Chief’s message: Heart Failure Society Meeting with HFDA Presidential Address from Mike Felker
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. For those of you not watching the Ryder Cup or other sporting events – this
weekend also marked the Heart Failure Society of America Meeting with several key cardiovascular faculty and fellows presenting. Perhaps the most notable was Mike Felker – President of HFSA giving the presidential address on 5 trends in Heart Failure and cardiovascular care. He highlighted many of the trends we have discussed around personalization, importance of emerging therapies based on these features, and the increasing ability to remotely monitor our patients and manage their health. Rob Mentz joined as Editor of JCF and provided some insights from his perspective. Below you will see other Science that was lead by our teams including Adam DeVore. Included are some pictures courtsey of people at the meeting that included a standing room only session on Devices and heart Failure that Marat Fudim was an integral part of. We will have more in upcoming weeks but congratulations to all who continue to help us improve the science around our HF patients.
Highlights of the week:
HFSA: Remote Health Care Helps Heart Failure Patients Get the Right Medications Faster
For millions of Americans living with heart failure, getting the right medications at the right doses can be a slow and frustrating process, which can lead to delayed treatment adjustments, undertreatment and risks for worsening symptoms.
A new study led by Duke Health shows that a remote digital program may offer a safe, faster way for heart failure patients to get the care they need from home.
The study, presented as a late-breaker at the Heart Failure Society of America’s Annual Scientific Meeting, highlights a critical issue in heart care access. Nearly half of U.S. counties don’t have a cardiologist, leaving many patients without expert guidance.
“We need scalable tools to reach people where they are,” said Adam DeVore, MD, associate professor of medicine in cardiology at the Duke University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author. “If you look across the roughly 3,100 counties in the United States, 46% don’t have a cardiologist.”
“People who live in areas without that access experience more heart disease and are more likely to die from heart problems,” DeVore said. “Add to that, appointments for medication titration are a real challenge in heart failure care. There are a lot of real-world barriers that make it really difficult.”
The research was funded by Innovaccer Inc., which developed Story Health, the digital care platform evaluated in the trial.
The study found patients who used the remote program to connect with care for the management of heart failure medications saw greater improvements in their regimens compared to those receiving usual care, and no increase in hospitalizations or emergency visits.
The multicenter randomized clinical trial, coordinated by the Duke Heart Center, enrolled 178 patients across seven U.S. health systems. Participants used blood pressure cuffs and scales that connected to their mobile device to track their health daily.
Their data was sent to clinicians through the secure digital platform, which also provided personalized medication recommendations. Health coaches helped patients navigate logistics like lab tests and pharmacy access, making it easier to adjust medications without needing frequent in-person visits.
The digital program improved medication use across all four foundational therapies for heart failure. Patients were more likely to reach target doses of key drugs that help manage heart failure and reduce hospitalizations (beta-blockers, ARNI, MRA and SGLT2 inhibitors.)
Dr. DeVore believes the findings offer a promising new option for clinicians and health systems looking to improve care for heart failure patients.
“A remote platform offers a scalable option for both clinicians and health systems to try to improve the care we’re already providing to patients with heart failure,” DeVore said.
“If we can get people on the right doses and the right number of medicines sooner,” DeVore said, “they have the possibility of living longer and staying out of the hospital more.”
In addition to DeVore, study authors include Cynthia L. Green, Nancy M. Albert, Amir R. Haghighat, Sunit-Preet Chaudhry, Hirak Shah, Mosi K. Bennett, Tom Stanis, Ashul Govil, Trejeeve Martyn, Jaime McDermott, Mirza S. Khan, and Andrew J. Sauer.
Kunal Patel, MD, Receives NIH K01 Research Scientist Development Award
Kunal Patel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, has been granted a K01 Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institutes of Health for his project titled, The Post-Lung Transplant Impact of Alveolar Macrophage Senescence in Aged Donor Lungs.
The purpose of the K01 award program is to provide support and protected time for an intensive, supervised career development experience in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences leading to research independence.
Patel’s project will determine the role of senescent alveolar macrophages in allograft failure and the poor outcomes associated with aged donor lungs, which will provide the field with clinically relevant, therapeutic targets to increase the utility and viability of aged donor lungs for lung transplant.
