Introduction from the Director, W. Robert Taylor, MD, PhD

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

In this Issue

Introduction from director 1

Save the date 1

Faculty news 2-4

Patient story 5

From Addis to Atlanta 6-7

Focus on fellowships 8

Grand rounds 9

Recent publications 10-

13

Recent grants 14

Wenger reception recap 15

August/September 2010

Newsletter Ideas? Please email Kathleen Brill kbrill@emory.edu with any suggestions or feedback.

New faculty reception 6 pm Monday, October 11, in lobby of James B. Wil-liams School of Medicine Building 2010 Start! Heart Walk 9 am Saturday, October 30, at Turner Field Green Lot. For details go to www.atlantaheartwalk.org Quarterly Cardiology Division Faculty Meetings 6 pm Wednesday, October 6, and Wednesday, December 8, Hurst conference room E450; broadcast to EUH-CV Learning Center

Save the date

W elcome to the August/September issue of the cardiol-ogy newsletter. This month we

would like to highlight two very special events. The first was the celebration of the 52 plus years of Nanette Wenger’s contri-butions to the Emory Division of Cardiol-ogy. On Saturday, September 11, over one hundred former fellows, faculty members and friends celebrated Dr. Nanette Wenger’s contributions to Cardiology and to the Emory University School of Medi-cine. The proceedings started with a sym-posium and were followed by a celebratory dinner. Dr. Wenger made enormous contri-butions to our division and to cardiovascu-lar medicine. This was a unique opportunity to thank Nanette for her hard work over the past five decades. The highlight of the evening was the announcement by Michael Young, CEO of Grady Memorial Hospital,

that the new Cardiology Outpatient Clinics at Grady will be named in honor of Dr. Wenger. Coming up on October 30 will be the an-nual American Heart Association Heart Walk. This is an important opportunity for all of us to contribute to the important work of the American Heart Association. The AHA contributes not only to support of research and training funding, but also im-pacts all of our patients through their very strong educational efforts. If you have not yet joined a team please feel free to con-tact me to join the faculty team, Roberto Hodara to join the fellows’ team and Carol Stephens to join the staff team. There are also numerous teams being formed throughout the clinical units of Emory Healthcare. If you are unable to join a team and walk, please go to the Emory Health-care website http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/employee/atlantaheartwalk/2010/atlanta2010heartwalkonlineguide.pdf and pledge support for one of the teams or walkers participating this year. Thanks for your support of this very important activity.

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Faculty News

Continued on Page 3

T he Society for Cardiovascular Mag-netic Resonance gave its Gerald Po-

host award for best manuscript to Stama-tios Lerakis, MD. Prognostic value of adenosine stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients with low-risk chest pain was published in the Journal of Cardio-vascular Magnetic Resonance. Co-authors are Drs. Donald McLean, A.V. Anadiotis, Matthew Janik , John Oshinski, N. Alexopoulos , E. Zaragoza-Macias, Emir Veledar and Arthur Stillman . Dr. Lerakis recently organized an Echocar-diography Research Symposium, which was held at Emory University Hospital on July 28. Faculty, fellows, echo technicians and residents from Georgia Tech and all Emory campuses including the Veterans Administration Medical Center presented their research. The high-light was a keynote address by Dr. Joel Felner who spoke about the Power of M Mode Echo.

Stamatios Lerakis, MD

M any people know that heart disease is currently the number one killer of women in the United States. But a little more than a half a century ago it

was widely believed that cardiovascular disease only affected men. Renowned

cardiologist Nanette K. Wenger, MD, challenged this theory and thanks to her pioneering efforts over the last 50 years women today know better. Wenger, a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Emory Univer-

sity School of Medicine and former Chief of Cardiology at Grady Memorial Hospi-tal, was honored as the 2010 Georgia Woman of the Year for her lifetime commit-ment to reducing women’s disability and death from cardiovascular disease. She joins the ranks of other distinguished Georgia women including First Lady Rosalynn Carter who was named the first Georgia Woman of the Year in 1996 by the Georgia Commission on Women. In addition to this prestigious accolade, Wenger has accumulated dozens of awards throughout her celebrated career including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiol-ogy in 2009. She is a sought-after lecturer for issues related to heart disease in women, heart disease in the elderly, cardiac rehabilitation, coronary prevention and contemporary cardiac care. A native of New York City and a graduate of Hunter College and the Harvard Medical School, Wenger received her medical and cardiology training at Mount Sinai Hospital before coming to Emory and Grady in 1958. Since then she has been a trailblazer and icon in the field of cardiology as author and co-author of more than 1,400 scientific and review articles and book chapters. She helped write the 2007 Guidelines for Preventing Cardiovascular Disease in Women. Wenger’s body of work over a lifetime has established her as a clear leader in impacting the health of women all over the world.

Nanette Wenger, MD (center) with members of the Georgia Woman of the Year Committee

D r. Javed Butler has been promoted to the rank of Professor, Clinical Track in the Department of

Medicine. Javed has made outstanding contributions to our heart failure and trans-plant program. In addition to his numerous publications, he has demonstrated out-standing service to the Uni-versity and to the medical community through his work in numerous organizations including the American Heart Association. He is clearly very deserving of this promo-tion. Congratulations to Pro-fessor Javed Butler. It is a true privilege to have Javed as a member of our faculty.

