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Duke Heart Pulse — January 14, 2024

By Tracey Koepke in Uncategorized on January 14, 2024.

Highlights of the week:

Shah Named Associate Dean for Translational Research

Svati H. Shah, MD, MS, MHS, has been named associate dean for translational research, effective immediately.  

In this role, Shah will serve in an expanded capacity from her previous role as associate dean of genomics. She will provide strategic vision, development, and oversight of translational research initiatives within the School of Medicine. Specifically, she will be responsible for overseeing biobanking service centers and the integration of large biologic datasets including storage and computer environments. Her leadership portfolio will also include the OneDukeBio Integrated Biospecimen Network. She will collaborate closely with associate and vice deans in related disciplines to ensure program alignment across the School of Medicine.

Shah has been a member of the Department of Medicine’s cardiology faculty since 2005. Currently, she is Ursula Geller Distinguished Professor of Research in Cardiovascular Disease, professor of bioinformatics and biostatistics, director of the Duke Center for Precision Health within the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), director of the Duke School of Medicine Precision Genomics Collaboratory, director of the Adult Cardiovascular Genetics Clinic, and a member of the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute and Duke Clinical Research Institute. She is the founding director of the Duke Center for Precision Health, chair of the research committee for the Board of Directors of the American Health Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarnoff Foundation.  

Shah is a physician-scientist and practicing cardiologist who sees patients and families with cardiovascular genetic disorders. Upon completing her internal medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she came to Duke for a cardiology fellowship in 2001, where she also completed a master’s degree in medical genomics and a postdoctoral fellowship in genetic epidemiology. 

Congratulations, Svati!

Selvaraj Selected for 2024 ASCI Award

We are thrilled to share that Senthil Selvaraj, MD has been selected as a recipient of an American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) 2024 Young Physician-Scientist Award (YPSA). The ASCI award is a significant early-career achievement and highly competitive; there were 172 nominations this year for 52 awards.

Selvaraj, an assistant professor of medicine in cardiology (Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant) at Duke and a faculty member in the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute is a past recipient of ASCI’s inaugural Emerging-Generation Awards in 2022 while he was at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

This is the second consecutive year that a faculty member from Duke Heart has earned one of ASCI’s YPSAs. Jennifer Rymer, MD, MBA, received a 2023 ASCI YPSA.

Way to go, Senthil! Congratulations!!

Duke Centennial Kick-off Features Easton Sinnamon, Joe Turek of Duke Heart

Duke University’s Centennial Celebration Kickoff was held Tuesday, Jan. 9 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a fantastic event with hosts (and alums!) Ken Jeong, comedian and actor, and Lisa Borders, former president of the Women’s National Basketball Association, along with a special appearance by Mike Krzyzewski. The trio helped highlight the many contributions the faculty, staff, students, and alumni have made over the years. Notable VIPs included Drs. Joseph Turek and Louise Markert who appeared as part of a special segment featuring the story of Easton Sinnamon, the now 3-year-old boy who received the world’s first combination heart transplant-thymus procedure here at Duke in 2021. Sinnamon is doing great, and his story stole the show!

If you did not get the opportunity to attend in person or to view the livestream, we have links for you! To see an overview and editor selection of key moments, visit https://100.duke.edu/story/start-of-a-centennial/

To get all the details regarding Duke’s Centennial and associated events, please visit the Centennial web page.

Kudos to Cox!

Kudos to Gail Cox for her assistance with a patient of Bill Kraus’ who was having anemia and dyspnea in a post-operative period. The patient and their family, who live in Western Virginia, reached out to whomever they knew at Duke to handle this difficult and frightening situation.

During their emergency, they had pulled their car over on the road after getting someone to take the call at Duke — that amazing person turned out to be Gail Cox. Cox listened to their description of the issue and then arranged for a Duke admission.

In gratitude, they sent a card to their care team – the card states:

“Dear Gail, We are so appreciative for your help and advocacy. We were struggling to get the help (for patient/name withheld) needed after surgery. You were there to get them the care they needed at Duke. They were able to come home and begin healing. Forever grateful.”

Nicely done, Gail!!!

Duke MyChart Transitioning to My Duke Health

On January 17, Duke MyChart will transition to My Duke Health, a sleek new online portal – app and website – with improved functionality and visual appeal.

My Duke Health is expected to provide a tailored, Duke-specific online experience for Duke Health patients, and puts all the convenient features of Duke MyChart into one place. By logging into the portal patients can:

Make in-person appointments for provider visits, lab work, imaging, and other tests like screening mammograms and sleep studies.
Schedule and attend virtual appointments with primary care providers and specialists.
Check-in for appointments up to 5 days ahead of time to save time on the day of an appointment.
Communicate with providers, view after-visit notes and test results.
Pay bills and view documents

Patients will be able to easily access urgent care virtual visits and view urgent care wait times. There is an option to read Duke Health news and learn about upcoming events, view articles related to the topic of the month, and search through an educational health library. The My Duke Health library contains hundreds of educational materials including short videos and other resources.

