Databank and later DCRI collaboration led to a fantastic opportunity to test new strategies in Acute Coronary Syndromes and cardiac devices.  Magnus led the first adequately sized randomized clinical trial (RCT) of a device, IABP, in STEMI in the early 1990s. His knowledge from the Oxford days also became helpful as Rob Califf and Chris Granger embarked on the GUSTO trials. Magnus continued to revolutionize clinical trials throughout his career. Some of these included trial designs assessing infarct size in STEMI with Dr Manesh Patel (JAMA); the first dedicated ACS trial for medical management with dual anti-platelet therapy with Dr Matt Roe (NEJM); and testing low-dose oral anti-coagulation with clopidogrel or ticagrelor in ACS without aspirin (Lancet).

One of the spin-offs (sub-study) led by Magnus was the GUSTO-II trial Troponin T study. The study was assessing the ECG, CK-MB, which was the gold standard for diagnosing MI at the time.  The new marker, Troponin T, was a potential new way of diagnosing MI. The GUSTO TnT study showed that this marker was better aligned with the cardiovascular risk of the patient and therefore a better marker for determining MI.  The first Universal Definition of MI meeting held jointly with ESC, AHA and ACC then led to redefinition of MI using troponin as the new standard.  Magnus continued the biomarker work with Dr. Kristin Newby, among others. They published several papers together using biomarkers for risk stratification and linking it to a therapeutic strategy.  Some of these have now become standard practice in ACS such as the early invasive strategy based on troponin positive non-STEMI patients.

In the late 1990s after several large RCTs in ACS had been completed, it became clear that there was a gap between the practice of ACS and the findings from the RCT trials.  Jointly with Drs Brian Gibler, Eric Peterson and Matt Roe, Magnus led the first large-scale Quality Improvement (QI) registry in ACS, called the CRUSADE program.  It evaluated over 250,000 patients from about 400 US hospitals over a 5-year period.  One of the most seminal papers from this registry written by Eric Peterson was able to link the better adherence to ACC/AHA guideline recommended therapies with improved survival.  This registry was later adopted by the ACC and now forms the basis for the NCDR ACTION registry.

Magnus has been a big advocate for the value of collaboration and mentorship not only within Duke, but across multiple institutions and continents.  This collaborative work has been richly rewarded with a large publication record of over 700 peer-reviewed articles, 47 book-chapters, and 3 books. Among these, Magnus authored 16 papers in NEJM, 14 in the Lancet and 15 in JAMA making him one of the top 1% cited researcher worldwide from 2001 to 2020 by Clarivate Analytics.

Because of his large clinical trial experience, Magnus has been a frequent advisor to the FDA.  He served on the Circulatory System Device Panel for 7 years and remains an ad-hoc member.  He was also a member of the ACCF/AHA Task Force for Practice Guidelines between 2010 and 2019, being one of their longest serving members that helped shape the ACC/AHA guidelines into their present format.

In 1991, Magnus finished his interventional training under Drs Richard Stack and Harry Phillips. Over the years his practice gravitated towards high-risk PCI.  This led him to explore innovative solutions to support patients needing PCI with reduced cardiac function.  In the late 1990s, he initiated a program at Duke for ECMO supported PCI.  This was followed by Impella supported PCI in the late 2000s.  His dedication towards the management of high-risk PCI led Magnus to be inducted into the International Andreas Gruentzig Society honoring the innovators of PCI. More recently he collaborated with Dr Tom Povsic on novel therapies for patients with Advanced Coronary Disease including gene therapy. Dr Chris O’Connor and Magnus formally proposed this program in the early 2010. Magnus became its first director with assistance of philanthropic support from the Rawson family.  It remains the only endowed Directorship at Duke Health.

In 2000, Magnus became the Chief of Division of Cardiology and the first Director of the UNC Heart Center.  While at UNC, Magnus was unaware that he remained a DCRI faculty member. It was therefore a big surprise after spending 5 rewarding years at UNC that he never left Duke! Drs Pam Douglas and Tom Ryan recruited Magnus back to focus on patients with Advanced Coronary Disease and help re-organize the Duke Heart out-patient clinics.  The latter included a new model that Magnus and Dr David Zaas (now CEO at MUSC Health) developed that added mid-level providers (NPs and PAs) and nurse-clinicians to facilitate new patients accessing Duke Cardiology.  The program continues on now and has created a team-care model that is now being replicated in other parts of Duke Health.

In 2012, Drs John Paat, Jim Kelly, and Magnus started Signature Care at Duke.  A concierge system of care within Duke Health; Magnus being the only cardiologist. It was the first concierge practice within an academic setting in the US and has now been replicated by other leading academic centers around the country.  The program accelerated philanthropic giving to Duke. Dr Mary Klotman made Magnus the Vice-Chair of Medicine for Development and Innovation (2014-20), where he, with Duke Alumni and Development officers, raised over $12 million over the period towards research programs in Duke Medicine and the Heart Center.  Several Cardiology fellows have subsequently benefitted from the Ernest Mario Family Foundation award and outside speakers for the Lynn Williams lecture in Cardiovascular Genetics.

