Home » Uncategorized » Duke Heart Pulse — February 16, 2025

Duke Heart Pulse — February 16, 2025

By Tracey Koepke in Uncategorized on February 16, 2025.

Highlights of the week:

Emory’s Sperling Presented CGR; Focused on Prevention

This week we welcomed Dr. Larry Sperling of Emory School of Medicine as our Cardiology Grand Rounds speaker. Sperling is the founder and former director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center at Emory. He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at Emory School of Medicine and Professor of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health. His CGR topic was ‘Focus on CKMH to Prevent CVD’.

ICYMI a recording can be found here.

Viola and Towery Earn IBHRE Certification

Congratulations to clinical service nurses Jody Viola and Emily Towery of Duke Electrophysiology! They both recently passed the International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners (IHBRE) Allied Professionals Cardiac Device Remote Monitoring Specialist (CDRMS) exam earning certification as remote monitoring specialists.

IBHRE certification validates expertise in managing heart rhythm disorders and cardiac device implantation. The IBHRE test is recognized as a standard in the medical industry for heart rhythm competency. Candidates are expected to have broad knowledge in five general areas: rhythm recognition; device and lead function; remote serve management; diagnostic monitoring, and device technology. Certification is good for four years.

Way to go, Jody and Emily!

Duke Heart Grows Again!

We’re excited to share the happy news that Emily and Mike Towery have welcomed their second child, a daughter. Violet was born on Feb. 10. “She decided to be efficient with her hospital stay with a door-to-delivery time of 25 minutes,” according to Mike.

Mom, Violet, and Dad are all doing well! She’s excited to be a great sister to her brother, Amos.

Congratulations, Mike and Emily!

News You Can Use: Community Engagement Updates

Earlier this month, during an event held at the Durham Convention Center, Duke officially launched the Duke Center for Community Engagement as a way to bolster partnerships with the city of Durham and throughout the region.

In creating the center, Vincent Price, president of Duke University, said it will enable the university to amplify existing community work. Central to the center is the idea that community groups will be full partners in identifying critical areas of research. Duke teams will listen and work with the community groups in developing the project, then turn the data over to them to implement solutions.

Cardiologist Gerald Bloomfield, MD is a member of the steering committee. To learn more about the Center, please see A Front Door to Community-Engaged Research That Benefits Durham and Duke.

Additionally, Duke Community Affairs launched an online resource in December to enable more efficient collaborations between Duke and Durham community organizations. The Partnership Platform is designed to better connect faculty, staff, and students from across Duke University and the Health System with community engagement resources, volunteer opportunities, and more.

Duke officials hope all university academic programs, student groups, and employee efforts involved in community engagement and partnerships will contribute information to the platform. Each program and opportunity added makes the site more meaningful to community organizations.

To learn more, please see A New Platform to Build Stronger Community Partnerships.

Preparing for Transition from GME to DHIP Attending

Duke trainees who have accepted or are considering a Duke faculty position may find this event helpful.

This onboarding preparation session is for current Duke trainees who have accepted or are considering a Duke Faculty position. Members of Duke Health’s onboarding team will walk you through the process to prepare you for an efficient and successful transition. It’s an opportunity to meet leadership and network with colleagues who will also be staying at Duke.

When: Wednesday, April 9, 2025 — 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Where: Medical Center Amphitheater @ Duke Clinics (Basement level)

Please RSVP by March 31, 2025. Contact: Kylee.Mace@duke.edu.

Too Many Books at Home? Help Stock the DUH Patient Book Cart!

The Arts & Health at Duke program is seeking book donations to help fill their Reading Cart for adult inpatients. The Arts & Health program provides entertainment, comfort, and a way to pass the time for adult inpatients during their hospital stay. Your donations can make a meaningful difference!

Book Donation Guidelines:

New or gently used in good condition
No mold, smoke, or liquid damage
No missing, torn, or loose pages
No torn spines or excessive markings

Audience: Donations are for adult patients only. We are not collecting children’s materials at this time.

Donation Drop Box Locations:

Duke Clinic: near Pink Elevators
Duke North Lobby: near the Elevator area

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

The following resource page for the latest news and information related to the recent executive orders from the White House is being updated regularly. It includes direct links to policies and guidance documents as they are published. If you have specific questions, please escalate those to your supervisor.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

February is American Heart Month and Black History Month.

Cardiology Grand Rounds

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 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)

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 6 — Reid Chamberlain

WFMY News 2

‘God’s got this.’ Boy with congenital heart defect clings to faith on quest for cure

February 8 — Leanna Ross

The Hearty Soul

The Truth About Burning Belly Fat – What Works

February 10 — Robert Lefkowitz

Environmental Health News

Trump administration slashes medical research funding, threatening progress on disease treatments

February 10 — Duke University/DUHS

Triangle Business Journal