Javed Butler, MD

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010 Page 3

Faculty News continued from Page 2

C ongratulations to Andrew Smith, MD, on his promotion to the rank of Professor of

Medicine. Dr. Smith has been an outstanding member of our Division and the School of Medi-cine as a clinician, educator and a re-searcher. He has had important impact as the leader of our Heart Failure and Cardiac Trans-plant Service. In addition, he continues to make major contributions to the University through his service in the My Emory campaign and other philanthropic activities. His promotion is truly a well-deserved acknowledgement of his many contributions.

On September 1, 2010, Dr. Smith assumed the role of Clinical Chief of Cardiology for Emory University Hospital. Andy was an obvious choice based on his incredible track record in developing the Heart Failure Program. We are very fortunate to have him as part of the leadership team in Cardiol-ogy. Andy has demonstrated a tremendous understanding of clinical operations and he has a strong focus on the delivery of integrated clinical care.

Andrew Smith, MD

S ergey Dikalov, PhD, directs the Free Radicals in Medicine Core in the Cardiology Division. Emory University School of

Medicine scientists have arrived at an essential insight: the cell isn’t a tiny bucket with all the constituent chemicals sloshing around. To modulate reactive oxygen species effectively, an antioxidant needs to be targeted to the right place in the cell. Sergey Dikalov and colleagues in the Division of Cardiology have a paper in the July 9 issue of Circulation Research describ-ing how targeting antioxidant molecules to mitochondria dra-matically increases their effectiveness in tamping down hyper-tension. Mitochondria are usually described as miniature power plants, but in the cells that line blood vessels, they have the potential to act as amplifiers. The authors describe a “vicious cycle” of feed-back between the cellular enzyme NADPH oxidase, which pro-duces the reactive form of oxygen called superoxide, and the mitochondria, which can also make superoxide as a byproduct of their energy-producing function. Taking an antioxidant (TEMPOL) that sops up superoxide, and attaching a mitochondrial anchor (forming mitoTEMPO), makes the antioxidant work effectively at a concentration that is 1,000 times lower, compared to the same antioxidant without the anchor. In animal models, the approach works to counteract both hypertension induced by the hormone angiotensin II and by the combination of a steroid hormone and salt. In an editorial accompanying the Circulation Research article, Paul O’Connor and David Gutterman from Medical College of Wisconsin write that the results “provide renewed hope that through their fo-cused site of action, this class of chemical agents may be more effective than traditional global antioxidants in treating hyper-tension in humans.”The tactic of targeting drugs to mitochon-

dria by attaching a positively charged, lipophilic (oil-preferring) anchor is not new, Dikalov notes. Russian bio-chemist Vladimir Skulachev first identified molecules with suitable properties in the 1960s, he says. Mitochondria naturally have a negative charge inside be-cause they pump out posi-tively charged ions as part of their energy generation func-tion. That means positively charged molecules are at-tracted into mitochondria like moths to a lamp on the porch, while the oil-preferring con-text keeps a molecule embedded inside. There are so many drugs for blood pressure – why is there a need for more? Dikalov points out that several existing blood pressure medications have limited effectiveness for a fraction of the population. “Many patients are taking more than one drug, but still their blood pressure is poorly controlled,” he says. More broadly, the mitochondrial targeting approach may be applicable for treating other conditions besides hypertension, such as atherosclerosis, complications of diabetes, lung and eye diseases. Dikalov is collaborating with colleagues at the Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry to follow up.

Sergey Dikalov, PhD

Continued on Page 4

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W e are pleased to welcome several new faculty members to the division.

Dimitri Cassimatis, MD, Assistant Professor Niels Engberding, MD, Assistant Professor Michael Hoskins, MD, Assistant Professor Heinrich Lob, PhD, Instructor Nanthini D. Palanichamy, MD, Instructor Don O. Rowe, MD, Assistant Professor Dr. Cassimatis joins us from Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he was a Staff Cardiologist. He received his Doctorate of Medicine in 1999 from Harvard Medical School in Boston. He subsequently com-pleted his internship and residency in 2002 from Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he also completed a 3 year Cardiology fellowship in 2005. From 2005-2008, Dr. Cassimatis was attending cardiologist and Chief of Cardiology at the Outpatient Clinic at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Dr. Cassimatis is based at Emory University Hospital Midtown (EUH-M) and Grady Memorial Hospital (GMH). Dr. Engberding received his Doctorate of Medicine in 2002 from Hannover Medical School in Germany. He entered the residency program in Internal Medicine in 2002 at University Medical Center of Hannover Medical School in Germany. In 2003, he entered the residency program in the De-partment of Medicine at Penn State Uni-versity College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania and in 2006, subsequently entered the basic science research track in the Cardiology Fellowship Program at Emory, which he completed this past June, 2010. Dr. Engberding is based primarily at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Hoskins received his Doctorate of Medicine in 2002 from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He subsequently came to Emory University and completed his residency here in Internal Medicine in 2005. Dr. Hoskins was Chief Resident in Internal Medicine from 2005-2006. He then entered our Cardiology fellow-ship program and Electrophysiology fellowship

program, which he completed in June, 2010. Dr. Hoskins is an Electrophysiologist based primarily at Emory University Hospital. Dr. Lob received his PhD in 2006 from the Department of Pharmacology at University of Cologne, Germany. He came to Emory University in 2006, where he worked in the lab of Dr. David Harrison. Dr. Lob continues to work with Dr. Harrison on studies of extracellular superoxide dismutase and hypertension. Dr. Palanichamy completed internal medicine residency training in 2004 at Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center, Dearborn, MI and recently completed her cardiology fellowship training at Tulane University. Dr. Palanichamy’s position is based primarily in the Cardiac Imaging Center, working with Drs. Paolo Raggi, Art Stillman, and Stam Lerakis.

