Highlights of the week:
Thakkar, Shah Present at IANANC Event
Duke Cardiology fellow Aarti Thakkar, MD, MPH, and cardiologist Nishant Shah, MD were keynote speakers at a community education event sponsored by the North Carolina chapter of the Indian American Nurses Association (IANANC). The event, “Heart Matters,” aimed at raising awareness of cardiovascular risks in South Asian populations was held yesterday, Aug. 10, 2024, at the Lourdes Matha Catholic Church in Apex, NC.
“Being of South Asian ethnicity is a risk enhancer in the current prevention guidelines,” says Shah. “Many South Asians are unaware of how high their cardiovascular risk is and frequently would benefit from preventive therapies early to avoid premature cardiovascular events.” 
Thakkar and Shah spoke about risks specific to South Asian populations and management strategies to optimize cardiovascular risk.
Established in 2010, the IANANC has held numerous community events to help raise awareness of critical healthy habits. Sheela Sajan, a cardiovascular nurse manager with the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, currently serves as local chapter president. Sajan, who works closely with cardiology faculty members at the VAMC, is particularly passionate about promoting community awareness around cardiovascular health issues.
Way to go, Aarti and Nishant! Thanks for supporting our community and for taking the time to spread reliable health information!
Kevin Cox Named to NC Great 100
Congratulations to Kevin Cox! He has been named to the 2024 Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina.
Additional 2024 recipients from Duke include Lorraine Wilson Batts of Duke Regional Hospital; Charmaine Duckie of Duke Primary Care; Amie Koch of Duke University School of Nursing; Carolina Kroninger of Duke University Health System, and Malinda Teague of Duke University School of Nursing.
Recipients will be celebrated at the 2024 Gala scheduled to be held on Sept. 28 at the Hilton Embassy Suites in Concord.
The Great 100 Nurses is a grassroots organization established in 1989 to celebrate nursing excellence in North Carolina and is designed to recognize the importance of RNs in diverse practice settings, positively impact the image of nursing and nursing as a profession, acknowledge 100 NC nurses annually who demonstrate excellence in practice and commitment to their profession and, importantly, to contribute funds for scholarships for RN education in NC.
Recipients are selected for their outstanding professional ability and for the contributions they have made to improving healthcare services in their community. Cox joins a distinguished list of Duke nurses selected for this honor over the years, including Bradi Granger, Myra Ellis, Laura Dickerson, Miranda Flowers, Jill Engel, Laura Blue, Cory Miller, Rex Ruiz, and many others from our cardiovascular teams.
Congratulations, Kevin!
Welcome to Tran!
Please welcome Lillian Tran, MD to Duke Heart & Vascular as of August 1!
Tran is a 1st year fellow (PGY-6) in the Vascular Surgery Fellowship Training Program. She has joined us from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Tran earned her MD at Georgetown University School of Medicine in 2016 and is a 2010 University of California Los Angeles graduate.
Welcome to Duke, Lillian!
Shout-out to the ‘Fantastic Fifty’
A big shout-out to all those who participated in what has been described as a “Hail Mary” late-day case in the OR at Duke Hospital on Thursday.
Surgeon David Harpole, who led the case, described exceptional collaboration among at least 50 people from a variety of cardiovascular specialties and support teams including CT surgery, electrophysiology, nursing, anesthesiology, respiratory therapy, perfusion — all of whom dropped what they had been doing elsewhere to come together and support a difficult patient case, resulting in a good outcome.
Harpole says everyone was amazing and demonstrated incredible teamwork and determination. He says the case underscores just how unique a place Duke is, adding “This couldn’t have happened anywhere else because no one has the expertise available and all the necessities ready to go the way we do.”
We hope to share more about this case in the coming weeks but in the meantime… Dr. Harpole extends his deepest gratitude to all who assisted in the OR. For now, we’ll call this group the ‘Fantastic Fifty’ but names are forthcoming!
Way to go, team!!!
Shout out for Cardiology and CT surgery caring for Acute PE patient:
This week we also had Dr. Imran Aslam work with our CT surgery team and star trainees Drs. Dan Loriaux in cardiology and Andrew Vekstein in CT surgery to care for a sick patient with a massive pulmonary embolism. They were able to deploy ECMO and do suction thrombectomy of large clot in the lung arteries leading to improvement in the patient’s condition (such that ECMO could be decanulated at the end of the case). The CDU with Dr. Nishant Shah helped with TEE and overall all the staff and team worked to help with this complex patient. Kudos to Drs. Aslam, Loriaux, Vekstein, and Shah along with cath and perfusion / ECMO teams to help this patient.