Congratulations, Kunal!
Reminder: SOM Leadership Town Hall on Tuesday
Dean Klotman will host a School of Medicine Town Hall: Financial and Operational Strategy Updates on September 30 at 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. All faculty, staff, students, and residents are invited to attend.
Speakers include:
• Host: Mary Klotman, MD, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Duke University; Dean, Duke University School of Medicine; Chief Academic Officer, Duke Health
• Panelist: Colin Duckett, PhD, Executive Vice Dean for Basic and Preclinical Science, Duke University School of Medicine
• Panelist: Heather Hamby, MPH, Executive Vice Dean for Administration, Duke University School of Medicine
• Panelist: Geeta Swamy, MD, Associate Vice President for Research, Duke University; Executive Vice Dean for Clinical Sciences and Research Administration, Duke University School of Medicine
• Panelist: Scott Elengold, JD, Associate University Counsel, Duke University
• Panelist: Catherine Liao, MSPH, Vice President for Government Relations, Duke Health
Join the Zoom webinar here. A copy of the recording will be available on the SOM website the next day.
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
September 15-October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month
October 6-24: Open Enrollment period for 2026 medical benefits
October 9: Flu vaccination season launch
Cardiology Grand Rounds
Sept. 30: ESC Update (Session 2) with Jennifer Rymer. 5 p.m. DN 2002 or via Zoom.
MMCVI Grand Rounds
Multi-Modality Cardiovascular Imaging Grand Rounds: A multi-imaging approach to cardiovascular disease cases. Thursdays, Noon to 1 p.m., via Zoom.
Oct. 2: Aortic Stenosis with Bharathi Upadhya
Oct. 9: RV Guidelines with Fawaz Alenezi
Oct. 16: Quality in the Echo Lab with Ashlee Davis
Oct. 23 Topic TBD with Tess Allan
Oct. 30: Cardiovascular Imaging in Pregnancy with Nish Shivakumar
CME Activities:
Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium — October 4
This year’s symposium is designed to address emerging clinical questions in echocardiography, updated guideline recommendations, and new imaging modalities through case-based learning and practical applications. The 2025 agenda features expert-led sessions on updated ASE guidelines, coronary artery disease evaluation, strain imaging in cardiomyopathies, tricuspid valve disease, cardiac POCUS, and technical skills development through hands-on breakout sessions. Trent Semans Center, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
To register, please visit https://duke.is/b/vd87.
17th Annual NC RTP Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium — October 31
This symposium will explore optimal diagnostic strategies for treating patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, treatment selection, and timely referrals to specialized PH centers. Clinically challenging presentations, including CTD-PAH, CPPC PH, CTEPH, PH associated with ILD, COPD, portopulmonary hypertension, and PH in end-stage renal disease, will be addressed — with a focus on frontline providers — through interactive lectures and robust case-based discussions. Durham Convention Center. Register here.
Duke Cardiovascular MR Practicum & Board Review – December 8-12
The Fall 2025 course will be held December 8-12 in the Penn Pavilion at Duke University. For more information, contact Michele Parker. The full course brochure and registration link are available here.
Community Events:
2025 Triangle Heart Walk – October 11
Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, 3801 Rock Quarry Rd, Raleigh, NC 27610. Festivities begin at 7:30 a.m.; our Duke Health Team Photo will be at 8:15! The AHA welcome program will begin at 8:45 a.m. with the Walk immediately following. The event venue will be open through 11 a.m.
Dr. Thomas Bashore Collection Opening – October 29
The collection opening celebration is scheduled for October 29 at 4:30 p.m. in the Holsti Anderson Family Assembly Room, Room 153, Rubenstein Library, Duke University, West Campus.
Have news to share?
If you have news to share with the Pulse readership, please 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 me 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 23 — Harry Severance
Becker’s ASC Review
How Stark law could be keeping physicians from leadership
September 25 — Duke Clinical Research Institute (Rymer)
Diabetes.co.uk
Seasonal changing of the clocks not linked to increased heart attack risk
