Author: Elizabeth

A new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis bolsters previous findings that polypills are beneficial in preventing heart attacks and strokes and reducing deaths among people with cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol. In this meta-analysis, the polypills investigated included at least one statin — a cholesterol-lowering drug — and at least one blood pressure-lowering drug.

We are pleased to invite you to the 21st Annual Meeting of the Society for Heart and Vascular Metabolism (SHVM), to be held in Saint Louis, Missouri, from Sunday, September 8th to Wednesday the 11th, 2024. In keeping with the 20-year tradition of SHVM meetings, this event will gather investigators from around the globe to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas, to promote scientific interactions between young researchers and senior scientists in formal and informal settings, and to provide an atmosphere that fosters new collaborations.

Professor of Medicine Dr. Thomas Maddox was quoted in the article “‘Nicety’ vs. ‘necessity’: 37 impressions of AI in healthcare” in Becker’s Hospital Review.

Dr. Nishath Quader, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, recently was among the authors of a paper highlighting the risks of radiation exposure to medical providers working on cardiovascular imaging.

Dr. John Lasala, Professor of Medicine and Director, Structural Heart Disease in the Cardiovascular Division, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Miami Valves annual international structural cardiology conference hosted by the International Medicine Institute of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Mustafa Husaini, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of Sports Cardiology in the Cardiovascular Division, was recently featured in a segment on KSDK news for Heart Month.

Today in St. Louis’ Rene Knott, Paul Cook and Anthony Slaughter spoke with Dr. Husaini about the importance of exercise in heart health, and specifically in men.

Dr. Zainab Mahmoud of the Washington University School of Medicine Cardiovascular Division is featured in this article from NBC News.

Dr. Anubha Agarwal began her research in India as a Fogarty Global Health Fellow during 2017–2018, co-mentored by Dr. Doriaraj Prabhakaran, executive director of the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) in India, and Dr. Mark Huffman, professor of medicine and co-director of the Global Health Center at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), Missouri.

Jesus Jimenez, MD, PhD of the Washington University School of Medicine Cardiovascular Division has been awarded for “Advances in the Diagnosis of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Myocarditis”.

Professor of Medicine, Associate Program Director for Cardiovascular Research and
Director of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Cardiac Rapid Evaluation Unit Dr. Mike Rich has been selected for The Neville Grant Award, the highest clinical honor bestowed by BJH.

Dr. Zainab Mahmoud was recently appointed to a 3-year term on the leadership council of the Reproductive Health & Cardio-Obstetrics Section of the American Academy of Cardiology. Her term begins in April, 2024. From the ACC website: The creation of this Section addresses the needs and gaps in care in all domains including clinical care, […]

Universally loved and respected by his patients and their families, Dr. Weiss was a beacon of compassion and expertise in the field of cardiology. His impact extended far beyond St. Louis, as he became a trusted source for referrals across the Midwest region and beyond. Dr. Weiss’s commitment to patient care led him to perform outreach at multiple sites in southern Illinois and Missouri throughout his career and to establish one of the largest clinical practices in academic cardiology.

Drs. Thomas Maddox and Karen Joynt Maddox were among the speakers at the Washington University Olin Business School’s 5th Annual Healthcare Symposium. The theme of the symposium was AI in healthcare. Both members of the cardiovascular faculty, Maddox and Joynt Maddox participated in a panel that focused on use cases.

A piece co-written by Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of the Washington University Sports Cardiology program, Dr. Mustafa Husaini, was highlighted on the front page of the American Academy of Cardiology website as an Editor’s Pick.

Professor of Medicine Dr. Jasvinder Sing was among the recipients of this year’s Drum Major Awards from the Washington University Medical School office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Two new faculty members have joined the cardiovascular division in the Center for Cardiovascular Research. Zhen Guo, PhD is an Instructor in Medicine in Dr. Javaheri’s Lab. Andrew Koenig, PhD is an Instructor in Medicine in Dr. Lavine’s Lab. Congrats to Dr. Guo and Dr. Koenig on your appointments!

Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. Marc Sintek appeared on KMOV morning news program Great Day St Louis for their Heart Month coverage. He discussed the importance of heart healthy lifestyle choices such as avoiding tobacco products, increasing physical activity, and healthy diet.

Dr. Jain received his medical degree, completed a surgery residency and a diploma in anesthesiology from Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi, India. He then did a residency in internal medicine at the University of Kentucky Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital in St. Louis and completed his cardiology fellowship at WUSM. He also received an MBA from Olin School of Business at Wash U. His clinical interest is in preventive cardiology and cardio-oncology.

Three Washington University researchers developing promising therapeutics for cancer and heart disease have been named the inaugural awardees of an innovative, new program that provides critical funding to help move research toward early-stage clinical trials and commercialization. The awardees — Carl DeSelm, MD, PhD, John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, and Kory Lavine, MD, PhD — will receive financial support from the university’s recently established Needleman Program for Innovation and Commercialization (NPIC).

Director of the Echocardiography section, Dr. Kan Liu, has received funding for the grant “Implications of Spatiotemporal Deep Learning Neural Networks in Echocardiographic Diagnosis and Prognostication of Takotsubo Syndrome”. Projects funded by this grant will help integrate new imaging processing techniques and models to facilitate ongoing echo imaging automation process, with the potentials to increase […]

“Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world,” said cardiologist Mark Huffman, MD, a professor of medicine and co-director of the Global Health Center at Washington University. “And in the U.S., Missouri also has high rates of death during and soon after pregnancy. Many of these deaths are due to hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, especially high blood pressure that can lead to heart failure, seizures, strokes and death. Tragically, these are often preventable conditions. We know what works to lower blood pressure, and the programs we are developing here and in Nigeria are intended to get those interventions to the people who need them most.”

