Chief’s message:
This week we had a busy week caring for patients, educating our residents and fellows, and continuing our research missions across the basic, translational, and clinical realms. We had Go-Red day on Friday to raise awareness for Heart Disease – see the photos below. We are also excited to have Dr. Robert Califf join us at Duke again – you will see the announcement below. Finally, Friday evening the NIH announced a change to the indirect rate for institutions doing NIH funded research. This has real impact on the ability for organizations like ours to continue life-changing medical research. There has been quite a bit of misunderstanding and misinformation on the rate and how this funding actually supports the research at Universities. We will be devoting some upcoming weeks to describe this for our community. You will see that Dr. Lefkowitz from our own cardiovascular research center (CVRC) and Nobel Prize winner comments on it for the New York Times. He highlights the value of basic research, as evidenced by the many therapeutics that have been developed by his groundbreaking description of G-protein coupled receptors. As with a lot of ongoing changes – there will be real challenges and opportunities that we will work to better understand and align as we continue to improve the health of our community and country.
Highlights of the week:
National Wear Red Day
Thanks to everyone who supported National Wear Red Day on Friday, Feb. 7! Please continue to submit your photos to Pulse. We’re happy to run them throughout February.
Shown here are members of 2K CDU, Cath Lab, and Heart Step-Down leadership team members.
Happy Heart Month!
Califf Returns to Duke Heart
We are delighted to share that Dr. Robert Califf has returned to Duke Health as a faculty member in the Division of Cardiology. He’s excited to be back at Duke and looking forward to working in a role that he described as a sort of ‘free agent’ – not necessarily running a program or taking on responsibilities for a specific group, but working on a variety of important issues and helping others if they need guidance or someone to bounce ideas off, and perhaps helping support younger faculty as they navigate the early stages of their career.
Califf has always been passionate about issues that matter to him. At 73, Califf says he no longer wants to work at the pace he has been working for the past decade, but that he’s looking to contribute his time, talents, and understanding to areas he sees as critical, particularly as they relate to healthcare. He’s very concerned about the information ecosystem – one that is proliferating misinformation.
“I think part of what we need to work on are names and words we can use that are not so polarizing,” Califf said. “We’ve been losing the battle on misinformation because people are more and more influenced by unreliable information due to all these factors related to social media and purposeful manipulation.”
The second area he’s concerned about it cardiometabolic disease. “Throughout the world, but also very specifically, in the U.S., North Carolina and Durham, the combination of obesity, diabetes, vascular disease, use of tobacco – these are the primary risk factors that are the basis for cardiometabolic disease,” Califf added. “So, we’ll be working on approaches to health improvement in that regard and how our faculty and the health system can deal with it.”
His experience heading up the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under former Presidents Obama and Biden has given him a great deal of experience with policy-making at the national level and he hopes to continue to impact healthcare policies where possible. As for his time at the FDA, Califf says it was a great experience for him and that he gained a lot of appreciation for what the government can do.
Ultimately, Califf is happy to be back at Duke and looks forward to helping support faculty members by being a supportive listener, offering guidance based on his career experiences, and to working on critical healthcare issues that impact all Americans.
Please give him a warm welcome when you see him!
Trump Administration Cuts Put Medical Progress at Risk, Researchers Say
Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, cardiologist and Duke Health Distinguished Professor of Medicine was quoted in Friday’s issue of The New York Times in a story regarding Trump Administration cuts to National Institute of Health grants and the impact it will have on research universities. ICYMI, please see: https://duke.is/4/62b6 (story is also highlighted below under news coverage.)
Speaking of Lefkowitz…
2025 Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD, Distinguished Lecture, Feb. 11
The 2025 Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD, Distinguished Lecture will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Noon in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center for Health Education. Carl H. June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy and Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Perelman School of Medicine will deliver the lecture, The Long and Winding Road Traveled by CAR T Cells.
The event is being held in conjunction with the Duke School of Medicine’s Charting New Horizons for Discovery & Translational Science event. To learn more, please visit: https://duke.is/4/wryg.
Great Catch, Lorenzi!
Lauren Lorenzi, a nurse on 7 East in Duke University Hospital who was performing dual verification for an insulin order, noted 16 units of glargine insulin was ordered and Syringe filled by pharmacy included the correct labeling with patient identifiers and ordered dose, however the actual syringe only contained 11 units of insulin. Lauren escalated this discrepancy to her Charge Nurse for support and notified the First Call Provider who was not concerned about the discrepancy. Ultimately to ensure she followed the orders for this patient, Lauren took extra steps to obtain a new syringe with the correct dose. This great catch, which required vigilance and ‘asking questions and questioning the answers,’ was reported via SRS as a mechanism to ensure awareness of the right team members to support learning and continuous improvement.
Way to go, Lauren!
Shout-out to Night Shift Fellows!
