Home » Uncategorized » Duke Heart Pulse — September 29, 2024

Duke Heart Pulse — September 29, 2024

By Tracey Koepke in Uncategorized on September 29, 2024.

Chief’s message: Hurricanes and Homecoming Weekend

This week had lots of downs and ups for us across the state. The biggest challenge – Hurricane Helene required many of the people in our state (especially those colleagues in the western part of the state) to take shelter and ensure that they stayed safe. On the Duke Health side – you will see our efforts noted below including some work to keep our teams/patients safe during the weather.

This weekend was also founders day and homecoming weekend. Duke Football came from behind to win 21-20 against UNC and the founders weekend also had the university give Rob Califf the University Medal for Distinguished Meritorious Service – the highest honor at the University. Quite an amazing achievement for Dr. Califf and speaks to the influence he has had not just on cardiology, the DCRI, but the broader Duke University environment and health around the world. There are also several stories around continued excellence from Faculty, Staff, and Residents/Fellows with research and clinical care below that show the continued work of our amazing team. In the upcoming week we will have our fall faculty celebration to welcome new faculty and share highlights from the past year. We also anticipate having some of our recent Duke Heart accomplishments in managing patients with failing hearts shared in the national media. We will share all of this and more in the upcoming pulse – and appreciate the continued efforts our multi-specialty teams make in caring for our patients.

Highlights of the week:

Duke Health Monitoring Helene Recovery Efforts

We are all stunned at the damage wrought throughout the Southeastern U.S. due to Hurricane Helene – particularly in the mountains of western NC and eastern TN, where the full extent of devastation and loss is not yet known. In an update from DUHS leadership yesterday, Tom Owens, MD, executive vice president and chief operating officer, issued the following message:

On Friday, September 27th, Hurricane Helene made landfall, affecting much of the eastern seaboard, including North Carolina. While the Triangle experienced heavy rain and winds, western North Carolina has been dealing with severe flooding, road closures, and ongoing power outages.

As we assess the situation across the state, Duke University Health System is working to coordinate support and resources in areas of critical need. Our Emergency Preparedness team is collaborating with state officials to evaluate the damage, ensure patient safety, and coordinate care where needed.

We recognize that many of us have friends and family impacted by this devastation. Many of our colleagues have reached out to see how they can contribute to our community’s recovery efforts. We will share more information in the coming days on how we can individually and collectively help those in need.

Thank you for your dedication during this difficult time. We remain committed to supporting our colleagues, patients, and the wider community across North Carolina throughout this recovery effort.

In happier news…

Many other events have been taking place this weekend, including Duke’s Founders’ Day & Homecoming Weekend with a gathering of the current and former Duke University presidents – Vincent Price, Nan Keohane, and Richard Brodhead – along with Duke alumna Judy Woodruff serving as moderator; a concert featuring Ed Sheeran and special guests 9^th Wonder and Duke alumna Rhetta; the presentation of the 2024 University Medals for Distinguished Meritorious Service – the University’s highest honor – one of which has been bestowed on Robert Califf (more on this below); and an inspired (historic!) comeback performance by Duke on the field against UNC in yesterday’s Homecoming football game… ICYMI, Duke won 21-20, taking the coveted Victory Bell back to the Bull City.

Today is also World Heart Day an international celebration and awareness day led by the World Heart Federation and established in partnership with the World Health Organization. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death across the world.

Thank you for your daily efforts to improve our global understanding of cardiovascular diseases and for leading the way in treatment and outcomes for our cardiovascular patients, educating and training our students, fellows, and teams, and for being part of Duke Heart.

Califf Receives University Medal

The 2024 University Medals for Distinguished Meritorious Service, Duke’s highest honor, are being awarded to alumni Robert Califf, Fred Stanback, and William Turner, Jr. this weekend.

Founders’ Weekend celebrates the founding of the university and provides an opportunity each year for the Duke community to reflect on the school’s history and recognize the leadership, contributions, and impact students, faculty, administrators, staff, trustees and alumni have made over the past 100 years.