Magnus has followed a large number of patients at Duke over several years.  “It has been an honor to be partner with so many wonderful patients.  It will be hard to leave them, but I am comforted that they will continue to have outstanding care at Duke by the many exceptional providers at Duke Heart.”

In his new role he hopes to continue to build on the relationship DCRI and Duke Heart has with industry and serve as a mentor to Duke faculty and fellows.  He will also help steer philanthropic gifts to Duke. “My journey at Duke over 35 years have been amazing and I am so grateful for all the support and collaboration that I have received from Duke.  Our three children were all born at Duke; as a family we will forever love Duke”.

Personally, I believe we will miss the tremendous impact that Magnus had on the way we think about clinical cardiology, interventional cardiology, and his continual desire to push us to innovate and improve how we thought about cardiovascular care.  We are sure that Amgen will benefit from his leadership, and look forward to continuing to partner with him on innovating cardiovascular care.

Duke DOM Recognizes Fortin, Shah with Faculty Awards

The Duke Department of Medicine presented their annual faculty awards during their Annual Celebration held on Thursday, June 9 at the University Club in Durham. Congratulations to Drs. Terry Fortin and Nishant Shah! Fortin received the 2022 Master Clinician Award and Shah received the 2022 Excellence in Education Award.

We are so proud of each of them. Well deserved!

Duke IM Chief Residents Award Rymer, Abraham & Loriaux

The Duke Internal Medicine chief residents — Jessica Regan, MD; Dennis Narcisse, MD, MS; Nancy Yang, MD, and Michael Burt, MD — presented the annual awards honoring excellence in the Department of Medicine’s education mission at Medicine Grand Rounds on Friday, June 10. The team recognizes medical students, residents, fellows and faculty for their service and excellence in teaching.

Several awards were given to team members in the division of cardiology:

• Jennifer Rymer received the Greenfield Research Mentor Award
• Dennis Abraham received the Eugene Stead Award for Excellence in Teaching
• Dan Loriaux received the Fellowship Teaching Award

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Incoming Duke IM chiefs include cardiology fellows Lonnie Sullivan, MD and Sara Coles, MD; rheumatology/immunology fellow Nathanial Harris, MD, PhD and internal medicine resident Ryan Duffy, MD.

Well deserved! Congratulations, Jenn, Dennis and Dan!

  

Thomas Looks to Lead SOM Toward a More Equitable Future & He’s Up for the Challenge

Kevin Thomas, MD, associate professor of medicine in cardiology, had little interest in cardiology when he first entered medical school, but it is difficult now to separate his journey toward becoming a cardiologist from his current work advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

In November 2021, Thomas, an electrophysiologist in Duke’s Division of Cardiology, was named the Duke University School of Medicine’s vice dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion by Dean Mary E. Klotman. The role is a first for the school, and was among the key action items outlined in the anti-racism and advancing equity strategic plan launched by the School of Medicine in June 2021.

“The creation of this critical new leadership role reflects the school’s commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion,” Klotman said. “We needed someone with great strategic vision, perspective, and dedication to lead this effort. Kevin Thomas embodies those qualities. We could not have made a better choice, and he is already making a difference.”

Thomas has been at Duke for more than 22 years, making a mark on health disparities research in the cardiology field. If it weren’t for a few notable encounters with the right people at the right time, Thomas said, he may not have ended up in either role.

An Unexpected Path

Choosing cardiology as a specialty at Duke almost felt clichéd, Thomas said, and he did his best to avoid it initially. As a visiting fourth-year medical student, he became attracted to gastroenterology after a rotation in the division and working under Mark Swaim, MD.

But after a few of his mentors in that discipline left to pursue positions at other institutions, he began to wonder if there was something else in store for him. “This is not coincidence,” he recalled thinking at the time.

Despite his initial resistance to cardiology, events and interactions kept steering him toward it. During Thomas’ first year of training at Duke, close friend Mark East, MD, who was a Duke cardiology fellow at the time told him outright that he was going to become a cardiologist and that he should embrace it. “He said, ‘Kevin, you know you’re going to do cardiology; I don’t know why you’re trying to run from it,’” Thomas said.

Ultimately, as a person of faith, Thomas decided he should pay attention to the signs. “There was this narrative that people kept telling me: ‘Oh, you have to do cardiology.’ Through all those experiences, I said I feel like God is speaking to me, and maybe I need to consider cardiology.”

So he did. Thomas became a cardiology fellow and chief resident at Duke. He has no doubt now that it was the right choice because it put him on the path to his other passion: equity, diversity, and inclusion work. His time as a fellow opened his eyes to health inequities, in cardiology in particular.

“I began to see people being treated differently based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status,” Thomas said. “There were things happening that were making me uncomfortable and made me want to see change. This is really when my passion and interest in health inequities and health disparities came about.”