Dr. Rowe received his Doctorate of Medi-cine in 2004 from Meharry Medical College School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennes-see. He subsequently came to Emory Uni-versity School of Medicine where he com-pleted his residency in Internal Medicine in 2007 and then entered the Cardiology Fel-lowship Program at Emory, which he com-

pleted this past June, 2010. Dr. Rowe’s position is based primarily at the Emory – Georgia Heart Care location and Emory Johns Creek Hospital/Heart Center Clinic.

Welcome new faculty Continued fromPage 3

Faculty awards at fellows’ graduation banquet

Joel M. Felner, MD Excellence in Teaching at Grady Memorial Hospital Andro Kacharava, MD, PhD Excellence in Teaching at Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center Maan Jokhadar, MD Excellence in Teaching at Emory University Hospital Dan Sorescu, MD Excellence in Teaching at Emory University Hospital at Midtown Andro Kacharava, MD, PhD The J. Willis Hurst Award for Excellence in Teaching

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010 Page 5

N eal Pope has walked through the valley of the shadow of death — slowly, while out of breath. In 1991, the Colum-

bus attorney was among the most prominent lawyers in the land, featured on the cover of Newsweek for the $5.5 million settlement he’d achieved in a lawsuit over the sleep-inducing drug Halcion, which in some people caused psychotic episodes. Pope had represented a plaintiff who while on the drug shot her mother to death, not only emptying a revolver but reloading it to fire a seventh shot. Professionally, Pope was riding high. But he wasn’t walking so well. He was suffering backache, fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pains and pain radiating down his left arm. “Heart attacks sometimes don’t just happen quickly,” he said. “In my case, it went on for several days.” He first was prescribed Percocet, a powerful painkiller, but finally he had to go to the hospital. Fast. “I popped a Percocet and went to bed,” he said, “and the next morning, I was uncon-scious.” That’s when doctors discovered Pope had blown a hole in his heart. Its left side bulged about the size of a tennis ball around an aneurysm. His heart should have been pumping about 50 percent of the blood out with each beat. It was pump-ing 16 percent.

Surgeons repaired the damage, but that didn’t leave Pope much of a heart. For 18 months, he lived with it, but not well. He was always out of breath. In January 1993, he lost a lawsuit in Atlanta, representing a developer who claimed he’d lost millions building a hotel. Pope felt like hell, and looked it: “I looked like death stalking supper, and felt like it, too,” he said. In February 1993, he got an awful pain in his belly. His wife raced him to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where he had to undergo emergency surgery to remove his gall bladder. He was lying in bed after that surgery when his doctor told him he needed a new heart — or a used one, in this case: a transplant. Pope went on a high-priority list for a heart transplant. And he got one, from a 45-year-old police officer left brain dead after an accident. The transplant team examined Pope about 4 or 5 pm; by midnight surgeons were installing the heart. But his troubles were not over. During the emergency gall-bladder surgery, doctors nicked a bile duct, causing a slow leak. Pope said the resulting jaundice soon turned him “yellow as a school bus.” So just a few days after the transplant, physicians had to cut him open again to fix the bile duct. Then he recovered. By April, he was out of the hospital, and for him the spring of 1993 was like a new life. In weeks he went from a “dead man walking” to fully functional again, he said, as if the man born in January 1939 was reborn in 1993. By July, he was back in the courtroom, arguing another big case. He was 51 when he had his heart attack, 53 when he got a heart transplant. Today he’s 71, and knows that without an-other’s sacrifice and the medical advances that have so im-

proved treatment for heart ailments, he would be dead and buried. He wouldn’t be sitting in the fourth-floor Synovus Centre offices of Pope, McGlamry, Kilpatrick, Morrison & Norwood, look-ing over the Chattahoochee River to the Russell County Courthouse where he be-gan his career in the 1960s, arguing cases against old friends like the late Pelham Ferrell and others he since has outlived. “I have a dif-ferent attitude about the world now than I did before,” he said. “I used to think I was something special; now I realize I’m not.” Some lawyers have inflated egos, he said. He warns younger attorneys about that: “I say to them, ‘You know, you’re not nearly as great as you think you are, and you’re certainly not as great as other people think you are, because you can be walking down the street, and in a

matter of a few minutes, the whole thing comes to an end.’ How many people do you know who had the world by the tail and are now pushing up daisies?” Seventeen years have passed since Pope got a second-hand heart, without which he would

have never known his five grandchildren, never fought and won the court cases that followed, never had a second chance at life. Nor a third chance after that: In June 2004, he again was under the knife at Emory, needing a quadruple bypass to reroute his blood stream around blocked arteries. At the time he was told only seven others had needed their transplanted hearts by-passed. “Every morning I get up and I think I really am on bor-rowed time; I wasn’t meant to be here, so what am I going to do today to make this day special?” he said. Over the years he got to know the staff and faculty at Emory intimately — more intimately than he had intended, probably, but it gives him a deep appreciation for what heart doctors to-day can do. The ones who yet survive, anyway — Pope has out-lived three of his doctors, too. In February 2010 he was honored at Columbus’ annual Heart Ball, which raises money for heart research and education. It’s a cause for which he lives, knowing so many lacking his good fortune die every year, and so many others survive, and recover, because the treatment keeps get-ting better. “It’s amazing that people are alive now who 20 years ago, or even 15 years ago, wouldn’t be up walking around. … With the strides they’re going to make in the future, we may see a day when nobody has to die of heart failure,” he said. “To me, that’s worth passing on to people, because we abuse our hearts, and we don’t have the necessary knowledge to protect them.”

