Author: Elizabeth

World Heart Rhythm Week, observed annually from June 3rd to June 9th, is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness about heart rhythm disorders and promoting cardiovascular health. This week-long event serves as an opportunity for healthcare professionals, advocacy groups, and individuals to come together to educate the public about the importance of maintaining a healthy heart rhythm and recognizing the signs and symptoms of heart rhythm disorders.

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardio-Obstetrics, Dr. Amanda Verma, was featured in a KSDK Sports Plus profile of a patient on the road to recovery after a heart attack. The patient, Dan Rolfe, is a 52 year old high school basketball coach. Dr. Verma explained to KSDK, “this is the left anterior descending […]

May 17, 2024: “Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer” The important World Hypertension Day was first held on 14 May 2005, and has since become an ever-expanding yearly event.

Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. Justin Sadhu was honored with the 2023-2024 Distinguished Service Teaching Award Jane Phillips-Conroy Professor of the Year by medical students and trainees at this year’s ceremony.

Recently a group of students from Normandy Middle School in North St. Louis County was able to visit the Radiology department and Goldfarb School of Nursing on a field trip focused on careers in medicine. This trip was part of ongoing outreach efforts led by Cardiovascular Division Professor of Medicine Dr. Linda Peterson, who has […]

When St. Louis native Kim Kuehner, MBA ’77, made his first foray into medical philanthropy in 2018, he viewed it as a long-term investment that would enable him to play a role in advancing human health. He did not expect his $15 million gift for an endowment supporting personalized cardiovascular research at Washington University School of Medicine to yield rapid results.

Abhinav Diwan, MD, a highly regarded cardiologist with expertise in the molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular disease, has been named the inaugural Charlie W. Shaeffer, MD, Professor of Cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Dr. Ali Javaheri, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine in the cardiovascular division, received $62,500 to study effects of dietary protein on cardiac function and muscle wasting in the setting of cancer chemotherapy. The project is called Longer Life Foundation Longevity Research Program (LRP)

Cardiovascular Fellow Kyle Yoo appeared on the Global Heart Podcast, produced by the World Heart Federation, speaking about Aspirin for secondary prevention of heart disease.

Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. Justin Sadhu is a 2023-2024 faculty honoree of the Washington University Distinguished ALumni Scholarship Program. Created in 1989, the Distinguished Alumni Scholarship Program (DASP) grants four entering students per year a four-year, full-tuition scholarship, for a total of 16 DASP students at the school at one time. Institutional funds are […]

Associate Professor of Medicine Nishath Quader, MD, has been elected to the board of the American Society of Echocardiographers, to serve a term that will begin in July 2024.

The American Society of Echocardiography is an organization of professionals working to advance cardiovascular ultrasound and improve lives through excellence in education, research, innovation, advocacy, and service to the profession and the public.

The multidisciplinary Structural Intervention group, including Cardiovascular Division faculty members Drs. Zajarias, Sintek, Lasala, and Quader, along with colleagues in Cardiothoracic Surgery, recently performed the first JenaValve procedure for aortic regurgitation at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital site.

“Our gala provides awareness of the incredible work of The Marfan Foundation and raises important funds for the Foundation’s programs that improve the lives of people with genetic aortic conditions. The gala brings together our loyal supporters that include a community of friends, colleagues, and affected individuals and their families for an evening of celebration,” said the Bravermans.

Mark D. Huffman, MD, MPH, tenured Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the DOM Global Health Center, has been appointed as the inaugural William Bowen Endowed Professor. The appointment recognizes Dr. Huffman’s outstanding leadership in preventive cardiology and cardiovascular health research at an individual and population level, and at a global scale. His research program […]

Effective April 1,2024, Dr. Prashanth Thakker has been appointed as the new Program Director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, succeeding Dr. Andy Kates who has served admirably in this role for the last 16 years. Dr. Thakker received his MD from Northeast Ohio Medical University in 2013 as part of the BS/MD program with the […]

Dr. Mark Huffman, Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Division), and Co-Director Global Health Center will be participating as a speaker at the NIH Health Equity Research Outreach (HERO) speaker series. The event is April 29th, from 9:30-11AM CDT and will be available to stream virtually.

Dr. Prashanth Thakker, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of Program Development in the Cardiovascular Fellowship program was coauthor of a research letter published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology titled “A Leadership Program to Support Career Development of Cardiovascular Chief Fellows”. The letter details the importance of the role of […]

Professor of Medicine Nathan Stitziel, MD, PhD was recently elected to the prestigious Association of University Cardiologists. Active membership in the United States is limited to just 135 cardiologists “who shape the course of research and training in cardiovascular disease.”

Dr. Jared Elenbaas, a graduating MSTP student in the Stitziel Lab, was recently honored with the David M. Kipnis Award by the Washington University Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences.

“Different CNNs have been developed for echocardiography image interpretation to distinguish visually similar conditions such as pathologic vs. physiologic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, constrictive pericarditis vs. restrictive cardiomyopathy, and stress induced cardiomyopathy vs. acute myocardial infarction,” said author Kan Liu.

Study the anatomy of a human heart, and you’ll notice that there are four chambers and four valves that work sequentially to move blood into the heart and then out into the body. As the heart contracts and relaxes, its valves work in a set order, opening and closing to ensure that blood flows in one direction. One valve opens to allow blood to flow in and then closes to prevent backward flow.

Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division at WashU Medicine, and colleagues recently published two articles outlining the current opportunities for AI to impact cardiovascular care.

Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division at WashU Medicine, and colleagues recently published an Expert Consensus Decision Pathway (ECDP) for the many decisions required in the management and treatment of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The document was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Angela Brown, Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, is among this year’s awardees for the Partnership Development and Sustainability Support Program with the Washington University School of Medicine ICTS.

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.