The realization led Thomas to begin researching the topic, and he has never stopped.

“I found research as a way to try to understand why these differences, disparities, and inequalities existed,” he said. “Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer particularly of African Americans. Cardiology was a great platform and a conduit for me to get into my equity, diversity, and inclusion work.”

Kevin’s story continues in Magnify. To continue reading, please click here.

 

Holley Team Secures Translational Research Grant

Congratulations to Chris Holley, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine in cardiology. He and his team have recently secured

a translational research grant through the North Carolina Biotechnology Center for their proposal, “Silencing Small Nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) with Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASOs) for Treatment of Atherosclerosis”. Holley’s research lab is located within the Duke Cardiovascular Research Center. The research grant includes $110K in funding.

Exciting news, Chris — congratulations!

 

 

 

 

Duke Heart Team in Honduras

Our Duke Heart for Honduras team has been having a successful week – they provided photos of their welcome, first patient and an incredible cake that was provided by the Honduras-based team for Carmelo Milano’s birthday. Not only did our Duke team receive a warm celebration upon arrival, they also earned some positive news coverage while in Honduras – be sure to see below in our news section.

We look forward to hearing all about the trip when they return.

Duke Heart NP Plans ‘Be The Match’ Drive

Prior to June 2020 Dayana Ramos, a cardiology nurse practitioner at Duke University Hospital (DUH), was travelling throughout the world as often as she was able to do so. She had run a marathon, was spending time with friends and family, and was engrossed in a fulfilling nursing career. But that month, seemingly out of nowhere, the avid runner and walker started experiencing bouts of fatigue that she, at first, attributed to effects of the pandemic. Of her circle of friends, Ramos and others would tell you she was the most health-conscious and fit among them. Suddenly, going up a short flight of steps left her out of breath and she couldn’t complete an easy afternoon bike ride. Within weeks, Ramos received a diagnosis that stunned her family, friends and coworkers: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). She had just turned 37 and had no family history of blood cancer.

She began induction therapy treatment within days of her diagnosis, spending 35 days on 9100 at DUH. Despite two full courses of treatment, it wasn’t enough. She needed a stem cell transplant, but had no family matches. Seventy percent of patients with blood cancers or other disorders don’t have a blood stem cell donor match in their family.

Ramos and her care team turned to the Be The Match registry, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, and went through 6 or 7 potential matches before a good stem cell donor candidate was found. The transplant was successful and she is now back at work with our cardiology patients. She was away from work for a year and a half during the pandemic. With her family located in PA, northern VA and FL, she limited her contact to just a few close friends and several family members who could rotate through Durham to stay with and care for her during treatment.

She was really lucky. Dayana is Latina. Statistics show the odds of her finding a match based on her ethnic background were only 48 percent. For Blacks/African Americans, the disparity is even worse: 29 percent. For Caucasians, the chances are much higher at 79 percent. Patients are most likely to match with someone of their same ethnicity.

To increase awareness and do what she can to increase representation in the registry, Ramos is  holding a Be the Match registration drive at Duke University Hospital on Friday, June 24th from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside the Atrium Café. Her goal is to increase understanding about blood cancers and the National Marrow Donor Registry and to increase the field of potential matches. Ideal registrants are between the ages of 18 and 35. She’d like to emphasize that registering is easy and that if a registrant ends up being a match, the costs associated with the donation process are covered and that donating, overall, is pretty easy. She encourages anyone who is interested to learn more.

Please consider stopping by the Be The Match drive on June 24 and supporting Dayana. She’s amazing and we are so glad she is doing well!

Shout-out to Khan!

A shout-out to cardiology fellow Shahzeb Khan, MD, who presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 82nd annual Scientific Sessions (held as a hybrid event from June 3-7 in New Orleans, LA). Khan presented on the socioeconomics of heart failure.

Way to represent Duke Heart, Shahzeb!

AHA Go Red Luncheon

The American Heart Association’s 15^th Annual Triangle Go Red for Women luncheon was held on Friday, June 3 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The event included health and wellness breakout sessions on mindfulness and well-being, healthy nutrition tips, and heart disease/stroke prevention. A big shout-out to Neha Pagidipati, MD for her ‘Real Talk with a Doc’ session on prevention and what women most need to know. Excellent job, Neha!!

The luncheon included Margot Ridgeway’s moving stroke survivor story. Ridgeway, an NC State student and soccer player suffered a stroke at the beginning of the pandemic. Although she was displaying multiple signs of stroke, her condition went undiagnosed for several days. Now 21, Ridgeway–along with her mom– talked about her medical crisis and recovery. Both are now dedicated to raising awareness of stroke and heart disease among all ages. To read more about her story, visit: https://duke.is/j6bu9)

The Go Red luncheon included a heart disease survivor fashion show and recognition of local AHA ‘Women of Impact’ including Duke’s own Priscilla Ramseur, DNP, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer of Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us and help make this event a success!

