Chief’s message:

The spring is a time of graduations, meetings and some change.  It is bittersweet that we announce that Jack Haney will be leaving Duke to be the Chair of CT Surgery at Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville (full note below).  He will be missed.  We also have had several meetings this week with full stories to come in upcoming weeks but some brief highlights and photos here from the:

SCAI Meeting – national interventional meeting, outgoing President of SCAI Sunil Rao, with several Duke Presenters and Jennifer Rymer named one of the 30 in their 30s by SCAI.

HRS – with many EP presentations including this presentation by Adam DeVore a CHF MD seen at the meeting.

European Heart Failure meetings in Prague with week with several Duke Late Breaking trials – Rob Mentz pictured with the Paraglide presentation.

Finally, spring awards and recognitions including our two endowed professorships this year.

Highlights of the week:

Haney Appointed Chair, CT Surgery at Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville

John C. Haney, MD, MPH, assistant professor of surgery has accepted a position at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida as the next Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Dr. Haney’s final day with the Duke Heart team will be September 30, 2023.

Dr. Haney is a born and bred Blue Devil. He was born at Duke University Hospital, completed his medical education at the Duke University School of Medicine, and completed both his general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery residencies in the Duke Department of Surgery.

Dr. Haney joined the Duke faculty as an assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery in 2014. He has served as program director for the Traditional Cardiothoracic Surgery and Integrated Thoracic Surgery Residency Programs since 2020, and as director of the Thoracic Surgery Transplant Fellowship Program since 2019.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision for me but I am convinced it is the right one, and I am looking forward to testing myself as a department chair and leader,” says Dr. Haney.

“It is an understatement to say that Duke has been a huge part of my life. It saved my life as a preemie, it is where I met my soul mate and life partner, it provided all of my medical and surgical training, and it has given me tremendous opportunities to develop as a professional. For all of these things I will remain incredibly grateful.”

As Surgical Director for the Duke Lung Transplant Program, which boasts one of the highest lung transplant volumes in the United States, Dr. Haney has been instrumental in the program’s success and growth. His dedication to and passion for mentoring new surgeons, evidenced by multiple teaching awards, has helped elevate Duke’s cardiothoracic training programs on the national stage.

“Jack has been at Duke his entire life (literally, he was born at Duke),” says Allan D. Kirk, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Surgery. “He’s contributed richly as an undergraduate, medical student, resident, fellow, and attending surgeon. He’s become an exceptional surgeon and superb educator and has navigated Duke’s lung transplant program into the highest transplant echelons. We’ll certainly miss him, but in the most fitting tribute, the team he has built is exceptional and will certainly continue providing the world-class care we have come to expect from Duke Surgery.”

From the Cardiology and Medicine perspective – we will miss Jack greatly.  He has been an ardent patient advocate, educator of residents, and a colleague who we have had the pleasure of being able to call on at all times of day and night to help.  He is a true colleague and leader we hope to continue to collaborate with.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Haney and wishing him well in this exciting new phase of his career. He will be missed by all of us on the Duke Heart team!

 

Mathew Receives Career Mentoring Award

Joseph P. Mathew, MD, MHSc, MBA, the Jerry Reves, M.D. Distinguished Professor of Cardiac Anesthesiology, was recognized this week during the 2023 School of Medicine Spring Faculty Celebration held on Wednesday, May 17 at the Doris Duke Center, Duke Gardens. Mathew received a Duke School of Medicine Career Mentoring Award in Clinical Science.

The SOM’s Research Mentoring Awards, which include the Career Mentoring Award, recognize faculty members in the SOM for excellence in research mentoring. Excellence can be demonstrated in many ways, such as by the accomplishments of individual mentees, by programs implemented by the mentor, or by exceptional creativity in mentoring.

Congratulations, Joe – this is a well-deserved recognition!

To see the full list of 2023 Spring Faculty Award winners, please visit: https://duke.is/9jwws.

 

Harrington Receives Excellence in Fellowship Award

We are thrilled to share that advanced training in cardiology fellow Josephine Harrington has received the Robert A. Harrington Excellence in Fellowship Award at the Duke Clinical Research Institute’s 2023 graduation ceremony.

The Excellence in Fellowship Award is designed to recognize a graduating DCRI research fellow who has contributed the most to the DCRI fellowship during his/her tenure and who has demonstrated excellence in academic accomplishments, in participation in clinical research operations, and in peer-to-peer mentoring. Fellows considered for this award are expected to have demonstrated the following key attributes during their DCRI tenure: a passionate pursuit of innovative clinical research, humility, inclusiveness, loyalty to colleagues, consensus-building, and selflessness.

Congratulations, Joey!

 

Annual Faculty Basketball Game Held

The annual Duke Faculty vs. Duke Internal Medicine Residents basketball game was held Friday, May 19. There was excellent representation by Duke Heart faculty including Terry Fortin, Don Hegland, and Nishant Shah playing for the faculty. Zach Wegerman served as a referee while Lonnie Sullivan was the team coach for the residents as well as the organizer of the event.

This is definitely a great tradition! We’re so pleased with the Duke Heart turnout – way to go!

