Home » Uncategorized » Duke Heart Pulse — September 15, 2024

Duke Heart Pulse — September 15, 2024

By Tracey Koepke in Uncategorized on September 15, 2024.

Chief’s message:

This last week we had grand rounds from Andrew Grace in Cambridge on innovation in cardiac rhythm management. This was a great way to start the year off an a good reminder of ways we can collaborate to innovate. Today we also had the Invasive labs event at the Durham Bulls game with faculty, fellows, and staff at the game to spend some time and get to engage with our family and co-workers. Pictured included below. You will see highlights of this last week with Tri-Clip use in some patients and this upcoming week we have highlights that include the Stead Tread and research/grand rounds highlights.

Highlights of the week:

Two TriClip TEER Procedures Performed at Duke Health

Congratulations to cardiologist Andrew Wang, MD, and our entire structural heart team on the completion of Duke’s first TriClip cases – both performed on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Duke University Hospital. Duke is the second hospital in NC to initiate use of TriClip, but the first in the Triangle region and eastern part of the state.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the TriClip transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) system in April. The TriClip TEER procedure, performed in the cath lab, offers a minimally invasive approach designed to repair severe tricuspid regurgitation, or a leaky tricuspid valve, in patients with severe symptoms.

We’ll have a full story next weekend on the procedure, why it’s an exciting addition to our treatment offerings, and which patients could benefit most.

HFSA Scientific Statement on Device-Based Therapies in HF

Congratulations to Marat Fudim, Husam Salah, and co-authors on their latest publication in the Journal of Cardiac Failure (JCF)!

The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) Scientific Statement: Update on Device-Based Therapies in Heart Failure, published Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, provides a state-of-the-art scientific overview and update of the rapidly evolving field of device-based therapies for heart failure (HF), including a clinical pathway to implementation of these technologies alongside pharmacologic therapies.

While tremendous advances have been made to reduce hospitalizations and improve outcomes for patients with HF in the past decade, the residual risk of optimized guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) remains on par or worse than other major cardiovascular diseases. Some established medical devices, such as implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), are widely used alongside pharmacologic therapies. However, in some high-risk patients who exhibit an intolerance for certain drugs, novel device therapies may prove highly effective in producing promising outcomes.

The Update on Device Based Therapies in Heart Failure scientific statement defines how these novel device therapies may bridge current gaps in HF treatment and outcomes and proposes a clinical pathway to implement FDA-approved device-based therapies that align with current HF management workflow.

Great work!

Miller Announces Retirement from DUHS, Effective Sept. 30

After 37 years of service at Duke, Cory Miller has announced she will retire at the end of this month. Miller joined Duke in 1987 after working in California hospitals for three years.

Cory has seen remarkable changes through the years and achieved a great deal. She spent 27 years as a clinical nurse providing outstanding clinical care in Duke’s Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, becoming CCRN certified in 2013; she spent five years as a Clinical Nurse Educator, and five years in Duke Heart’s Center of Excellence helping to drive analytics and provide clinical expertise to support complex technical systems, including our outcomes databases.

During her time with Duke, she served as either Chair or Co-Chair of several committees, including Code Blue Oversight, Cardiac Monitoring, and the CICU Research committees. Over the years, she has evaluated the BLS skills of hundreds of team members across Duke Health –- possibly even yours!

Cory has served as a guest speaker more than 20 times, has had 17 poster presentations, co-authored five publications, and received at least seven honors and awards – including The Great 100 of North Carolina, a Triangle Business Journal Health Care Hero award, and in 2018 Duke’s Palliative Care Advocacy award. She has also traveled on several medical mission trips to Kenya since 2014.

Her fierce patient advocacy, excellent provider communications, great collaborative skills, coaching and learning skills, positive energy, compassion, dedication, ability to make people laugh, and to spark conversation and find commonalities between us all, will be sorely missed.

Cory… enjoy your retirement knowing you made a huge and lasting impact here at Duke!

Please drop her a line via email at cory.miller@duke.edu to congratulate her.

Kudos to Bowers!