 

 

COVID-19 Update

All the latest Clinical Operations updates related to COVID can be found at https://covid-19.dukehealth.org. Patient-facing resources on DukeHealth.org can be found here: https://www.dukehealth.org/covid-19-update/resources. Duke University maintains a resource page as well, which can be accessed here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/updates/for-staff.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

June 30: Women in Cardiology. Arrive by 6:30 p.m. The WIC team has announced their next meeting will be at the home of Dr. Pamela Douglas. The theme of the event will be ‘Mentorship and Sponsorship’ with panelists Dr. Douglas, Dr. Jenn Rymer, Dr. Tracy Wang, and Dr. Camille Frazier-Mills. We are lucky to have such a group of incredibly accomplished women and we can’t wait to hear about their mentorship and sponsorship experiences and advice. Dinner will be provided. For more details, please contact cardiology fellow Karen Flores Rosario, MD.

June 24: Be The Match Registry Drive. 8 a.m. – 3 p.m., Duke University Hospital outside of Atrium Café. If you’re between the ages of 18-35 years old, consider registering as a potential stem cell/bone marrow donor via Be The Match. Help support our cardiology team member and ALL survivor, Dayana Ramos.

Did you know that every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer? You can help be part of their cure. It’s quick and easy — with just a swab kit, it can be determined if your bone marrow or stem cells can save a patient’s life. Come to event to learn more or visit https://bethematch.org. Test kits are available through the registry website.

Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium

June 27 & 28. The Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium returns to Durham this year and is offered as a hybrid event. This symposium is sponsored by the Edna and Fred L. Mandel, Jr. Foundation.

Registration required. In person: Great Hall, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center, Durham, NC. For those who wish to attend virtually, the event will offer live-streaming. The link will be emailed prior to the program. Registrants who choose the virtual live-streamed webinar option will be able to obtain CE credit for the course. For more information, contact Christy Darnell.

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Cardiology Grand Rounds has concluded and will resume in September.

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. Submissions by Noon, Wednesdays, to be considered for weekend inclusion. 

Duke Heart in the News:

June 6 — William Kraus

CBS/The Today Show

Prescription exercise? How doctors are tailoring workout plans

https://duke.is/paaap

June 7 — Carmelo Milano, Alina Nicoara, Adam Williams & Alejandro Murillo

Hondudiario.com (Honduras)

Honduras Medical Center es sede de la Brigada Cardiovascular “Unidos por el Corazón, por una noble causa”

https://duke.is/jhfgm

June 8 — Carmelo Milano, Alina Nicoara, Adam Williams & Alejandro Murillo

El Pais.hn (Honduras)

El Hospital Honduras Medical Center es Sede de la Brigada Cardiovascular “Unidos por El Corazon”

https://duke.is/ya5wv

June 9 — Stephen Greene

Practical Cardiology

Don’t Miss a Beat: oHCM and Mavacamten, with Anjali Owens, MD

https://duke.is/vcaf2

Division of Cardiology Publications Indexed in PubMed June 2-8, 2022

Allen LaPointe NM, Ali-Ahmed F, Dalgaard F, Kosinski AS, Schmidler GS, Al-Khatib SM. Outcomes of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy with Image-Guided Left Ventricular Lead Placement at the Site of Latest Mechanical Activation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Interv Cardiol 2022 May 20;2022:6285894. PM: 35655661

Collins KA, Huffman KM, Wolever RQ, Smith PJ, Siegler IC, Ross LM, Hauser ER, Jiang R, Jakicic JM, Costa PT, Kraus WE. Determinants of Dropout from and Variation in Adherence to an Exercise Intervention: The STRRIDE Randomized Trials. Transl J Am Coll Sports Med 2022 ;7(1):e000190. PM: 35669034.

Drozda JP, Graham J, Muhlestein JB, Tcheng JE, Roach J, Forsyth T, Knight S, McKinnon A, May H, Wilson NA, Berlin JA, Simard EP. Multi-institutional distributed data networks for real-world evidence about medical devices: building unique device identifiers into longitudinal data (BUILD). JAMIA Open 2022 May 25;5(2):ooac035. PM: 35663113.

Echouffo-Tcheugui JB, Musani SK, Bertoni AG, Correa A, Fox ER, Mentz RJ. Patients phenotypes and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes: the Jackson Heart Study. Cardiovasc Diabetol 2022 Jun 1;21(1):89. PM: 35650579.

Harrington J, Jones WS, Udell JA, Hannan K, Bhatt DL, Anker SD, Petrie MC, Vedin O, Butler J, Hernandez AF. Acute Decompensated Heart Failure in the Setting of Acute Coronary Syndrome. JACC Heart Fail 2022 Jun;10(6):404-414. PM: 35654525.

Jean-Charles PY, Rajiv V, Sarker S, Han S, Bai Y, Masoudi A, Shenoy SK. A single phenylalanine residue in β-arrestin2 critically regulates its binding to G protein-coupled receptors. J Biol Chem 2022 May;298(5):101837. PM: 35307348.