Soon, patients will be able to chat with a virtual assistant, view personalized resource pages based on their health needs, and connect with Duke Health Listens, an online community in which patients can offer direct feedback about their healthcare experience, and help us advance better health together.

NOTE: Accessing My Duke Health via smartphone or tablet will require downloading the new app which will be available on Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. in Google Play and in the Apple App Store, or by visiting MyDukeHealth.org.

Cardio-Oncology/Amyloid Symposium Announced

The Southeastern Cardio-Oncology Conference, The Future is Now will take place on March 8 at the JB Duke Hotel in Durham, NC. Event registration is open; the registration deadline is March 5.

Duke cardiologists Drs. Michel Khouri and Ravi Karra will be presenters during the symposium. Keynote to be provided by Dr. Avirup Guha, director of cardio-oncology and assistant professor of medicine at Augusta University’s Georgia Cancer Center.

The symposium is presented by Duke Cancer Network (DCN) in collaboration with Duke Cancer Institute. For more information, please contact Beth Tanner of DCN.

New Visitor Restrictions In Effect

Duke Health has updated visitation restrictions as of Wednesday, January 3.

Visiting hours are from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Visitors must check in at the hospital information desk to receive a visitor badge to enter inpatient areas.
All visitors must be age 12+. (Visitors in some clinical areas must be age 18+.)
Minors are required to be attended by an adult age 18+ at all times.
A maximum of two visitors are allowed per patient.
Visitors must check out upon departure at a kiosk or with information desk staff.
Visitors with fever, cough, or other flu-like symptoms should not visit.

For more details, refer to the Tier 2 visitation standard work document. Updated signage is posted.

Please note: Additional visitation and masking precautions may apply to certain patient populations, including COVID-19/Special Airborne Contact, oncology, end-of-life, and overnight visitors. Please follow all unit guidelines. Exceptions to visitation restrictions may be granted based on special circumstances, including without limitation, to permit Compassionate Care Visitors.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

National Wear Red Day is Friday, Feb. 2!
February is Heart Month

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Jan. 16: No CGR today.

Jan. 23: All you need to know about the new AF guidelines in the new year! with Jonathan Piccini. 5 p.m., DN 2002 or via Zoom.

Jan. 30: Unraveling ketone metabolism in the failing heart with Senthil Selvaraj. 5 p.m., DN 2002 or via Zoom.

Feb. 6: Implementation strategies to address the burden of Heart Failure with Harriette Van Spall of McMaster University. 5 p.m., DN 2002 or via Zoom.

All 2023 Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit: https://duke.is/DukeCGR; NET ID and password required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

Jan. 17: DHP Case Presentation with Aarti Thakkar, MD. Noon. DMP 2W96 (in-person only).

Jan. 19: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Andrew Wang, MD. Noon. Zoom only.

Office of Faculty Announces Event with Israni of Stanford Medicine, Feb. 26

Academic Medicine, with all its complexities, naturally includes conflict amongst its crucial collaborators – trainees, faculty, staff, communities and more. 21st century leadership skills require all of us to strategically leverage components of this conflict for constructive change, with intentional and thoughtful actions. This talk will weave together themes from restorative justice and design thinking; and how they can be applied to artificial intelligence and JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion), offering a case for new ways of leveraging conflict to advance a culture of connectedness and belonging. The featured speaker will be Sonoo Thadaney Israni of Stanford University’s Presence Center.

February 26: Leveraging Conflict for Constructive Change. 4-5:30 p.m., DN 2002. Presented by the Office for Faculty. Refreshments will follow. To learn more and register: https://duke.is/8/8d7f.

Upcoming CME Symposia for Spring, 2024

Heads up on some CME dates you might want to put on the calendar for next year. Our Duke Sports Cardiology & Sudden Death in Athletes symposium will be held at the Trent Semans Center on Friday, April 12, 2024. And our Duke Heart Failure Symposium will be held at the Durham Hilton on Saturday, May 4, 2024.

Registration won’t be open for a while, but if you have any questions about either event, please reach out to Christy Darnell.

As soon as registration opens, we’ll have that listed here in Pulse.

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:

January 4 — Joseph Turek

Le Monde (France)

Le premier nouveau-né ayant bénéficié d’une transplantation cardiaque partielle a aujourd’hui 14 mois

January 4 — Joseph Turek

Scripps News

Baby thriving a year after world’s first partial-heart transplant

January 4 — Joseph Turek

Medical Design & Development

‘World’s First’ Partial Heart Transplant Forms Functioning Valves and Arteries

January 4 — Joseph Turek, Lillian Kang, Douglas Overbey, and Michael Carboni

Nature