 

Shout-out to Keenan!

A tremendous shout-out to cardiothoracic surgeon Jeffrey Keenan! He implanted a VAD in a patient with very few options and discharged him on Friday so that he would be able to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding, held yesterday. What a blessing for his family!

Jeff Keenen is truly a gifted surgeon, but an even more incredible human being who cares so much about our patients.

Nicely done, Jeff and team!

 

 

 

 

Kudos to Agarwal & Gomez!

Jamie Hilton shared with us this week a sweet message she received through our Press Ganey survey comments about Richa

Agarwal and Leilani Gomez.

Hi Dr. Agarwal and Leilani,  I wanted to share another WONDERFUL Press Ganey comment from surveys last week. Obviously spelled Leilani’s name wrong – but it was clear who they meant!” – Jamie Hilton, Clinic 2F/2G Nurse Manager, Operations

The patient wrote:

“Dr Argawal, her nurse Lalania their entire staff of 2F/2G are amazing. They’re very welcoming and  very smart. Dr. Agarwal takes the time to review every chart and is invested in her patients care. She understands the complexities of patients with many other co-morbidities. She’s caring and excited to see her patients do well, they are very good about getting back to people within the allotted time frame. Very impressed. I’m very blessed. Thank you all!” – a grateful patient, name withheld for privacy

Amazing job Richa and Leilani, thank you!!

 

Great Catch, Matteson!

Congratulations and a big thank you to Kacie Matteson, a Duke Heart nurse on 7 West. Kacie noticed that the flow rate that was displaying on an Alaris IV pump was different than on the patient’s MAR. She checked the pump and identified that it had been programmed correctly, but also recognized that the pump was from another Duke facility and so had a different Guardrails library. She isolated the pump, which ensured that it would not remain in circulation and possibly lead to a medication error.

Kudos for her attention to detail and raising up a concern to allow other teams to learn more — way to go, Kacie!

 

ICYMI: DOM Spotlights Granger, Shah

Following the receipt of their distinguished professorships, Christopher Granger and Svati Shah have each been spotlighted by the Duke Department of Medicine in their This Week in Medicine newsletter:

Christopher Granger, MD, Donald F. Fortin, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine (May 16)

Tell us about your clinical, academic, or research interest and why you are passionate about this topic or area of focus.

Chris Granger:

I am passionate about improving survival for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.  We are working with communities across North Carolina in the RACE CARS trial that is testing how patients can be more likely to get bystander CPR and early cardiac defibrillation.  We have shown that when patients get bystander CPR and have an Automatic External Defibrillator placed before EMS arrives, they are much more likely to survive.

Who has influenced you the most in life and why?

The person who has influenced my professional career the most is Rob Califf. This makes it especially appropriate that I follow him as the Donald F. Fortin MD Endowed Distinguished Professor!  Rob is an inspiring, passionate advocate for generation of high-level evidence to improve patient care, and he has certainly inspired and trained me to be part of that mission!

What do you feel is your most significant professional contribution(s) to the field of medicine?

My most significant contributions have been in helping to lead large clinical trials of treatments for heart disease, such as the ARISTOTLE trial of apixaban versus warfarin for atrial fibrillation, called one of the most important practice-changing trials in the last 20 years by the prior editor of New England Journal of Medicine.

 

Professor Svati H. Shah, MD, MHS, Cardiology, Ursula Geller Distinguished Professor of Research in Cardiovascular Diseases (May 8)

Tell us about your clinical, academic, or research interest and why you are passionate about this topic or area of focus.

Svati Shah:

I am a physician-scientist and a cardiologist. I have a translational research laboratory within the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute where I study the genetic and molecular determinants of cardiometabolic diseases. I am lucky to get to work with a multi-disciplinary team in my lab including biostatisticians, bioinformaticians and genetics experts. Using large human cohorts and clinical trials biorepositories, we have identified key metabolic pathways and related biomarkers that underlie cardiometabolic disease risk and we study monogenic cardiovascular disorders. I am also fortunate to be the Director of the Duke-Kannapolis clinical research site which conducts clinically oriented, community-engaged translational research.

I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do research but to also take care of patients. I founded and direct the Duke Adult Cardiovascular Genetics Clinic where we care for patients with monogenic cardiovascular disorders. I am passionate about the use of genetics to identify undiagnosed disease and improve patient care; while we think of these as rare diseases, in aggregate in fact they are not that rare and frequently go undiagnosed and untreated. My passion for this field started as a cardiology fellow at Duke University when I was seeing very young patients having heart attacks, and was further amplified after my son was hospitalized with a gastrointestinal bleed. After a several month diagnostic odyssey, both my sons were diagnosed with a genetic bleeding disorder. I am excited to lead a new genomic medicine program within the Duke School of Medicine where we will be expanding the use of genetics for undiagnosed diseases with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.

Who has influenced you the most in life and why?

My family has influenced me the most. My parents are immigrants from India; they worked tirelessly to escape the poverty in which they were raised. My mother was a single mother who struggled to raise my sister and me, but she never gave up and even while trying to put food on the table, she always pushed to improve herself. She inspires me to work hard and pursue excellence in everything I do, both professionally and personally.