Heart Walk 2024 – Less Than a Month Away!
Walker recruitment and fundraising are still underway as we get ever closer to the 2024 American Heart Association’s Triangle Heart Walk, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 8. Please consider joining us – it is not too late!
Join Manesh Patel’s team: Duke Heart and Sole or start your own team under “Duke Heart & Vascular”. We want to have a huge team representing Duke Heart this year to celebrate not only the AHA’s Centennial, but Duke University’s 100th birthday. Please join us!
To sign up as a Coach, click the button above and on the AHA site, choose the red “Create a Team” button. Walkers can also sign up and join teams on the same site by clicking the red “Join a Team” button.
Let’s come together to make this our best year yet and demonstrate our unwavering dedication to cardiovascular health. Together, we can make a significant impact and pave the way for a healthier future.
The 2024 Heart Walk will be a terrific event and a wonderful way to support our cardiovascular patients. We’ll be talking about Heart Walk all summer with lots of opportunities to join in the fun. Thank you for your ongoing support!
2024 Flu Campaign
The 2024 Duke Flu Campaign launches on Thursday, Sept. 19. The deadline for immunization compliance is October 29 at 10 a.m.
- DUHS Flu Ordering Survey Link (peer to peer)
- Access to OESO Vaccination Report: cachafeiro@duke.edu
- Questions? StopTheFlu@duke.edu
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
Cardiology Grand Rounds
Our regular CGR season has ended. We will resume after Labor Day. All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:
NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!
CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference
Aug. 14: Dyslipidemia with Nishant Shah. Noon, 2W96.
Aug. 16: EKG Review with Michelle Kelsey. Noon, via Zoom.
Aug. 21: Diagnostic Coronary Angiogram with Andrew Wang. Noon, 2W96.
Aug. 23: Topic TBD with TBD. Noon, via Zoom.
Aug. 28: Post Arrest Care with Rob Harrison. Noon, 2W96.
Aug. 30: Fellows Forum with Paula Rambarat. Noon, via Zoom.
New Faculty Orientation
October 22 & 23: 2024 School of Medicine Academic New Faculty Orientation, Trent Semans Center. Registration is required. Questions? Contact the SOM Office for Faculty at facdev@dm.duke.edu.
Schedule:
Oct. 22, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: All pathways
Oct. 23 — 8 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.: Clinician/clinical researcher pathway; 9:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Basic scientist in clinical department pathway, and Basic scientist in a basic science department pathway
Breakfast and lunch will be provided each day. During registration, you will be prompted to select the pathway that best describes your faculty role. These pathways are suggestions to take the guesswork out of registration and to make sure the content you receive is tailored toward how you spend your time. See a session that is outside your pathway but feels relevant? E-mail facdev@dm.duke.edu and they will provide you with details. All faculty hired in the past three years are welcome to attend. While content specifically targets newer faculty, many topics apply to all faculty regardless of career stage.
Duke Heart Fall 2024 CME Courses
The following symposia will be held this fall:
October 12: Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium at Trent Semans Center, 7:55 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Course directors are Drs. Sreekanth Vemulapalli and Anita Kelsey.
November 1: the 16th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium at Durham Convention Center, 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Course directors are Dr. Terry Fortin and Dr. Jimmy Ford (of UNC).
Registration/landing pages are not yet available but will be shared in Pulse once they are. Questions? Contact Christy Darnell.
Have news to share?
If you have news to share with the Pulse readership contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular 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 team. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.
Duke Heart in the News:
August 2 — Duke University Hospital
Becker’s Hospital Review
Boston Children’s performs elective partial heart transplant
August 6 — Robert Mentz
Everyday Health
Weight Loss and Diabetes Drug Tirzepatide Slashes Heart Failure Risks
August 6 — Nishant Shah
Cosmopolitan
Beta Blockers Can Calm Your Nerves Before a Big Event—Here’s What You Need to Know
August 7 — Monique Starks
VPM.org/NPR
Rescue from above: How drones may narrow emergency response times
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