Still ticking 17 years after heart transplant

“Every morning I get up and I think I really am on borrowed time; I was-n’t meant to be here, so what am I going to do today to make this day special?”

Neal Pope

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© Illustration by Katie Murphy GSU Photographer Meg Buscema

I n the Intensive Care Unit of Grady Memorial Hospital, Georgia State senior Mesfin Yana leans over a patient returning from heart surgery and begins

to remove her intubation tube. Yana, a respiratory therapist in training, pauses when he sees fear in her eyes and reassures her not to worry; it may be uncomfortable at first, he says, but it gets better. He tells her that he’s had the same very same mitral valve replacement surgery. “Look how good I turned out,” he jokes. The woman’s eyes brighten, and when the cardiologist arrives to check on her a few minutes later, she is comfortably relaxed. “I understand Mesfin told you his story,” says Dr. Allen Dollar, chief of cardi-ology at Grady. “He knows exactly how this is. You’re in good hands.” Yana can relate to pulmonary and cardiac patients on a level few others can. About nine years ago, weak with rheumatic heart fever, he struggled to make the journey from his home in the small village of Shafina in southern Ethiopia to a clinic in Addis Ababa, the capitol city, where he planned to die alone. “Even taking one step after another was hard,” he recalls. “I couldn't breathe. I could barely walk.” Today, not only is 25-year-old Yana healthy, he will gradu-ate this spring with his bachelor's degree and begin his career as a respiratory therapist. With his warm demeanor and friendly personality, Yana shows no outward signs of how much he endured in the fight for his life. His incredible journey encompasses thousands of miles and wouldn’t have been possible without the generous help of physicians, surgeons and humanitarians, and perhaps, Yana says, a bit of divine intervention. “Being in the United States is a blessing,” Yana says. “Every opportunity the American people have given me has made me think about how I can change my life and how I can change the lives of others here and back home.” A sudden illness Yana grew up in a large family of 13 brothers and sisters in Shafina, a village that during Yana’s childhood was without electricity or automobiles. Yana says he had a happy childhood until he became sick with strep throat as an early teen. The streptococcus was to blame for the rheumatic heart fever that nearly killed him. His family took him to doctors in the area but they were unable to help. Yana needed surgery, but in Ethiopia, a country of nearly 80 million people, heart surgeons are extremely rare. “By then I was at the point of death and I was praying to be delivered from my suffering,” Yana remem-bers. “I was not afraid to die, for I had lost my hope to live. Struggling to breathe, it felt like I was drowning all the time.” His family tried everything to help him, staying up with him at night when he couldn’t breathe or sleep. “When I hurt, they hurt,” he recalls. Not wanting to be a burden to his family

any longer, Yana decided to leave his village and make the long trek to the Mother Theresa Mission in Addis Ababa, the place he hoped to find solace in his final hours. Instead, Yana found the person he calls his “angel,” Dr. Richard Hodes. Dr. Hodes is the medical director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Com-mittee in Addis Ababa and cares for Ethiopia’s destitute suffering from heart disease, severe spinal disorders and cancer. He began working in Ethiopia during the famine of the early 1980s and has helped hundreds of children, including supporting three houses full of orphans. “It says in the Talmud, ‘He who saves one life saves an entire world,’ and that's what I'm trying to do,” Dr. Hodes says, referring to the Jewish Holy Book. Dr. Hodes said he found Yana lying on a stretcher in the mission near death, showing signs of severe congestive heart failure. The doctor knew Yana needed heart surgery to survive and immediately began contacting his net-work of doctors and hospitals across the United States for help. Another son It was in the fall of 2001 when Dr. Allen Dollar, then a cardiologist at Pied-mont Hospital, got the call from Hodes. An Atlanta based non-profit, Chil-dren’s Cross Connections International, helped facilitate Yana’s journey, and in October 2001, doctors at Piedmont performed successful surgery on Yana’s heart. He stayed with a sponsor family for two months as he recovered, then flew back home to Ethiopia and moved into Dr. Hodes’ home to continue healing. Six weeks later though, Yana wasn’t improving. At first, Dr. Hodes thought Yana was just having problems adjusting to the altitude of Addis Ababa, which is more than 8,000 feet above sea level. But Yana developed a low-grade fever and an enlarged spleen, telltale signs of an infection of the heart lining, which is 100 percent fatal without treatment, Dr. Hodes said. Using daily injections of medications and monitoring him at home, Dr. Hodes was able to cure Yana’s infection, but not before it had damaged his heart valve. He needed surgery again, so Dr. Hodes immediately called Dr. Dollar and the pair arranged for him to fly back to Atlanta. An ambulance met Yana on the tarmac and rushed him to Piedmont Hospital for the emergency opera-tion. During surgery, Dr. Dollar and a colleague determined that Yana needed a prosthetic heart valve because his own valve was beyond repair. With a prosthetic valve, however, Yana would need to be on blood thinners and would need close monitoring, leaving him medically unable to go back to Ethiopia. “We were in surgery and my colleague asked, ‘What are you going to do with him?’” Dr. Dollar says. “I said, ‘I don't know.’ Then I called Shelly and

