Category: News

In a new paper published in JACC: Advances, Drs. Anubha Agarwal, Mark Huffman, and Global Health Clinical Research Coordinator Adam Hively, MPH examine the history of polypill trials. The paper, titled “More Than a Decade of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Polypill Trials: Lessons for Heart Failure Polypills” marks the first publication for Hively, as the Global Health team within the WashU cardiovascular division continues research into this lifesaving therapy.

Wearables like Apple Watches, Fitbits, Oura Rings, WHOOP, Garmin, and other fitness trackers generally work by continuously monitoring your body’s signals and using machine learning algorithms to identify changes from your normal levels.

Most of these devices rely on photoplethysmography (PPG), a non-invasive optical technique that measures blood flow by using light and sensors to detect changes in blood volume at the skin’s surface, Thomas Maddox, MD, a professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the executive director of the Healthcare Innovation Lab at BJC HealthCare, told Health.

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that a type of immunotherapy — similar to that approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat inflammatory conditions such as arthritis — also may be an effective treatment strategy for heart failure.

The study is published Oct. 23 in the journal Nature.

Dr. Nathan Frogge has joined the Department of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division as an Assistant Professor in October 2024. He serves as faculty in the Interventional and Structural Cardiology Section and our West County Clinic, and as Director of Clinical Outreach and Expansion.

Dr. Joel Schilling of the WashU Cardiovascular Division was one of the authors of the cover story of the August edition of the Journal of Immunology, an article titled “Cutting Edge: Hepatic Stellate Cells Drive the Phenotype of Monocyte-derived Macrophages to Regulate Liver Fibrosis in Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatohepatitis “.

James “Russ” Hornsby and Sherry Hornsby’s business is play. Gregory Lanza, MD, PhD, is a cardiologist who conducts groundbreaking research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Together, this unusual trio is forging new pathways to healthier lives for people around the globe.

The ACC, in partnership with the JF Maddox Foundation, kicked off the Rural Cardiovascular Health Initiative (RCHI) earlier this year. The 12-month pilot project taking place in Hobbs, NM, aims to create and test an action module that can be used more broadly to improve cardiovascular health in rural communities nationwide.
Cardiology talked with Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, FACC, whose family’s foundation is supporting the program, about the impetus behind the program, key deliverables, and his path to both leadership and philanthropic giving with the College.

Professor of Medicine and Co-Director Global Health Center Dr. Mark Huffman appeared on KSDK’s Show Me St. Louis to recognize World Heart Day. Dr. Huffman noted that 1 in 3 people worldwide die of cardiovascular disease, and shared tips from the American Heart Association for heart health. He emphasized the dangers of ultra-processed foods, which account for half of the calories Americans consume.

“The most common preventive strategy for AF-related stroke is blood thinners, but for patients with a high risk of bleeding we must provide other treatment options,” said Dr. Abhinav Diwan, chief of cardiology. “Innovation has been key in our field and we’re leading the way here at St. Louis VA. WATCHMAN allows us to lower the risk of stroke in a broad range of patients who cannot tolerate blood thinners.”

A component of beet juice — inorganic nitrate — improves muscle power and exercise capacity in athletes and in patients with heart failure, according to earlier research by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis led by Dr. Linda Peterson

The 21st annual meeting of the Society for Heart and Vascular Metabolism was held in St. Louis September 8th through 11th, with Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division Dr. Linda Peterson serving as SHVM President. This is the first time that the meeting has been held in St. Louis, and events were held in Clayton at the Le Méridien hotel as well as on the Wash U Medicine campus, with dinners at the St. Louis Art Museum and Grant’s Farm.

Assistant Professor of Medicine Jesus Jimenez, MD, PhD has been announced as a recipient of the 2024 Harold Amos Faculty Development Award. Dr. Jimenez also recently received K08 funding for his project “CD40 Immunotherapy Effect on the Cardiac Immune Landscape and Response to Myocardial Disease”.

Dr. Amanda Verma, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardio-Obstetrics in the Cardiovascular Division, has been appointed as the Chair of the Women in Heart Failure Committee for the Heart Failure Society of America.

The Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society chapter at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has announced 25 inductees for its Class of 2024. The AOA is a national organization with a mission to recognize and support leadership, high educational achievement and effective teaching as well as service to others. The Washington University chapter has more than 450 physicians.

Drs. Mustafa Husaini, Richard Bach, and Sharon Cresci of the Cardiovascular Division published a case report in the August 2024 edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Cardiology, titled “Exercise Testing to Unmask Latent LVOT Obstruction in a Highly Symptomatic Patient With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy”.

Thomas M. Maddox MD, SM, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine and head of the BJC/WUSM Healthcare Innovation Lab, has been appointed to the inaugural FDA Digital Health Advisory Committee.

