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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.