Lerman JB, Giamberardino SN, Hernandez AF, Felker GM, Shah SH, McGarrah RW. Plasma metabolites associated with functional and clinical outcomes in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction with and without type 2 diabetes. Sci Rep 2022 Jun 2;12(1):9183. PM: 35654972.

Petek BJ, Moulson N, Baggish AL, Drezner JA, Harmon KG, Klein CF, Kliethermes SA, Patel MR, Churchill TW. Electrocardiographic findings in young competitive athletes during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. J Electrocardiol May-Jun 2022;72:13-15. PM: 35219112.

Pinsker BL, Serfas JD, Awerbach JD, Dizon S, Spector ZZ, Campbell MJ, Krasuski RA. Utility of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Predicting Atrial Arrhythmias in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot. Am J Cardiol 2022 Jul 1;174:151-157. PM: 35473783.

Rao S, Hurst JH, Zhao C, Goldstein BA, Thomas L, Lang JE, Kelly MS. Asthma and the Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics 2022 Jun 1;149(6):e2021056164. PM: 35274143.

Rymer JA, Bhatt DL, Angiolillo DJ, Diaz M, Garratt KN, Waksman R, Edwards L, Tasissa G, Salahuddin K, El-Sabae H, Dell’Anna C, Davidson-Ray L, Washam JB, Ohman EM, Wang TY. Cangrelor Use Patterns and Transition to Oral P2Y Inhibitors Among Patients With Myocardial Infarction: Initial Results From the CAMEO Registry. J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Jun 7;11(11):e024513. PM: 35621210.

Singh AK, Cizman B, Carroll K, McMurray JJV, Perkovic V, Jha V, Johansen KL, Lopes RD, Macdougall IC, Obrador GT, Waikar SS, Wanner C, Wheeler DC, Wiecek A, Stankus N, Strutz F, Blackorby A, Cobitz AR, Meadowcroft AM, Paul G, Ranganathan P, Sedani S, Solo. Efficacy and Safety of Daprodustat for Treatment of Anemia of Chronic Kidney Disease in Incident Dialysis Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med 2022 Jun 1;182(6):592-602. PM: 35377393.

Szarek M, Hess C, Patel MR, Jones WS, Berger JS, Baumgartner I, Katona B, Mahaffey KW, Norgren L, Blomster J, Rockhold FW, Hsia J, Fowkes FGR, Bonaca MP. Total Cardiovascular and Limb Events and the Impact of Polyvascular Disease in Chronic Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease. J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Jun 7;11(11):e025504. PM: 35621222.

Venkatraman V, Ponder M, Gellad ZF, Lad SP, Christy E, Plichta R, Harrison JK, Hughes GC, Doberne J. Feasibility study of a novel digital health platform for patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement. J Card Surg 2022 Jul;37(7):2017-2022. PM: 35434823.

Wang YZ, Zhao W, Ammous F, Song Y, Du J, Shang L, Ratliff SM, Moore K, Kelly KM, Needham BL, Diez Roux AV, Liu Y, Butler KR, Kardia SLR, Mukherjee B, Zhou X, Smith JA. DNA Methylation Mediates the Association Between Individual and Neighborhood Social Disadvantage and Cardiovascular Risk Factors. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022 May 19;9:848768. PM: 35665255.

 

Chief’s message:

In Memoriam: Robb Kociol, MD, former Cardiology Fellow

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Robb Kociol, MD, a 2011 graduate of our cardiology fellowship program.

A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Kociol came to Duke for fellowship from Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was noted during fellowship for being caring, fun, smart, and often self-deprecating. He was passionate about advanced heart failure care and after training at Duke, returned to Boston and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a faculty member. He eventually became the director of their Transplant Program. Over the last few years, he transitioned to pharma – initially at Boehringer Ingelheim before going to Cytokinetics where he partnered with Duke faculty and company leadership for the omecamtiv mecarbil work.

He is survived by his wife Kristin, their two young daughters, and his parents.

Robb was a friend, gentle and thoughtful, and will be missed by all of us that knew him and by the larger cardiovascular community. His passing, like many of the events over the last few years, reminds us how precious life is and the bonds we have with each other.

At this time, service details have not been announced. We will remain in contact with the family to get details around his service, and ensure that the Duke community works to find any ways that we can support them.

As a start, below is a gofundme site that has been started to support his family.

We asked several Duke Heart team members to share their thoughts on Robb with us. Here is what they wrote:

From Adrian Hernandez, MD:

“Robb came to Duke as a cardiology fellow with the triple aim of excellence in clinical care, research, and education.  He achieved all of this plus more.  What we learned from Robb is there is a 4th aim- excellence in humanity. He cared about people- friends, family, and others. It showed every day. 