Thank you to all the fellows who worked nights recently which included record numbers of overnight consults for many fellows. Nate Goodwin sent the following observation to Anna Lisa Chamis, who shared it with us:
“It was definitely a record for me. But also worth noting that Hubie and Jon Hanna were in the ICU – Hubie did a whole floor consult on a patient the oncology team approached him about in the CCU, and Jon took care of triaging and caring for a sick patient in the ED who ultimately came to the floor with me while I was off seeing other patients on a busy floor night. Just another example of selfless work from my great co-fellows at Duke.” – Nate Goodwin
Great job Hubie, Jonathan, Nate and the rest of the recent overnight teams!
Tier 2 Visitor Restrictions
Respiratory illnesses throughout our community remain high. We remain in Tier 2 Visitor Restrictions.
Navigating the Impact of Recent Executive Orders
Recent Executive Orders filed by the White House Administration have led to some uncertainty as well as a range of opinions and emotions. It is vital to remember that Duke Health remains committed to the compassionate care, safety, and well-being of our patients, our team members, and the communities we serve. Our commitment to be an organization where all are seen, heard, and valued – regardless of background – remains unchanged.
We have assembled a team of leaders who are working diligently to evaluate and understand the potential impacts of these orders. We have also created this resource page, where you can find the latest news and information, including direct links to policies and guidance documents as they are published. If you have specific questions, please escalate those to your supervisor.
As an organization, we will continue to put people first and demonstrate the integrity and empathy that define our work, and strengthen the relationships that are core to our organizational culture. Thank you for all you do each and every day.
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
- February is American Heart Month and Black History Month.
- February 9-15 is Cardiac Rehab Week and CV Professionals Week
Cardiology Grand Rounds
Feb. 11: Focus on CKMH to Prevent CVD with Laurence Sperling, MD of Emory University School of Medicine. 5 p.m., Zoom only.
Feb. 24: Transforming HFpEF Management in the Age of Precision Medicine with Dr. Sanjiv Shah of the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Medicine. 5 p.m. DN 2002 and via Zoom.
Feb. 25: Teamwork, Leadership, and Healthcare with Mike Krzyzewski. 5 p.m., in-person only (TBD).
If you missed any of our CGR’s from the past year, 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
February 12: EP with Cosette Champion and DaMarcus Ingram. Noon, DMP 7E39.
February 14: Antiplatelet Therapy with Jimmy Tcheng. Noon, Zoom.
February 19: HF/Tx with Husam Salah. Noon, DMP 7E39.
February 21: Heart and Diabetes with Nishant Shah. Noon, Zoom.
February 26: DHP with Nishakala Shivakuma. Noon, DMP 7E39.
February 28: EKG with Neil Freedman. Noon, Zoom.
Upcoming Duke Heart CMEs
Tues., Feb. 18: Remote Patient Care: A New Era in Cardiovascular Disease Management; 5:00-7:30 p.m., EST. Zoom. Free. Registration is required. Please visit this link for details and to register.
The following CME activities, sponsored by Duke Heart, have been scheduled. Registration is not yet open, but stay tuned for additional information.
- April 26, 2025: Duke Structural Heart Symposium (live event at Trent Semans Center in Durham)
- June 7, 2025: Duke Heart Failure Symposium (live event at Durham Convention Center in Durham)
- October 31, 2025: 17th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium (live event at Durham Convention Center)
The following event is planned for Fall 2025; the date has not yet been set:
- October: Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium (live event, location TBD)
SOM Charting New Horizons for Discovery & Translational Science
Monday, Feb. 10, 9:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 11, 9:00 a.m. – 11 a.m. Great Hall, Trent Semans Center for Health Education.
Join us for this research symposium to celebrate our tapestry of scientific achievements. This event promises to be a cornerstone for fostering innovation and advancing our understanding across various scientific disciplines.
- Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend
- Food and refreshments will be available on both days
This event will be followed by the 2025 Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD, Distinguished Lecture at Noon. Dr. Carl H. June of Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania will deliver the lecture.
Women’s Health Symposium – Feb. 21, 2025
A women’s health symposium will be held on Feb. 21, 2025 in the Trent Semans Center’s Great Hall.
Organized by the Duke/NCCU BIRCWH Career Development Program, the Women’s Health Symposium “Scientific Meeting on All Aspects of Women’s Health and the Influence of Sex as a Biological Variable on Health Conditions” will be held on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 at the Trent Semans Center Great Hall. The featured speakers are Sharonne Hayes, MD, a cardiologist and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and Cynthia Kuhn, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at the Duke University School of Medicine.
Featured events include an interactive session on navigating the “bumps” along your research path and a poster session. For more details about the event, or to register and submit your poster topic click here.
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:
February 3 — Karen Alexander
Verywell Health
Cholesterol-Lowering Statins May Reduce Dementia Risk by 63%, Study Says
February 7 — Robert Lefkowitz
The New York Times
Trump Administration Cuts Put Medical Progress at Risk, Researchers Say
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