News

Alan C. Braverman, MD, FACC, Alumni Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases, section head of General Cardiology, and director of the WashU Medicine Marfan Syndrome and Aortopathy Center, served on the writing committee for a new scientific statement from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association addressing cardiovascular care for tactical athletes. The statement, Clinical Considerations for the Care of the Tactical Athlete With Cardiovascular Abnormalities, was published in Circulation.

Abhinav Diwan, MD, FACC, FAHA, professor of cardiology and chief of Cardiology at the Saint Louis VA Medical Center, has been awarded a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Senior Clinician Scientist Investigator (SCSI) Award, one of the VA’s highest honors for clinician-scientists.

Anubha Agarwal, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology and co-director of the Program in Global Cardiovascular Health, is leading a multicenter randomized controlled trial in Sri Lanka that tests whether a single capsule containing all four pillars of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) can improve mortality and recurrent hospitalization rates for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The trial began enrolling on Aug. 17, 2026, at 14 public hospitals across the country.

Can a single daily capsule containing all four pillars of heart failure therapy be delivered in a busy public hospital? A pilot trial led by Anubha Agarwal, MD, MSc, suggests it can. The results, now published in JAMA Cardiology, laid the groundwork for a much larger trial that opened on August 17, 2026, and aims to enroll 1,672 participants at 14 public hospitals across Sri Lanka.

Dr. Aldea completed his undergraduate study in Mathematics and English Literature at Washington University in St. Louis before attending medical school at Boston University School of Medicine. He went on to do internal medicine training with USC at Los Angeles General Hospital and completed his cardiovascular disease fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He specializes in General Adult Cardiovascular Medicine with a particular interest in Sports Cardiology, Multimodal Cardiovascular Imaging (Cardiac CT Angiography, Transthoracic and Transesophageal Echocardiography), and Preventative Cardiology.

Cardiology Medical Assistant Farahnaz Tooryalai’s career journey began 7,228 miles away. “I came from a country where war disrupted every part of life, where women and girls were denied basic rights and their voices and dreams were often silenced,” Tooryalai said. “When I left my home country, I packed an entire life in my suitcase: a suitcase of dreams, hopes and ambitions.”

Excellence, innovation, and dedication are hallmarks of our faculty, and we are proud to celebrate those whose accomplishments have earned promotion during the 2025-2026 academic year. These promotions recognize individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, advanced discovery through research, inspired learners through education, and delivered outstanding patient care. The Department of Medicine congratulates our newly promoted Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors on this well-deserved achievement.