As we’ve learned about Robb’s passing, I know it brings up so many fond memories of him.  Some of my best experiences have been with and because of Robb.  At the beginning of his fellowship, I remember when he first met with me and asked if I could be his mentor in his own quirky style.  Along the way, I had the privilege to see things differently through his eyes when he had decisions to make, opportunities to consider and difficult times to confront.  Each time our conversation turned to what was best for the family and the people around him. He also had plenty of amusing stories to share in his self-deprecating way.

Just one example of his impact comes from several years ago when I had the pleasure of visiting Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center. Robb had just started the advanced heart failure program with ventricular assist devices, and it was clearly on its way to success.    Every fellow noted how much of an impact Robb had on the place, their lives, and the lives of others.  I heard stories from the fellows about Robb and the amount of time he spent with them and the patients selflessly ensuring their success.  He led by example and all the fellows wanted to be like Robb.   He relentlessly dedicated himself to every patient for the best outcome possible whether on ECMO or getting a VAD or making a tough decision at the end of life.    He also wanted everyone to learn together and advance the field.  He was so committed and loved it. That was Robb—committed to others.   I was thankful Robb had ignored my advice on starting a VAD program- “Don’t do it. It’s impossibly hard, especially in Boston!” His reply, “I know, but its family.”

From Ravi Karra, MD:

“Robb was the best.  He was brilliant and led by modeling excellence with humility and a quirky charm that was infectious. No one left a chat, text, or email from Robb without a smile on their face. Robb was always dedicated to serving patients and taking care of his family. Robb loved doctoring more than anyone I have ever met, and Robb was a great doctor. As a new attending, he built up the heart transplant program at the BI, caring for his patients as soon as the cross-clamp came off.  He absolutely adored his wife, Kristin, and his girls, Sophia and Olivia. When catching up with Robb, he always gushed about what his girls were up to and always expressed his deep appreciation and love for Kristin. His sudden passing has been heart-breaking. My family has been privileged to know and grow with the Kociol’s – we sorely miss our dear friend.”

From Robert Mentz, MD:

“Robb lived an inspiring life. An exceptional clinician and researcher, he was a role model for many interested in improving care for patients with heart failure. He excelled during his training at Duke and the DCRI. Brilliant, hardworking and engaging, he helped lead a number of foundational projects in outcomes research and trials. Having trailed him at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Duke, I became used to being referred to as “Robb” – though his shoes would be impossible to fill. He paved the way for many of us and was a thoughtful mentor and friend.

Following his training, he returned to Boston where he went on to lead and expand the advanced heart failure program at Beth Israel. He worked so incredibly hard to provide the best possible care for his patients. He had a remarkable career as a clinician investigator but perhaps even more inspiring was his life as a husband, father and friend. He faced both personal and family health issues with grit, courage and resiliency. It was shocking to hear of his passing and our thoughts go out to his wife and kids in particular. May they find some peace in knowing the tremendous impact he has had on so many of his colleagues and patients’ lives.

We will explore the best ways to support his family and remember his legacy within the walls of Duke and beyond. Back in 2016, he published a thoughtful piece about the need to be a well-rounded clinician – his words extend beyond clinical medicine and truly reflect the well-rounded and caring man he was – he will be missed.”

From Jason Katz, MD:

“Robb was a brilliant cardiologist, but most importantly he was a compassionate, caring, and beautiful human being. He had overcome so many obstacles over the last several years, and yet remained steadfast to the important things in life – his family, friends, and his passion for innovation. I am glad I had the chance to speak with him just a few weeks ago and was able to tell him how lucky we all felt to work with him. He represented the Duke family in such amazing ways.”

 

Highlights of the week:

Jill Engel named Service Line VP, Heart & Vascular Services

Jill Engel, RN, DNP, FNP, ACNP, ANP, NEA-BC, FAANP, has been named Service Line Vice President – Heart & Vascular Services, Duke University Health System (DUHS), effective July 1, 2022. She holds a wealth of experience and expertise for our organization and was promoted to the role after an extensive and very competitive national search.

Jill is a health care leader specializing in operational care redesign and strategic planning; programmatic design, development and financial planning; and a strong track record of recruiting, retaining, coaching and mentoring diverse and highly functional teams.

As an accomplished Advanced Practice Provider (APP) and nursing leader with an expertise and passion for advancing the mission of the heart and vascular service line, Jill served as interim Service Line VP – Heart & Vascular Services, DUHS, for nearly 18 months. During this time, Jill demonstrated her capabilities to strategically collaborate with physicians and colleagues, improve operational effectiveness and develop people. Prior to this interim role, Jill served as the nursing leader for the heart and vascular service line.

Additionally, she has served since 2020 as Academic Program Advisory Board member for Duke University School of Nursing and the Duke University School of Medicine (School of Cardiac Sonography).

The announcement was made on Thursday, June 2 by Craig Albanese, MD, executive vice president and chief operating officer for DUHS.