Congrats to Midge Bowers for her presentation this past week at the 13th International Council of Nurses NP/APN Network Conference (ICN), held Sept. 9-12 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The ICN conference is one of the largest global forums for advanced practice nurses to network and collaborate on contemporary topics and future trends relevant to their practice. This year’s conference theme was “Advanced Practice Nursing: an invaluable investment for global health.”

Bowers and her team presented ‘Transatlantic Interrelations in Advanced Practice Nursing in Guideline Directed Heart Failure Management’.

Way to go, Midge!

Blue Celebrates 45 Years with Duke

The Heart Failure and VAD teams celebrated with Laura Blue this week – she is celebrating an incredible 45 years of service with Duke.

Congratulations, Laura!!!

HF Collaboratory Recognizes Duke’s ALLAY-HF Team

The Heart Failure Collaboratory (HFC) this week, in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, recognized our Duke Heart Center ALLAY-HF trial team as winners of their newest award, “Excellence in Site-Based Research” which will be awarded to sites, principal investigators, and site coordinators who consistently demonstrate excellence in their work and have received a previous site-based research award.

The HFC recognized Rob Mentz as a Top Principal Investigator, and Matthew Gray and Lacey Taylor as Top Site Coordinators. Marat Fudim is closely involved and instrumental in the trial.

Way to go, team!

New RFAs Announced

Two new requests for applications (RFA) were announced this past week – both great opportunities! Please note the application deadlines, as one of them is this week:

Heart Center Leadership Council Awards: Focus on Innovation and Collaboration

We are excited to announce that we will again have a Heart Leadership Council Award competition this year.

Eligibility: This award is available to Early Career Faculty in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery (defined as within 10 years of completing training). If residents or fellows apply -– they should have an early career faculty member mentoring or primarily involved in the project.

Award: Two awards providing $40K in support each will be awarded to two faculty for research in their selected fields. The awards will be determined based on finalist presentation to the Heart Center Leadership Council on Friday, November 8, 2024.

Application Process: Please provide your CV and a two-page application (one page proposal + one-page draft budget). The proposal should include any background or preliminary data, hypothesis, and proposed methods. As noted, the focus should be on innovation, high-risk – high-reward projects, and projects that cross-collaborate across the Heart Center.

Due Date: Proposals are due to christy.darnell@duke.edu by 5 p.m. September 20.

Notification: Finalists will be notified by October 4 for the presentation in November. Our team will work with finalists on the 10-minute presentation for the Heart Center Leadership Council.

Duke Institute for Health Innovation – Innovation Projects RFA 2025

The Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI) announces the next emerging ideas and innovation funding cycle. Applications are open to faculty, staff, trainees, and students of Duke University and Duke University Health System. Proposed innovation projects should address actual and important problems encountered by care providers, patients, and their loved ones in our clinical enterprise and represent urgent health challenges nationally.

For the 2025 funding cycle, priority will be given to ideas aligned with the thematic area of improving provider and staff experience, the patient journey, and clinical outcomes using advanced technology solutions.

Due Date: Proposals are due by 11:59 p.m., October 25, 2024.

The application packet can be found here.

Up to ten applications will be selected for support. Most proposals are expected to request funding in the range of $25,000 to $60,000 over a one-year period.

Questions? Please email DIHIrfa@duke.edu.

Please Register to Vote!

Are you new to North Carolina, or have you moved to the Triangle area from elsewhere in the state? Don’t forget to register to vote!

Find all the information you need about registering to vote and voting in upcoming elections at these websites:

North Carolina State Board of Elections

Durham County Board of Elections

Orange County Board of Elections

Wake County Board of Elections

Thank you!

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

In a letter to Duke Health team members this week, Antwan Lofton, vice president of human resources for DUHS, wrote:

More than 4,100 of our colleagues at Duke identify as Hispanic/Latino, and we join with them to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (also known as Latinx Heritage Month), which runs from Sept. 15 – Oct. 15.

During the month, I encourage you to take time to celebrate the diverse cultures, achievements, histories, and legacy of contributions by members of these vibrant communities.