 

Next Week: June 2, Annual DOM End of Year Review

Department of Medicine (DOM) faculty and staff are invited to join Kathleen A. Cooney, MD, Chair, Department of Medicine and the George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Medicine, on Friday, June 2 at 8 a.m. for the annual DOM End of Year Review either in-person (Trent Semans Great Hall) or via Zoom. This event will take place during the regular time slot for Medicine Grand Rounds. Coffee/light breakfast will be provided at the Great Hall for those who choose to attend in person.

We look forward to celebrating and recognizing the numerous accomplishments across the department. If you plan to attend in person, please visit https://duke.is/p5p7y to RSVP by Thursday, May 25.

 

DHIP Open Enrollment Deadline, May 28

As part of the transition to Duke Health Integrated Practice (DHIP), a special Open Enrollment for Duke Benefits** is currently underway through May 28.

Click here for resources and details – dhip.org/enroll

**Special enrollment does not apply to Duke-leased employees who already have access to Duke benefits. No changes or elections can be made during this time.

 

Quick Reminders & Updates

 

• May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. We join Duke Health in celebrating the contributions and achievements of our AAPI team members and communities this month and every month.
• May is also American Stroke Month. Thanks to each and every one of our team members for the work you do to help control and to diminish the risks of cardiovascular diseases in our patient population – especially those with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and atrial fibrillation, all of which increase the risk of stroke.

 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

 

Cardiology Grand Rounds

May 23: The Many Faces of Cardiopulmonary Dyspnea: More than ‘just HF-pEF’ with cardiology fellow Anthony Peters. 5 p.m. Zoom link.

 

AHA Virtual Hands-Only CPR Event, June 1

As National CPR Week approaches (June 1-7) and as a special thank you to corporate sponsors of the Triangle Heart Walk and Go Red for Women, the American Heart Association (AHA) is inviting all interested team members from Duke Heart and Duke Health to attend a virtual hands-only CPR awareness event on June 1^st from 11 a.m. to Noon. Attendees will hear from a survivor, members of the local chapter of the American Heart Association, and learn about the importance of hands-only CPR and how to perform it.

Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States. Almost three out of four of those happen at home.

By attending this session, participants will increase their knowledge and awareness about Hands-Only CPR and learn how to act in the event of an emergency. By the end of the activity, employees will be aware of how and when to use Hands-Only CPR, what to do when calling 9-1-1, and specific ways to take action and get involved with our local AHA affiliate.

Event will be held via Microsoft Teams. June 1, 11 a.m. to Noon. https://duke.is/mr792. If you would like to receive a calendar invitation, please email Tracey Koepke.

 

Cardiac Safety Research Consortium Think Tank Meeting, June 7

The Cardiac Safety Research Consortium will hold a Think Tank meeting on June 7. The event,  CSRC Think Tank: Update on Regulatory Status of Hypertension, Biomarkers and Arrhythmia Monitoring in Clinical Trials will be held at the FDA.

In Session 1, these leading industry professionals will speak on panels discussing:

• Regulations for ECG/QT
• The double-negative conundrum
• Alternative methods for assay sensitivity assessment in routine Phase 1 QT Studies
• Covid-19 and prolonged QT

In Session 2, we will discuss:

• Small increases in blood pressure and CV risk I
• Intermittent versus chronic use hypertension drugs

In Session 3, the meeting faculty will dive into:

• Biomarkers

In Session 4, the panelists will discuss hot topics in the field such as:

• Biologics/cardiomyopathy and vaccine development
• MACE
• Gene therapies
• Wearables

The event will include professionals from FDA Regulatory, Cardiac Safety Consultants, Ltd., Eli Lilly, Richmond Pharmacology, University of Connecticut, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Cleveland Clinic, Clario, Mass General, DSI, Penn Medicine, and UCSF.

There is a registration fee for attendance, for academics it is $275. Registration and more information is available here: https://cardiac-safety.org/

The meeting will be held in person; a recording of the meeting and slide presentations will become available a month after the event occurs.

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:

May 11 — Richard Krasuski

Medscape

1 in 5 Brain Injury Trials Show Errors, Signs of Spin

https://duke.is/6h8n8

 

May 12 — Patrick Pun (Nephrology)

Healio/Nephrology

Azithromycin correlated with risk of sudden cardiac death among patients on dialysis

https://duke.is/pdk6z

May 15 — Deepshikha Ashana (Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care)

tctMD

As US Abortion Access Grows Patchier, Cardiologist Concerns Mount

https://duke.is/rc6zg

May 15 — Kristen Peterson (Pharmacy, Oncology)

Pharmacy Practice News

Taking Cardiotoxicity to Heart in Cancer Patients

https://duke.is/5rs7d

May 16 — Amy Pastva (Ortho)

Medscape

Heart Failure With Preserved EF: New Insights, Respect for Exercise?

https://duke.is/bzsf5

May 18 — Duke Clinical Research Institute

The Courier Times

Initiative aims to improve cardiac event outcomes

https://duke.is/4mkgy