Personally, I will just add that Jill’s has been a great partner to work with and we are inspired by her ability to understand the issues that our clinical teams face in our day to day activities, her drive to improve patient care, and her ability to communicate broadly to our teams.

Please join us in congratulating Jill on her new executive leadership role!

Duke CTSI Announces MURDOCK Biorepository Initiative for Investigators

The Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) has announced a new opportunity for Duke investigators to obtain biospecimens from the MURDOCK Study for research. The MURDOCK study is a landmark longitudinal cohort of more than 12,000 diverse participants linked to clinical data and up to 14 years of outcomes data.

The MURDOCK Biorepository Transformation Initiative, led by the Duke Kannapolis Research group, will work with Duke investigators to convert samples into rich molecular datasets by facilitating access to these samples.

To make the MURDOCK samples easier to access, researchers will only incur costs for biospecimen retrieval and shipment.

“Through this science-forward initiative, we are making thousands of biospecimens and associated clinical and outcome data available to all Duke researchers,” said Svati Shah, MD, MHS, professor of medicine, associate dean for genomics, and director of Duke Kannapolis Research. “We are thrilled for the opportunity to share this powerful resource with more Duke collaborators, and we are incredibly grateful to the greater than 12,000 participants who contributed to one of the most unique biorepositories of its kind.”

The broad phenotypes included in the community-based MURDOCK cohort provide an excellent opportunity to study many different diseases and longitudinal outcomes, as well as serving as matched controls.

To read the full story, please visit: https://duke.is/2627y

Call for Heart Walk Captains, Walkers

Duke Health will once again participate in the Triangle Heart Walk and Dr. Rick Shannon has put out the call for team captains and walkers. Shannon is serving as the 2022 Heart Walk Campaign Chair.

The Heart Walk is the American Heart Association’s (AHA) premiere fundraising event that brings communities across the U.S. together to celebrate progress in the fight against heart disease and stroke, which remain the No. 1 and No. 5 leading causes of death in adult Americans.

In this year of renewal, we especially want to dedicate our efforts in remembrance of those members of the Duke family who have lost their lives or that of a loved one to heart disease and redouble our efforts to prevent these tragic losses.

After two years, the Triangle Heart Walk is planned as an in-person event this fall (date will be announced this summer). Our Duke Health theme is “We’re back—and together, we’re stronger than ever!” This will be a great opportunity to gather and celebrate one another and our efforts to reinvigorate heart-healthy lifestyles as well as raise lifesaving funds for the AHA.

We have set a goal of recruiting 350 team captains and 3,500 walkers to represent Duke Health, with a fundraising target of $350,000. Achieving this would make 2022 our most successful Heart Walk ever – and we can do this, together! Please consider becoming a team captain or committing to join a Duke Heart Walk team.

Registering as a team captain or walker is quick and easy.

1. Visit https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/GSA-GreaterSoutheastAffiliate?pg=entry&fr_id=7037
2. Select the “Create new team” or the “Join a Team” button. Then complete the registration page.
3. Personalize your page with a photo and send emails inviting others (co-workers, friends and family) to join the team and donate to your fundraiser.

If you have any questions, you can contact Sangeetha Menon, Development Director for the Triangle American Heart Association via email (sangeetha.menon@heart.org). She can help you get started.

Blumer Presents Final CGR of Season

Vanessa Blumer, MD, cardiology fellow, presented our final cardiology grand rounds of the season on Tuesday evening, May 31. Her topic was “Heart Failure Cardiogenic Shock and the Golden Circle.” Vanessa walked us through her “why” for this area of research and provided the current evidence around detection, management, and the working group on cardiogenic shock. Great job!

Duke Heart Team Heads to Honduras

A team from Duke Heart, comprised of cardiothoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, perfusionists, nurses, an engineer, a medical student and a surgery resident have left on a medical mission trip to Honduras. The team, part of an effort known as Duke Heart for Honduras, is headed to the country of approximately 10 million people which has almost no cardiac surgery practitioners or facilities, and a very high incidence of rheumatic valvular heart disease. The team will be in Honduras through June 12 to perform cardiac surgery at Honduras Medical Center in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. This is the second trip for Duke Heart for Honduras. The first trip was in 2019.

COVID-19 Update

All the latest Clinical Operations updates related to COVID can be found at https://covid-19.dukehealth.org. Patient-facing resources on DukeHealth.org can be found here: https://www.dukehealth.org/covid-19-update/resources. Duke University maintains a resource page as well, which can be accessed here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/updates/for-staff.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Cardiology Grand Rounds has concluded and will resume in September. Thanks for joining us – 2021-2022 has been a great year of presentations!

Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium

June 27 & 28. The Duke-Stanford Cardiovascular Research Symposium returns to Durham this year and is offered as a hybrid event. This symposium is sponsored by the Edna and Fred L. Mandel, Jr. Foundation.