From Addis Ababa to Atlanta From GSU Magazine/Spring 2010 issue By Elizabeth Klipp

Page 7 Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

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said I think we're going to have another kid.” It was a phrase that his wife, Shelly, has come to hear frequently over the years. Not that she minds. The high school sweethearts had always wanted to have a large family and that dream has come to fruition, with children coming into their lives on purpose and at times by happenstance. “Whenever a need comes up and things fall into our lap, we’ve tried to rise to the occasion,” says Dr. Dollar, a fit 50-year-old with wire rim glasses, a buzz cut and slight beard. “Not that there haven’t been hard times, but the fun stuff outweighs it, the chance to see these kids’ potential come to light.” The Dollars have three biological daughters: Lauren, Diane and Stephanie; plus four adopted international children with health issues: Jon, a son with a congenital heart problem from China; Gabriela, a daughter with cerebral palsy from El Salvador; and Tony and Hugo, two boys with mental health issues from Mexico. Also part of the Dollar clan are Mesfin, as well as foster

children Mike and Todd, who were too old to be adopted but are considered family members all the same. The Dollars also help nine children in Addis Ababa who are either in remission from cancer or recov-ering from tuberculo-sis or polio and at-tending school, part of the Ethiopian Education Project of the Children’s Cross Connection Interna-tional. They also support Yana’s family and another family in southern Ethiopia, buying the occasional ox to revive a herd or whatever is needed. “It’s just how I’m wired,” explains

Shelly Dollar when asked about her generosity. Her no-nonsense, take-charge character helps her keep up with finances for all the children in col-lege, the rents for multiple houses and apartments, health care bills and food budgets. But Shelly, a woman who doesn’t wear make-up and hates having her picture taken, is never far from a child who might need her com-pany or simply a hug. Blending into the Dollar family was easy, Yana says. Stephanie Dollar, the sister who was closest to him in age, quickly showed him the ropes at high school. “I remember thinking, if he’s going to be my brother, we’re going to have to go shopping right away and get him new clothes,” Stephanie says with a laugh. She helped him become more “American” and even took him to his first toga party. After high school graduation, Yana chose to attend Georgia State because of its diverse community and location: he wanted to remain close to the Dollars. “They are amazing people,” Yana says. “They are here for other people, not themselves.” Dr. Dollar is now a faculty member at Emory University. In addition to his work in Ethiopia, Dr. Dollar has volunteered in El Salvador, India, Cambodia and Vietnam. The needs in such countries are overwhelm-

ing, he says. “You can't save everybody,” Dr. Dollar says with some resigna-tion. “Whether you do a lot for a little, like we did with Mesfin, or do a little for a lot is the true dilemma.” College and Career Although no longer the skinny wide-eyed boy who first came to America, “He’s a savvy American who knows how to use elevators,” Dr. Dollar jokes, Yana still experienced a “culture shock” when he first arrived at Georgia State. He found his way thanks in part to Heather Housley, director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, who guided him through visa regulations, class scheduling, advising and other issues. Housley says Yana has been unassuming about his past. “He’s such an amazing guy and the truth is I didn't know all he has been through until two years after I met him,” Housley says. Yana also found his niche by joining the Ethiopian Student Association and giving tours of Georgia State to incoming international students. Most im-portantly, Yana is grateful that Georgia State led him to the field of respira-tory therapy, where he focuses on aiding and improving the function of his patients’ hearts and lungs. Mesfin has completed his required classes and is now doing his clinical practicum at Grady Hospital three days a week, working 12-hour shifts. Though he is moved around the hospital regularly, Yana mainly works in the Grady’s ICU seeing patients with issues ranging from severe asthma to major trauma, which requires a breathing tube to be inserted and the patient to be placed on a ventilator. “Every time I see a patient, I feel the emotion they are going through that brings me closer to them and allows me to take care of them,” Yana says. “It’s like a flashback.” A Time to Celebrate About two months before his graduation from Georgia State, Yana’s family gathered at Bahel Ethiopian Cuisine on Briarcliff Road to celebrate his birthday, or at least what they think is his birthday. Ethiopians generally don’t record birth dates, though Yana said his parents know his month and year of birth. After enjoying platters of spicy beef, lamb and vegetables on injera, a large, spongy sourdough flatbread eaten by hand, the family teased each other over money and chores and, just like any family would, they shared stories about growing up together. As the meal wound down and the tradi-tional Ethiopian coffee ceremony was performed, the tone turned more somber. Dr. Dollar remembered the children he and Shelly have tried to save, but who didn't make it. It’s moments like this that Yana opens up and reflects on his struggle. “I believe that God has reasons for what he does,” Yana explains. “He made me sick to bring me over here to go to school and to be someone who can help others in need.” The Dollars have been working hard to get Yana’s parents access to United States for his graduation. But even if they can’t make the ceremony, they'll be cheering Yana from Ethiopia, along with his angel, Dr. Hodes. “I was always impressed with his drive and think it’s simply wonderful he’s graduating,” Dr. Hodes writes in an e-mail from Addis Ababa. “[Respiratory therapy] is a great choice for Mesfin: he has great people skills and this is a way for him to use his brains and his heart.”

