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Duke Heart Pulse June 18th 2023

By Manesh Patel, M.D. in Uncategorized on June 18, 2023.

Chief’s message:

Happy Father’s day to all the fathers and father figures throughout our Duke Heart teams. It is said it takes a village to raise our young, and we want to express our thanks to the fathers who provide love and support to so many. Hopefully you all will have a good day. Also, as we near the end of the Academic year, we will update the coming weeks with our graduating fellows and their future plans and impact on our cardiovascular program and cardiac-thoracic surgery group.

Also – we apologize as we are unable to insert the photos into the blog this week – we will include these in upcoming weeks.

Highlights of the week:

Celebrating Freedom & Juneteenth

Monday is Juneteenth, a federal holiday as of 2021. In honor of that, we are sharing the message issued last week by Chancellor Washington, as well as a short message from Dr. Fatima Zahara Syed.

“Freedom. Heritage. Remembrance. Reflection. Community. Our national holidays provide us with many opportunities to celebrate these fundamental values; and on June 19, we celebrate Juneteenth, the date that news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally made it to the formerly enslaved Black residents of Galveston, Texas — a full two years after the end of the Civil War. Juneteenth is one of our nation’s mileposts in an ongoing story of freedom and self-determination.

Juneteenth points to an essential truth at the core of our national story that freedom must be continually fought for. That is why the flag of Juneteenth is red, white and blue. Today, these colors remind us of our collective responsibility to live up to the beautiful pursuit of liberty and justice for all.

Here at Duke Health, we continue to work on behalf of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, because we believe that these ideals are the bedrock of a healthier society. While there is much more yet to achieve, both here at Duke and throughout our nation, we must also celebrate progress.

So this Juneteenth, I hope you will spend time with loved ones, volunteer in the community, and take time to reflect on the many twists and turns in our still unfolding story. In so doing, may we all feel inspired to keep pushing for progress in advancing our founding principles of freedom and equality.” — With appreciation and gratitude, A. Eugene Washington, MD, Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University.

“As we strive to foster an inclusive and equitable environment within our department and institution, it is essential that we take the time to reflect on the significance of this day and its relevance to the ongoing fight against systemic racism and social injustice,” said Fatima Zahara Syed, MD, associate professor of medicine in the division of General Internal Medicine and vice chief for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Duke University School of Medicine. “Let us embrace Juneteenth as an opportunity to deepen our understanding, foster empathy, and reinforce our commitment to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment within our institution and beyond.”

Also worth checking out is this video clip from Duke’s Racial Equity Advisory Council: https://duke.is/vc6d5, which features Kim Hewitt, Duke University’s vice president for institutional equity, and Abbas Benmamoun, vice provost for faculty advancement giving their thoughts on the role of the Council and helping everyone feel welcome across Duke.

Patel Formally Recognized by AHA as Physician of the Year

In a virtual event held Wednesday evening, June 14, the American Heart Association formally acknowledged the recipients of their 2023 National Volunteer Awards – among them, Duke Heart’s Manesh Patel, MD, who received recognition as their Physician of the Year.

The event was hosted by Ray Vara, AHA’s Chairman of the Board, 2021-2023; Dr. Michelle Albert, AHA President; and Nancy Brown, AHA’s Chief Executive Officer. It was emceed by Sonia Azad, health and wellness reporter.

In total, 17 people and organizations were honored, and each honoree was introduced by a surprise special guest. For Manesh, his surprise presenter was Rob Califf, MD, cardiologist, Duke alum, and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

“One characteristic that I really cherish in Manesh is that he is a mentor,” Califf remarked. “If you look at the people that have come along behind him, he’s helped so many people, looked after them, advanced their careers, and they’ve gone on to do great things. I’ve always thought the best mark of a person in medicine is not the work of the person, but the work of all the people who came along afterwards – you really see what they can do.”

To see a recording of the event, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking here. The section specific to Dr. Patel begins at 1:21:30.