Registration required. In person: Great Hall, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center, Durham, NC. For those who wish to attend virtually, the event will offer live-streaming. The link will be emailed prior to the program. Registrants who choose the virtual live-streamed webinar option will be able to obtain CE credit for the course. For more information, contact Christy Darnell.

 

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. Submissions by Noon, Wednesdays, to be considered for weekend inclusion.

 

Division of Cardiology Publications Indexed in PubMed May 26 – June 1, 2022

Erickson ML, Wang W, Counts J, Redman LM, Parker D, Huebner JL, Dunn J, Kraus WE. Field-Based Assessments of Behavioral Patterns During Shiftwork in Police Academy Trainees Using Wearable Technology. J Biol Rhythms 2022 Jun;37(3):260-271. PM: 35416084.

Généreux P, Kirtane AJ, Kandzari DE, Armstrong EJ, Krucoff MW, Redfors B, Ben-Yehuda O, Lerew DR, Ali ZA, Maehara A, O’Neill WW, Stone GW. Randomized evaluation of vessel preparation with orbital atherectomy prior to drug-eluting stent implantation in severely calcified coronary artery lesions: Design and rationale of the ECLIPSE trial. Am Heart J 2022 Jul;249:1-11. PM: 35288105.

Jones WS, Wruck LM, Harrington RA, Hernandez AF. Iterative approaches to the use of electronic health records data for large pragmatic studies. Contemp Clin Trials 2022 Jun;117:106789. PM: 35545204.

Macedo AVS, de Barros E Silva PGM, de Paula TC, Moll-Bernardes RJ, Mendonça Dos Santos T, Mazza L, Feldman A, Arruda GDAS, de Albuquerque DC, de Sousa AS, de Souza OF, Gibson CM, Granger CB, Alexander JH, Lopes RD. Discontinuing vs continuing ACEIs and ARBs in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 according to disease severity: Insights from the BRACE CORONA trial. Am Heart J 2022 Jul;249:86-97. PM: 35405099.

Petek BJ, Moulson N, Drezner JA, Harmon KG, Kliethermes SA, Churchill TW, Patel MR, Baggish AL. Cardiovascular Outcomes in Collegiate Athletes After SARS-CoV-2 Infection: 1-Year Follow-Up From the Outcomes Registry for Cardiac Conditions in Athletes. Circulation 2022 May 31;145(22):1690-1692. PM: 35545946.

Pfeiffer CT, Paulo JA, Gygi SP, Rockman HA. Proximity labeling for investigating protein-protein interactions. Methods Cell Biol 2022 ;169:237-266. PM: 35623704.

Pokorney SD, Cocoros N, Al-Khalidi HR, Haynes K, Li S, Al-Khatib SM, Corrigan-Curay J, Driscoll MR, Garcia C, Calvert SB, Harkins T, Jin R, Knecht D, Levenson M, Lin ND, Martin D, McCall D, McMahill-Walraven C, Nair V, Parlett L, Petrone A, Temple R, Zhan. Effect of Mailing Educational Material to Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Their Clinicians on Use of Oral Anticoagulants: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open 2022 May 2;5(5):e2214321. PM: 35639381.

Reading Turchioe M, Volodarskiy A, Pathak J, Wright DN, Tcheng JE, Slotwiner D. Systematic review of current natural language processing methods and applications in cardiology. Heart 2022 May 25;108(12):909-916. PM: 34711662.

Sandhu RK, Seiler A, Johnson CJ, Bunch TJ, Deering TF, Deneke T, Kirchhof P, Natale A, Piccini JP, Russo AM, Hills MT, Varosy PD, Araia A, Smith AM, Freeman J. Heart Rhythm Society Atrial Fibrillation Centers of Excellence Study: A survey analysis of stakeholder practices, needs, and barriers. Heart Rhythm 2022 Jun;19(6):1039-1048. PM: 35428582.

Shavadia JS, Alemayehu W, deFilippi C, Westerhout CM, Tromp J, Granger CB, Armstrong PW, van Diepen S. Novel multi-marker proteomics in phenotypically matched patients with ST-segment myocardial infarction: association with clinical outcomes. J Thromb Thrombolysis 2022 May;53(4):841-850. PM: 34708315.

Singer DE, Atlas SJ, Go AS, Lopes RD, Lubitz SA, McManus DD, Revkin JH, Mills D, Crosson LA, Lenane JC, Aronson RS. ReducinG stroke by screening for UndiAgnosed atRial fibrillation in elderly inDividuals (GUARD-AF): Rationale and design of the GUARD-AF randomized trial of screening for atrial fibrillation with a 14-day patch-based continuous ECG monitor. Am Heart J 2022 Jul;249:76-85. PM: 35472303.

Udell JA, Lu D, Bagai A, Dodson JA, Desai NR, Fonarow GC, Goyal A, Garratt KN, Lucas J, Weintraub WS, Forman DE, Roe MT, Alexander KP. Preexisting frailty and outcomes in older patients with acute myocardial infarction. Am Heart J 2022 Jul;249:34-44. PM: 35339451.