Update from Allen Dollar: “Mesfin is now happily employed at Grady in the ICUs as a respiratory therapist. A couple of weeks ago, they moved him to night shift where all new hires end up for a couple of years. He mostly looks like death warmed over whenever I see him (not often as we pass in the night). I’m hoping he adapts to a nocturnal schedule eventually.“

“I think we're going to have another kid,” said Dr. Dollar, Chief of Cardiology at Grady Hospital (left), to his wife, Shelly, after Yana (right) was given a prosthetic heart valve that left him medically unable to go back to Ethiopia.

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Focus on Fellowships

Brown Bag Lunch & Learn

October 6, 2010: Photography with Lynn Marshall-

Linnemeir

December 1: Chair yoga with Tara Cox from FASAP

(Faculty Staff Assistance Program) *

* Special 30-minute session All sessions begin at noon in School of Medicine

Building Room 170A

Project SEED

A mit Shah, MD, grew up in a small rural town in Winchester, Kentucky. After high school, he moved to New Jersey, where

he studied physics at Princeton University. He then received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed his residency in social internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is currently enrolled in the academic investigator track at Emory Uni-versity and is pursuing his Masters in Clinical Research (MSCR) at the Rollins School of Public Health. Since coming to Emory in July 2009, Amit has been working with Dr. Viola Vaccarino, where he has been working on several pro-jects involving the psychosocial aspects of cardiology, an area he has become very passionate about through his personal and clinical experiences. In his work with the Emory Twins Studies, as part of his MSCR thesis he initially investigated the association between autonomic function, as measured by heart rate variability, and cognitive func-tion. He has also studied the association of post-traumatic stress disorder and heart rate variability, as well as carotid intima media thickness. Amit is also studying gender differences in cardiovascu-lar disease, and is involved with the study “Sex Differences in Myo-cardial Ischemia Triggered by Emotional Factors after MI,” in which he is analyzing the differences in vascular function between young men and women with recent MI. After finishing his second year of clinical research, Amit will spend two years learning clinical cardiology. After fellowship, Amit plans to pursue a career in academic cardiology, with goals of fur-ther investigating issues related to psychosocial influences on the cardiovascular system, disparities and differences in gender, race, and socioeconomics, and therapies involving integrative medicine.

Amit Shah, MD

Y olanda Hendley has roots in Tampa, Florida, where she was raised. She matriculated to the University of Florida

for college where she received a BS in Interdisciplinary Basic Biomedical Sciences. As a sophomore, she was accepted into the Junior Honors Medical Program, which is a combined (seven year) BS/MD program. During junior year, she gave birth to a girl, Yanni Denai Hendley-McCalla. She received her medical degree from the University of Flor-ida in 2005. She then joined the Osler Medical Training Pro-gram at Johns Hopkins. In 2007, she applied to obtain a posi-tion in Emory’s cardiovascular disease training program in the clinical investigator track. Yolanda’s interest in gender and race cardiovascular health dis-parities attracted her to Emory’s EPICORE. After obtaining a position at Emory she had the opportunity to work under Dr. Viola Vac-carino for two years. During this time, she was able to work on multiple projects. She has looked at race differences and weight perception in the META- Health cohort, finding that blacks, especially black women, tend to underestimate weight compared to men. She has also worked with the Translational Research Investigating Underly-ing Disparities in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients’ Health Status (TRIUMPH) study. This project looks to explain why blacks present later than whites for acute myocardial infarc-tion. In 2009, Yolanda received an award from ACC/MERCK to fund her salary while she worked on a proposed project for one year. The proposed project involves exploring gender differences in outcome of stable angina within an insured cohort in the state of Georgia. In spring 2010, Yolanda com-pleted the two-year Masters in Clinical Research program in the graduate school at Emory. Yolanda is currently training in clinical cardiology. She looks forward to becoming an academic cardiologist, with a focus on investigating cardiovascular disparities in race and gender.

Yolanda Hendley, MD

Newsletter Ideas? Please email Kathleen Brill kbrill@emory.edu with any suggestions or feedback.

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010 Page 9

10/04/2010 John D. Puskas, M.D., MSc., FACS, FACC 10/11/2010 Dan Sorescu, M.D. 10/18/2010 Wendy Book, M.D. 10/25/2010 Javed Butler, M.D. 11/01/2010 Arshed Quyyumi, M.D. 11/08/2010 David G. Harrison, M.D. 11/15/2010 AHA Conference – No Conference 11/22/2010 Maan Jokhadar, M.D. 11/29/2010 Stephen Clements, M.D. 12/06/2010 OPEN 12/13/2010 Young sup Yoon, M.D., PhD 12/20/2010 OPEN 12/27/2010 OPEN 01/03/2011 OPEN 01/10/2011 Charles Searles, M.D. 01/17/2011 MLK HOLIDAY - CLOSED 01/24/2011 Michael Lloyd, M.D. 01/31/2011 OPEN

02/07/2011 OPEN 02/14/2011 Aloke Finn, M.D. 02/21/2011 OPEN 02/28/2011 OPEN 03/07/2011 OPEN 03/14/2011 W. Robert Taylor, M.D., PhD 03/21/2011 OPEN 03/28/2011 Kreton Mavromatis, M.D. 04/04/2011 OPEN 04/11/2011 A. Maziar Zafari, M.D., PhD 04/18/2011 OPEN 04/25/2011 David S. Sheps, M.D., M.S.P.H.“Psychological

Stress and Coronary Artery Disease”: Is it a risk factor or a myth?