About Robert Califf, MD

An esteemed cardiologist and prominent leader in public health and clinical science, Robert “Rob” Califf is commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Califf completed both his undergraduate degree in psychology and medical degree at Duke. Prior to joining the FDA in 2015, he spent more than 30 years as a practicing cardiologist, researcher and administrator at Duke.

He was founding director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), which today is the world’s largest academic clinical research organization and a leader in impactful clinical trials in medicine.

In 2006, Califf was named vice chancellor for clinical and translational research, a position he held until he was named deputy commissioner of the FDA in 2015. Seven months later, former President Barack Obama nominated Califf to serve as FDA Commissioner, a position he held until 2017.

Califf then returned to Duke as professor of medicine and vice chancellor for health data science, and founded and directed Duke Forge, a multi-disciplinary center for actionable health data science, before joining Alphabet, Inc., in 2019 as head of medical strategy and senior advisor.

In November 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Califf to once again serve as FDA Commissioner. Califf is also a Duke parent; his son Tom graduated from the university in 2006.

The full story, including more on Stanback and Turner, can be found here. A complete list of previous University Medal recipients is available on the University Archives website.

Congratulations and well deserved, Rob!

Voora to Serve as Site PI for $27M NIH award on Genomics in Clinical Care

The National Institutes of Health last week announced that it was awarding $27 million to establish a new network of genomics-enabled learning health systems. Duke and Durham VA cardiologist Deepak Voora, MD, along with Duke/Durham VA internist Lori Orlando, MD, will serve as two of the four principal investigators (PIs) for the Boston, MA site (Boston Veterans Administration Research Institute), one of six systems selected as part of the network.

The selected systems for the new Genomics-enabled Learning Health System (gLHS) Network have already developed mature, learning healthcare systems to design and test novel implementation strategies to improve the use of genomics in clinical care. Over the next five years, the network will create best practices for improving the uptake and use of genomic medicine interventions that can be generalized to diverse healthcare systems.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA)/U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will be represented by four PIs: Jason Vassy, MD, and internist at Boston VA/Harvard; Maren Scheuner, MD, a medical geneticist at UCSF/San Francisco VA; Voora, and Orlando.

“This research complements Dr. Voora’s ongoing work at the VHA in Pharmacogenomics at the national level,” said Rajesh Swaminathan, associate professor of medicine in cardiology at Duke and cardiology section chief for the Durham VAMC. “He was recently awarded a $1.5M VA HSR&D Grant focusing on reducing Veterans’ risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease through pharmacogenomics informed statin prescribing.”

In addition to Boston VA Research Institute, the network includes Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA; Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis; Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago; University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. To learn more, see the full announcement here.

Way to go, Deepak!

Biever Receives HFC SBR Award

Congratulations to Kim Biever, a research coordinator with Duke Heart’s Clinical Research Unit! She has been awarded an Excellence in Site Based Research Award from the Heart Failure Collaboratory (HFC) in partnership with the American Heart Association, for her work on the VALOR-HCM clinical trial. She was nominated by a team from Bristol Myers Squibb.

Biever will be recognized by the HFC on Sunday, Nov. 17 during the 2024 AHA Annual Scientific Sessions being held in Chicago.

This award is given to principal investigators, study coordinators, and sites that have demonstrated excellence through multiple nominations over the years for the HFC Site-Based Research Award.

The award certifies that she has shown exceptional achievement, contribution, or performance in site-based research. Only the top site-based researchers are recognized by the HFC with this award.

Congratulations, Kim!!!

Selvaraj Receives ATTR Research Award

Congratulations to advanced heart failure specialist, Senthil Selvaraj, MD! He has been selected as one of two recipients of the ATTR Young Investigator Research Awards by Cornerstone Medical Education. Selvaraj was invited to present his work to peers and a selection committee via a virtual colloquium. In a message from Bryan Taylor, Cornerstone’s chief strategy officer, he stated, “I truly don’t think I could have asked for two better physician-scientists to claim the first 2 ATTR Young Investigator Research Awards. Your work, and your presentation of that work, was truly stellar.”