On November 15, leaders from the Global Health Center at the Institute for Public Health and Department of Medicine, cardiovascular experts from the University of Abuja, Nigeria and project partners and leaders from Parents as Teachers National Center joined WashU alumni, faculty, students, and members of the WashU Alumni and Development team for a special event: “Global to Local Health: Community-Based Approaches to Improving Maternal Cardiovascular Health in St. Louis and Nigeria”.

A broader challenge, said Thomas Maddox, a cardiologist who leads the digital health and innovation program at BJC HealthCare, is ensuring that we don’t unwittingly infect AI with our own prejudices. “Because AI is ultimately a reflection of us and all our biases, how can we help AI and ultimately us to be fairer in the care we provide?” Maddox challenged the group.

Cardiologists and radiation oncologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis pioneered the use of radiation therapy — a strategy typically used against cancer — to treat patients with a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular tachycardia.

In November, Dr. Linda Peterson and sonographers Billy Cathey and Crystal Licari from Barnes visited Harris Stowe College for a STEM event sponsored by Verizon. Middle school students who belong to groups that are underrepresented in medicine had the opportunity to learn about careers in cardiovascular health.

Nathan O. Stitziel, MD, PhD , Professor of Medicine and Director of the Washington University Center for Cardiovascular Genetics, was named the 2023 GPM and EPI Mid-Career Research Award Lecturer at this year’s American Heart Association conference in Pennsylvania.

Drs. Richard Bach and Sharon Cresci of the Washington University Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center of Excellence, along with collaborators, have published “Effect of Mavacamten in Women Compared With Men With Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Insights From EXPLORER-HCM” in the journal Circulation.

This past summer the Washington University School of Medicine Office of Faculty Development solicited nominations to recognize outstanding individuals for their work and contributions in the Department of Medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Dr. Linda Peterson, Professor of Medicine and Radiology and Medical Director of Washington University Cardiac Rehabilitation, has published a new editorial in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.

Dr. Alan C Braverman, Professor of Medicine in the Washington University Cardiovascular Division and Director of the Marfan Syndrome and Aortopathy Center, had an editorial published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology this month.

Dr. Abhinav Diwan, Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Division Chief of Cardiology at Saint Louis VA Medical Center, has received the inaugural Charlie W. Shaeffer, MD Professorship.

The American Heart Association will present the 2023 Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Research Goes Red® Award to Zainab Mahmoud, M.D., M.Sc., of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This award will be presented during the opening session of the Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 on Saturday, Nov. 11.

On October 25th, Dr. Thomas Maddox chaired the National Academy of Medicine’s conference on Generative AI & LLMs in Health & Medicine. The conference took place via livestream, and featured guest speakers and experts in various arenas of medical technology.

Dr. Richard Bach published an editorial published in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) entitled “Traditional Chinese Medicine Meets Evidence-Based Medicine in the Acutely Infarcted Heart”.

Dr. Krasimira Mikhova joined the Department of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division as an assistant professor in August 2023. She completed her undergraduate studies at Arizona State University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in Chemical Engineering. She earned her medical degree at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Dr. Mikhova completed residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, prior to relocating to St. Louis for Cardiology and Electrophysiology fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) recently announced the recipients of the 2023 INSPIRE awards, and among the honorees is Cardiovascular Division faculty and Director of Cardio-Obstetrics Dr. Amanda Verma.

The Department of Medicine is proud to announce that 112 of our faculty have been selected for the 2023 Castle Connolly Top Doctors® list.

For Washington University cardiologist Sumanth Prabhu, MD, the stethoscope is not only indispensable as a diagnostic tool but presents powerful symbolism. He sees it as a channel that connects the patient to the clinician, a conduit through which a current of information flows from the former’s body to the latter’s brain.

Third-year fellow Dr. Doug Hall contributed a piece for the American College of Cardiology’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Clinical Topic Collection, entitled “Pacemakers and Settings in the Athlete”. Drs. Krissy Mikhova, Daniel Cooper, and Mustafa Husaini also collaborated, and the work was chosen by ACC.org Editor-in-Chief Dr. Kim Eagle as an Editor’s Pick and featured on the website’s front page.

The piece uses a quiz to challenge readers to take specifics of a case with a patient presenting with issues with their pacemaker, and determine a likely cause and course of action.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands—For patients with acute heart failure (HF) and signs of congestion, prompt use of a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor or a natriuresis-guided approach to diuretic therapy both seem to be viable strategies to enhance removal of excess fluid, according to results from two small trials presented earlier this week at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2023.

Both approaches improved excess fluid removal, but more data are needed to determine the best strategy, Nancy Sweitzer says.

Sándor J. Kovács Jr., PhD, MD, h.c., Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, was recently invited to Budapest to a formal inauguration ceremony for the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kovács was honored for his outstanding contributions in the fields of physics and medical sciences, especially in the areas of cardiovascular physiology and biophysics.

The Internal Medicine Residents of the class of 2023 voted to recognize faculty who had made a positive impact on their training. Two awards were given for Teacher of the Year, Cardiology. The recipients were Dr. Richard Bach and Dr. Adam May.

Sharon Cresci, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Genetics in the Cardiovascular Division and Associate Director of the WashU Barnes-Jewish Hospital Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center, recently received a five-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The grant is entitled “Determining Potential Mechanisms of Worse Outcomes in Black HCM Patients”.

“We had hoped that the rates of aspirin use for secondary prevention would be much higher. Particularly I think, overall, globally, there has been an emphasis on improving cardiovascular health, and one of the efforts is to improve use of some of these evidence-based medications,” said Dr. Sang Gune Yoo, an author of the study and a cardiovascular disease fellow in the cardiovascular division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.