05/05/2011 OPEN 05/09/2011 Ahsan Husain, PhD 05/16/2011 OPEN 05/23/2011 OPEN

Cardiology Division Grand Rounds 2010-2011

c onferences will be webcast to all cardiology sites throughout the system. Details will be available in the weekly conference schedule. In addition, we will be transmitting the Monday talks live to Lebanon, Ethiopia and Georgia. Soon we will add a

site in China. Eventually we hope to greatly increase the availability to international partners. The technology is new and Mike Shivers has been doing a fantastic job getting things up and running. There may be some glitches as we start out but we are confident that this will be significant improvement in your educational experience. EUH and EUHM will be able to ask questions directly or through a video link. Other sites will be able to “tweet” in questions using Twit-ter. Each site will have a Twitter account set up.

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.

Archimedes

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Recent publications

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1. Epicardial adipose tissue volume and coronary artery calcium to predict myocardial ischemia on positron emission tomography-computed tomography studies. Janik M, Hartlage G, Alexopoulos N, Mirzoyev Z, McLean DS, Are-palli CD, Chen Z, Stillman AE, Raggi P. J Nucl Cardiol. 2010;17:841-7. 2. Adhesive Epicardial Corticosteroids Prevent Post-Operative Atrial Fibrillation. Yoo D, Vinten-Johansen J, Schmarkey LS, Whalen SP, Bone CC, Katzmark SL, Langberg J. Circ Arrhythm Electro-physiol. 2010 Sep 21. [Epub ahead of print] 3. Attained educational level and incident atherothrombotic events in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. Goyal A, Bhatt DL, Steg PG, Gersh BJ, Alberts MJ, Ohman EM, Corbalán R, Eagle KA, Gaxiola E, Gao R, Goto S, D'Agostino RB, Califf RM, Smith SC Jr, Wilson PW; Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) Registry Investigators. Circulation. 2010;122:1167-75. 4. Podoplanin-Expressing Cells Derived From Bone Marrow Play a Crucial Role in Postnatal Lymphatic Neovascularization. Lee JY, Park C, Cho YP, Lee E, Kim H, Kim P, Yun SH, Yoon YS. Circulation. 2010 Sep 20. [Epub ahead of print] 5. Ventricular Noncompaction and Associated Cardiac Anomalies. Lake M, Lerakis S, Green J, Brown JM, Nagpal SV, Willis P, Block P, Babaliaros V. Am J Med Sci. 2010 Sep 17. [Epub ahead of print] 6. How Do We Find the Best Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Dis-ease? Le NA, Wilson PW. Clin Chem. 2010 Sep 15. [Epub ahead of print]. 7. CD31+ cells represent highly angiogenic and vasculogenic cells in bone marrow: novel role of nonendothelial CD31+ cells in ne-ovascularization and their therapeutic effects on ischemic vascular disease. Kim H, Cho HJ, Kim SW, Liu B, Choi YJ, Lee J, Sohn YD, Lee MY, Houge MA, Yoon YS. Circ Res. 2010;107:602-14. 8. Upregulation of Nox1 in vascular smooth muscle leads to im-paired endothelium-dependent relaxation via eNOS uncoupling. Dikalova AE, Góngora MC, Harrison DG, Lambeth JD, Dikalov S, Griendling KK. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2010;299:H673-9. 9. Right ventricular function in adult patients with Eisenmenger physiology: insights from quantitative echocardiography. Kaloger-opoulos AP, Border WL, Georgiopoulou VV, Pernetz MA, Howell S, McConnell M, Lerakis S, Butler J, Book WM, Martin RP. Echocardi-ography 2010;27:937-45. 10. Reactive oxygen species, NADPH oxidases, and hypertension. Datla SR, Griendling KK. Hypertension. 2010;56:325-30.

11. Early menopause predicts angina after myocardial infarction. Parashar S, Reid KJ, Spertus JA, Shaw LJ, Vaccarino V. Menopause. 2010;17:938-45. 12. Predictors of Incident Heart Failure in a Large Insured Popula-tion: A One Million Person-Year Follow-up Study. Goyal A, Norton CR, Thomas TN, Davis RL, Butler J, Ashok V, Zhao L, Vaccarino V, Wilson PW. Circ Heart Fail. 2010 Aug 26. [Epub ahead of print] 13. DHEA-S Levels and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Post-menopausal Women: Results from the National Institutes of Health--National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-Sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE). Shufelt C, Bretsky P, Almeida CM, Johnson BD, Shaw LJ, Azziz R, Braunstein GD, Pepine CJ, Bittner V, Vido DA, Stanczyk FZ, Bairey Merz CN. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Aug 25. [Epub ahead of print] 14. The chromosome 9p21 risk locus is associated with an-giographic severity and progression of coronary artery disease. Patel RS, Su S, Neeland IJ, Ahuja A, Veledar E, Zhao J, Helgadottir A, Holm H, Gulcher JR, Stefansson K, Waddy S, Vaccarino V, Zafari AM, Quyyumi AA. Eur Heart J. 2010 Aug 20. [Epub ahead of print] 15. Heritability of Renal Function and Inflammatory Markers in Adult Male Twins. Raggi P, Su S, Karohl C, Veledar E, Rojas-Campos E, Vaccarino V. Am J Nephrol. 2010;32:317-323. 16. A significant improvement of the efficacy of radical oxidant probes by the kinetic isotope effect. Kundu K, Knight SF, Lee S, Taylor WR, Murthy N. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2010;49:6134-8. 17. REDOX SIGNALING IN AN IN VIVO MURINE MODEL OF LOW MAGNITUDE OSCILLATORY WALL SHEAR STRESS. Willett N, Kundu K, Knight S, Dikalov S, Murthy N, Taylor WR. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2010 Aug 16. [Epub ahead of print] 18. An In Vivo Murine Model of Low-Magnitude Oscillatory Wall Shear Stress to Address the Molecular Mechanisms of Mecha-notransduction--Brief Report. Willett NJ, Long RC Jr, Maiellaro-Rafferty K, Sutliff RL, Schafer R, Oshinski JN, Giddens DP, Guldberg RE, Taylor WR. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010 Aug 12. [Epub ahead of print] 19. Human peripheral blood-derived CD31+ cells have robust angiogenic and vasculogenic properties and are effective for treat-ing ischemic vascular disease. Kim SW, Kim H, Cho HJ, Lee JU, Levit R, Yoon YS. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;56:593-607. 20. Racial/ethnic differences in microalbuminuria among adults with prehypertension and hypertension: National Health and Nu-trition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999-2006. Ogunniyi MO, Croft JB, Greenlund KJ, Giles WH, Mensah GA. Am J Hypertens. 2010;23:859-64.