Second-Year Cardiovascular Fellow Dr. Sarah LoCoco is the first author on a new paper in the journal Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, entitled “Direct Comparison of Methods to Differentiate Wide Complex Tachycardias: Novel Automated Algorithms Versus Manual ECG Interpretation Approaches”.

Assistant Professor of Medicine Jesus Jimenez, MD, PhD was awarded the Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award at this year’s American Heart Association Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Conference in Chicago, IL.

31 Washington University Cardiovascular Division Faculty were named to the Castle Connolly 2024 Top Doctors® List.

The Top Doctors® selection process is entirely merit-based. Doctors cannot pay to be listed. These doctors are best-in-class healthcare providers, embodying excellence in clinical care as well as interpersonal skills. More information can be found at the Top Doctors® website. This list is also published every August by St. Louis Magazine.

Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Ali Javaheri was featured in an article titled “Translating metabolic and cardiovascular research into effective treatments: What’s next?” In a special 50th Anniversary edition of the journal Cell.

Javaheri was among 10 scientists asked to comment on the future of cardiac metabolism research. His thoughts appear under the heading “Food as medicine and for thought”.

Dr. Steven Lavine, Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, will retire in August. Dr. Lavine has been with Washington University since 2016. He is also the father of Dr. Kory Lavine, Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research.

Thomas M. Maddox, MD, SM, professor of medicine and vice president of digital products and innovation at BJC HealthCare, Washington University School of Medicine, gave a presentation on new technology advances at ACC.24, the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). He then spoke with Cardiovascular Business, providing insights into cardiology’s future.

In July the Cardiovascular Division welcomed our newest class of fellows! We are looking forward to working with these talented physicians.

Gmerice Hammond, MD MPH, Instructor in Medicine, received a Harold Amos Faculty Development Award for her project entitled “The Impact of the ACO REACH Program on Racial Inequities in Heart Failure.” The study examines whether a new Medicare payment program helps reduce gaps in care and outcomes for Black patients with heart failure. The Harold […]

Dr. Pan Ma joined the Department of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division as an instructor in May 2024. As a researcher, she has made significant contributions to the understanding of myocarditis disease. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and presented at prestigious conferences, earning them recognition as a competitive early career investigator.

Congratulations to PROUD-MED Scholar Zainab Mahmoud, MD, MSc (Internal Medicine, Cardiology) on the funding of her K23 “Improving Maternal Cardiovascular Outcomes Through the Implementation of a Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Bundle in Nigeria”, 1K23HL173684-01.

Recently, four members of the Cardiovascular Division faculty completed a 16-week pilot leadership course on the Fundamentals of Performance Improvement and Change Management presented by the Department of Medicine. Sixteen faculty members participated across the school of medicine: representing the Cardiovascular Division were Division Chief Dr. Sumanth Prabhu, and Drs. Mustafa Husaini, Justin Sadhu, and Sudhir Jain.

Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Wash U Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center, Dr. Sharon Cresci is Vice-Chair on a new statement published this week in the journal Circulation on behalf of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Howard Kurz, Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, will retire at the end of June. Dr. Kurz has served as Director of the Interventional Cardiology Training Program as well as Director of the Cardiac Procedure Center Catheterization Laboratory. He has been an essential part of the interventional cardiology team, and his mentorship and leadership will be greatly missed.

More than 184 million people, exceeding 61% of the U.S. population, are likely to have some type of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and total CVD-related costs are expected to triple to $1.8 trillion by 2050, according to projections reported in two new American Heart Association presidential advisories

With the advent of the AI-based writing tool ChatGPT, attention has focused on assisting physicians with one of their most burdensome tasks, clinical documentation. Each of the four area health systems is developing an AI scribe function.

BJC HealthCare and its academic partner, Washington University School of Medicine, are conducting pilots of several AI products to help generate clinical notes. Thomas Maddox, MD, SM, who leads the Healthcare Innovation Lab at BJC and Washington University, described the effort:

“We installed a product in the exam room that records the clinical encounter. At the conclusion of the visit, it feeds the audio transcription into a large language model like ChatGPT. Then that model transforms the recording into a clinical note following the format that physicians often use. The physician then reviews and edits the draft instead of starting with a blank page.”

We congratulate the following fellows for completing their training with the Cardiovascular Division and are heading to the next phase of their careers: Christopher Evenson, MDParkview HospitalFort Wayne, IN Adam Lick, MDCrescent City PhysiciansTouro InfirmaryNew Orleans, LA Stephen Philip, MDUniversity Of WisconsinMadison, WI Cliff Pruett, MDHeart Failure FellowshipUT SouthwesternDallas, TX Vince Siebert, MDRooney Heart InstituteNaples […]

Cardiologist Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, specializes in evaluating how different healthcare regulations and policies can influence short- and long-term cardiovascular outcomes. In addition to seeing patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, she is a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where she serves as co-director of the school’s Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research.

Christian McNeely, MD has joined the Division as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, serving as a faculty member in the Interventional Cardiology Section and as Lead Physician in the West County Cardiology Clinic

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.