The $100,000 award will support Selvaraj’s continued research into amyloidosis — some of which was published earlier this year in JAMA and presented at the Heart Failure Congress 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Great job, Senthil!!!

Kudos to D’Amico!

We received a warm message from a patient recently regarding care she received from Dr. Thomas D’Amico, the Gary Hock Endowed Professor of Surgery.

The patient shared that she was in the hospital for 37 days and stated, “Dr. D’Amico and his team took great care of me. They were the most amazing group of caregivers and nurses” she had ever had.

True to his nature, D’Amico’s response was, “I’m sure this is really about great nursing care and resident involvement. It’s a great place to be as a patient.”

Congratulations to Tom and the entire team for being recognized for the tremendous care they provided!

Winter Respiratory Virus Season Masking Guidance

As respiratory virus season ramps up, Duke’s Infection Prevention/Infectious Disease specialists anticipate another “tripledemic” related to COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. Patients, visitors, and team members should protect themselves and others using established prevention strategies.

We strongly recommend masking for patients, visitors, and team members during respiratory virus season – September 18, 2024, through March 1, 2025. Masking is still required in high-risk clinical areas, during clusters or outbreaks, and during the active COVID-19 infectious period.

For more details, masking guidance documents can be found on SharePoint.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Sept. 15 to Oct. 15: Hispanic Heritage Month

Sept. 29: World Heart Day

Oct. 17-Nov. 2: Early voting period, November 2024 General Election.

Cardiology Grand Rounds

Oct. 1: No CGR today.

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

October 2: No conference. Interview Day.

October 4: No conference.

October 9: EP Fellows’ Case Conference with Jonathan Kusner and Hannah Schwennesen. Noon, In-person, DN 2003 or via Zoom.

October 11: DHP Fellows’ Case Conference with Cosette Champion. Noon, via Zoom.

October 16: No conference. Interview Day.

October 18: Fellows’ Meet and Greet Lunch with visiting professor Bernard Gersh. Noon, DMP 2W91

October 23: HF/Txp Fellows’ Case Conference with Mike Cosiano. Noon, DMP 2W96

October 25: No conference. Interview Day.

October 30: Board Review with Paula Rambarat and Nishant Shah. Noon, DN 2001

AAMC Professional Development Webinar

Wednesday, Oct. 2: GFA Professional Development Webinar: Innovative Programs for Mid-Career Faculty in Academic Medicine, Noon-1 p.m. Register here.

Our own Cary Ward, MD, Associate Dean for Faculty Development for Duke School of Medicine will be a featured speaker during an AAMC webinar on Oct. 2 about faculty development programs for mid-career faculty in academic medicine. Registration is required.

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.

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.

DIHI – 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.

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.

Call for Nominations: MLK Humanitarian Award

Nominations are now open for Duke’s first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. This initiative is inspired by Dr. King’s enduring legacy and will celebrate Duke Health faculty and staff who embody his vision of “It starts with me…” The award will honor those who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to a nonprofit’s mission in keeping with the principles of Dr. King.

Nominations will be accepted through October 29. The awards will be announced during Duke’s annual recognition of the MLK holiday in January.

Learn more about the award here.

SOM Leadership Development Programs Update

Applications for the 2025 SOM Leadership Development Programs are now open. This includes the ADVANCE-UP, ALICE, DCLP, and LEADER programs.

Applications are due by Friday, Nov. 1. To learn more, click here. Programs are hosted by the SOM Office for Faculty.

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:

September 20 — Christopher Granger

Cardiology Advisory

Rethinking Beta-Blocker Use Following Acute Myocardial Infarction

September 20 — Stephen Greene

tctMD

Yes, Clinical Inertia IS the Leading Cause of GDMT Underuse in HFrEF

September 20 — Harry Severance

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

The Crisis of Disruptive Workplaces in Healthcare: Insights from Dr. Harry Severance

September 22 — Michael Carboni

People magazine