As you know, inclusion is a core value at Duke, and one of the ways we live this value is by supporting Employee Resource Groups such as ¡DALHE! (Duke Advancing Latine-Hispanic Excellence). This group provides a welcoming and supportive environment for those who identify as Latino/a/x/é and/or Hispanic and their allies. The group is hosting various events and activities during the month, including a panel discussion on Sept. 16 called “Duke: Pasado y Perspectiva (Past and Perspective).” A similar group for DUHS team members called Juntos is also hosting events during the month.

For those of you looking for a stronger sense of belonging within this large and complex institution, I encourage you to connect with an ERG or learn more about how to start a new group that might bring together others who share common bonds and are bound by a commitment to advancing excellence at Duke.

2024 Flu Campaign Launches This Week

The 2024 Duke Flu Campaign launches on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Deadline for immunization compliance: 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

Sept. 17: Update from ESC 2024 with Manesh Patel. 5 p.m., DN2002 or via Zoom.

All Duke Cardiology Grand Rounds recordings are housed on Warpwire. To access recordings please visit:

2024 CGR Recordings

NET ID and password are required. Enjoy!

CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference

Sept. 18: HF/TX Fellows’ Case Presentation with Jemi Galani. Noon, DMP 2W96.

Sept. 20: Bradyarrythmia with Sana Al-Khatib. Noon, via Zoom.

Sept. 25: No conference. Interview Day.

Sept. 27: DHP Fellows’ Case Presentation with Joshua Sink. Noon, via Zoom.

2024 Annual Stead Tread 5K

Join the Duke Department of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program on Saturday, September 21 at 9 a.m. for the annual Stead Tread 5K Run/Walk, held at Solite Park, 4704 Fayetteville Rd, Durham. All proceeds will benefit the Lincoln Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center dedicated to meeting the health care needs of medically underserved patients in Durham.

The event draws 300+ participants annually and is named in honor of former Dept. of Medicine Chairman Dr. Eugene Stead (1947-1967), and his legacy of community service and contributions to the Duke and Durham communities.

Entry Fees

For participants 13 and older, registration is $35 per person. For Lincoln patients and children 12 years and younger, registration is free.

Deadlines

Sign up by Friday, September 1 and you are guaranteed to receive a t-shirt. After September 1, t-shirt size and availability are not guaranteed.

Register and/or Donate

Visit steadtread.org to register. Can’t join us on September 21? Stead Tread also accepts individual and corporate donations of any amount (steadtread.org/donate). Contributions of $90 or greater are recognized on our website and at the event.

Questions?

For questions or additional information, contact Caroline Sloan, MD, assistant professor, Division of General Internal Medicine.

Catalyzing Climate Connections: Researcher Forum

Date: Thursday, October 10, 2024

Time: 3:30-6:30 p.m.

Venue: Great Hall, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center for Health Education

Please register soon. Questions? Contact Blake Tedder.

The Office of Climate & Sustainability and the Climate Commitment Advisory Council invites the Duke research community to mark calendars for the Catalyzing Climate Connections Researcher Forum, a dynamic three-hour event designed to spark creativity and collaboration among Duke’s climate researchers and those interested in linking their research into the climate space. This forum will feature moderated panel conversations that explore broad climate research themes from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

Attendees will also participate in engaging table conversations, offering deeper discussions and networking opportunities. With refreshments provided, there will be ample time for informal interactions and idea exchanges.

Who Should Attend:

Faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from all university schools and units
Researchers and staff interested in expanding their research into the climate space.

Goals of the Event:

Foster relationships and connectivity among Duke researchers.
Inspire fresh ideas and creativity in addressing climate change.
Spark new lines of research by emphasizing idea generation over specific expertise.
Facilitate connections between climate and health researchers.

Why Attend?

This forum is a unique opportunity to build connections, inspire new lines of research, and effectively address the challenges of climate change. Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of this exciting event!

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.

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).

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 interest 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 30 — Neha Pagidipati

ACC News

Semaglutide Improves Heart Health Outcomes Beyond Weight Loss

August 30 — Robert Mentz

First for Women

Fortified Eggs Won’t Affect Your Cholesterol Levels, a Recent Study Finds: What This Means for You

August 30 — Neha Pagidipati

Express (UK)

Scientists hail ‘remarkable’ drugs set to unlock ‘Fountain of Youth’ and slow ageing

September 1 — Renato Lopes

ESC News/Press Office