Congratulations to Manesh and his fellow honorees!

Graduating AHFTC Fellows Celebrated!

Our graduating Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology fellows were celebrated at an End-of-Year dinner on Friday evening, June 16, at Hawthorne & Wood in Chapel Hill. We are excited for them as they each move into faculty positions! Jamie Diamond is heading to Emory Healthcare in Atlanta; Nima Moghaddam is joining our faculty at Duke, and Vishal Rao will head to MUSC Health.

Congratulations!!!

ICYMI: JCF Series Explores How Eroding Abortion Access Impacts the HF Community

The Journal of Cardiac Failure has launched a series that will explore the intersection of reproductive health and heart failure care following the loss of federal abortion protections in the US nearly a year ago. The series debuted this week with a perspective piece, Pregnancy and Left Ventricular Assist Devices in the Post Roe v Wade Era, co-authored by cardiology fellow Karen Flores Rosario, MD; Jerome Federspiel, MD, PhD; Stuart Russell, MD; Jonas Swartz, MD, MPh; Jason Katz, MD, MHS; Beverly Gray, MD; Stephanie Barnes, NP, and Richa Agarwal, MD.

The recurring feature was announced in a JCF Editor’s Page article by associate editor Nosheen Reza, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania; Editor-in-Chief Robert Mentz, MD, of Duke, and Deputy Editor Anu Lala, MD of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Several other articles are planned over the coming months. To learn more, see the TCTMD article in our News section.

Shout-out to Shah!

Nishant Shah was quoted in USA Today last week – and received a highlight for that in The Duke Daily. Nicely done, Nishant! To see that news story and many others, see our ‘In the News’ section, below.

Kevin Shah Named CMO for Duke Primary Care

Dr. Tom Owens, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Duke University Health System announced on Monday that Kevin Shah, MD, MBA, has been named Chief Medical Officer for Duke Primary Care (DPC) and Vice President of Duke University Health System (DUHS), effective June 1, 2023.

In this new role, Dr. Shah will be the senior health system leader overseeing the DPC Network with responsibility for clinical quality and outcomes, operational excellence, and financial performance. In close partnership with DHIP and system executive leadership, Dr. Shah will oversee the strategic direction, growth, and deployment of primary and urgent care services across the health system. Dr. Shah will lead a high performing and diverse team of operational and clinical leaders, working collaboratively to prioritize quality and safety for our patients, as well as champion the effective recruitment, retention, and wellbeing of our providers.

Kevin has served as the Interim Chief Medical Officer for DPC since June 22, 2022. He joined the DPC network in 2015 and has served in numerous leadership roles, including Associate Chief Medical Officer for Innovation and Improvement and Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Operations. In these roles, he was instrumental in helping DPC achieve strong clinical quality and operational success. Kevin has worked closely with multiple leaders across our specialty and our inpatient platforms and is regarded by his colleagues as a talented physician, leader and mentor. Dr. Shah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and continues to see patients at Duke Primary Care South Durham. In his new role, he will report to Dr. Owens.

Quick Reminders & Updates

Masking is now optional. Duke Health went masking optional as of Tuesday, June 13. Masking is optional for patients, visitors, and team members in most circumstances. NOTE: Guidelines and exceptions are available in Sharepoint.

DHIP Updates: The transition team released a Q&A via email on Friday, June 16 regarding Temporary Medical Leave. If you missed it, you can find all the information here, look under “Benefits Information.”

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Cardiology Grand Rounds is on hiatus for the summer. We’ll be back in the fall!

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 7 — William Kraus

The Washington Post

Forget 10,000 steps. 7 surprising tips for step counters.

https://duke.is/y3wtu

June 8 — Jacob Schroder

U.S. News & World Report

New Approach to Transplants Could Boost Supply of Donor Hearts

https://duke.is/gykc8

June 8 — Duke University Hospital

Becker’s Hospital Review

This heart transplant method could increase the donor pool by 30%