Highlights of the week:
Turek Named to TIME 100
Congratulations to Dr. Joseph Turek, chief, pediatric cardiac surgery in the division of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at Duke!
Turek has been named to the 2026 TIME100 Health List— recognizing the 100 most influential world leaders in health this year. The list was revealed online this past week and appears in the Feb. 23 issue of TIME magazine, which arrived at newsstands on Friday.
Turek is recognized for his and his team’s contributions toward expanding the heart transplant donor pool for infants with the use of new surgical techniques and approaches. It is believed these efforts could expand the donor pool by up to 20 percent.
“It’s wonderful to have this life-saving technique recognized with the hope that it can spread to help more babies in desperate need for heart transplant.”
Congratulations, Joe!
R01 Funding Received for HFpEF Trial
Congratulations to Marat Fudim, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine in cardiology at Duke and to Andrew Ambrosy, MD, a former Duke cardiology fellow now with Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research.
Fudim and Ambrosy have received R01 funding for the INFUSE HFpEF study, which will explore the use of intravenous iron in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) using ferric derisomaltose. According to Fudim, this will be the first multicenter study to evaluate whether IV iron improves function and quality of life in HFpEF patients. IV iron showed benefit to patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, or HFrEF, in the HEART FID trial.
Fudim and Ambrosy trained together at Duke as cardiology fellows and at the Duke Clinical Research Institute where, in various capacities, they each worked on the HEART FID trial during fellowship – now, five years later, they will serve as co-PIs on INFUSE HFPEF.
The multicenter research trial will be run out of the Duke Cardiology Clinical Research Unit.
Congratulations Marat and Andrew!
Karra Recognized for Teaching Excellence
Congratulations to Ravi Karra, MD, associate professor of medicine and pathology! We were recently notified by the Office of Biomedical Graduate Education at Duke that his course, CMB-710A-03: CELL & MOLEC BIO MODULE I, is one of the most highly rated courses throughout the Duke School of Medicine and that Karra is rated one of the top instructors in the School of Medicine.
His teaching efforts make a big difference to students – and therefore to the academic mission of Duke.
Outstanding work, Ravi!
Shout-out to Salah
A big shout-out to Dr. Husam Salah for helping to cover (in a pinch!) a busy cardiac catheterization lab on Friday — from Dr. Jennifer Rymer.
Great teamwork, Husam!
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
February is Heart Month!
CD Fellows Core Curriculum Conference
Feb 18: HF/Tx case with Krunal Amin. Noon, DMP 7E39 and via Zoom.
Feb. 20: EP Case Presentation with Dorothy Avoke and Marcus Threadcraft. Noon, Zoom only.
Feb. 25: EP Case Presentation with Tess Mischler and Jemi Galani. Noon, DMP 7E39 and 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.
Feb. 19: LV Strain with Fawaz Alenezi
Feb. 26: Mitral Valve Pre-Interventional Imaging Screening with Fawaz Alenezi
Upcoming CME Activities:
2026 Duke Heart CMEs
The dates for the following 2026 Duke Heart symposia have been set. We will announce others as they are added.
- June 6: Duke Heart Failure Symposium — Course directors are Marat Fudim, Rob Mentz, Richa Agarwal, and Stephanie Barnes. Location: Durham Convention Center, Durham, NC.
- October 30: 18th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium – Course directors are Terry Fortin, Sudar Rajagopal, and Jimmy Ford. Location: Durham Convention Center, Durham, NC.
Please save the dates!
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:
February 3 — Harry Severance
ACEP Now
Are Hospital On-Call Services Still Sustainable?
February 5 — Nishant Shah
Medscape
Recent Dyslipidemia Research Prompts New Guidance
February 6 — Robert Califf
STAT/Morning Rounds
Food dye, TrumpRx, gender affirming care: Morning Rounds
February 6 — Jennifer Rymer
tctMD
In-Hospital STEMI Patients Face Reperfusion Delays and Worse Outcomes
February 9 — Robert Califf
The New York Times
A.I. Is Making Doctors Answer a Question: What Are They Really Good For?
February 9 — Larry Jackson
AHA Newsroom/Heart.org
How serious are heart palpitations? Causes, symptoms and when to worry
February 10 — Nishant Shah
Medscape
Cardiometabolic Control Eludes Many Adults With Hypertension
February 10 — Stephen Greene
Medscape
Burden of Heart Failure Persists Despite Quadruple Therapy
February 11 — Nishant Shah
TIME
The New Way to Predict Your Risk of a Heart Attack
February 11 — Joseph Turek
TIME
February 11 — Duke Clinical Research Institute
The Warren Record
Warren County to participate in effort to break the CPR training world record
February 11 — Amanda Randles
The EP Edit/EP Lab Digest
From Monitoring to Prediction: How Cardiovascular Digital Twins Could Transform Arrhythmia Care
February 12 — Joseph Turek
The Advisory Board
TIME names the 100 ‘Most Influential People in Health’
February 12 — Nishant Shah
Impacto Castex
February 12 — Marat Fudim
The American Scholar