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Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

Recent publications

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21. Inhibition of NF-kappaB signaling reduces virus load and gam-maherpesvirus-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Krug LT, Torres-González E, Qin Q, Sorescu D, Rojas M, Stecenko A, Speck SH, Mora AL. Am J Pathol. 2010;177:608-21. 22. High-density lipoprotein therapy: is there hope? Bhatt KN, Wells BJ, Sperling LS, Baer JT. Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med. 2010;12:315-28. 23. Combined exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy improves outcomes in patients with heart failure. Gary RA, Dunbar SB, Higgins MK, Musselman DL, Smith AL. J Psychosom Res. 2010;69:119-31. 24. Management of moderate functional tricuspid valve regurgita-tion at the time of pulmonary valve replacement: is concomitant tricuspid valve repair necessary? Kogon B, Patel M, Leong T, McCon-nell M, Book W. Pediatr Cardiol. 2010;31:843-8. 25. Central and peripheral mechanisms of T-lymphocyte activation and vascular inflammation produced by angiotensin II-induced hy-pertension. Marvar PJ, Thabet SR, Guzik TJ, Lob HE, McCann LA, Weyand C, Gordon FJ, Harrison DG. Circ Res. 2010;107:263-70 26. Comparison of location of "culprit lesions" in left anterior de-scending coronary artery among patients with anterior wall ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction having ramus intermedius coronary arteries versus patients not having such arteries. Galbraith EM, McDaniel MC, Jeroudi AM, Kashlan OR, Suo J, Giddens D, Samady H. Am J Cardiol. 2010;106:162-6. 27. Therapeutic targeting of mitochondrial superoxide in hyperten-sion. Dikalova AE, Bikineyeva AT, Budzyn K, Nazarewicz RR, McCann L, Lewis W, Harrison DG, Dikalov SI. Circ Res. 2010;107:106-16. 28. Concept of vulnerable/unstable plaque. Finn AV, Nakano M, Narula J, Kolodgie FD, Virmani R. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010;30:1282-92. 29. Sex differences in mortality associated with computed tomo graphic angiographic measurements of obstructive and nonobstruc-tive coronary artery disease: an exploratory analysis. Shaw LJ, Min JK, Narula J, Lin F, Bairey-Merz CN, Callister TQ, Berman DS.Circ Car-diovasc Imaging. 2010;3:473-81. 30. Validation of the health ABC heart failure model for incident heart failure risk prediction: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Ka-logeropoulos A, Psaty BM, Vasan RS, Georgiopoulou V, Smith AL, Smith NL, Kritchevsky SB, Wilson PW, Newman AB, Harris TB, Butler J; Cardiovascular Health Study. Circ Heart Fail. 2010;3:495-502.

31. Angina in women. Wenger NK. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2010;12:307-14. 32. Transesophageal echocardiography guided percutaneous clo-sure of secundum atrial septal defects. Lerakis S, Babaliaros VC. Echocardiography. 2010;27:724-7. 33. A novel technique of coronary reconstruction during complex aortic root replacement. Kogon BE, Jokhadar M, Patel M, McConnell M, Book W. J Heart Valve Dis. 2010;19:536-9. 34. Percutaneous closure of giant saphenous vein graft aneurysm. Sura AC, Douglas JS Jr. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2010;3:784-5. 35. Metabolic abnormalities in adults with cystic fibrosis. Georgiopoulou VV, Denker A, Bishop KL, Brown JM, Hirsh B, Wolf-enden L, Sperling L. Respirology. 2010;15:823-9. 36. Percutaneous Closure of a Left Atrial Appendage Pseudoaneu-rysm. Yoo D, Robertson G, Block P, Babaliaros V, Lattouf O, Pernetz MA, Martin R, Felner J, Lerakis S. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2010 Jun 28. [Epub ahead of print] 37. A model of disturbed flow-induced atherosclerosis in mouse carotid artery by partial ligation and a simple method of RNA isola-tion from carotid endothelium. Nam D, Ni CW, Rezvan A, Suo J, Budzyn K, Llanos A, Harrison DG, Giddens DP, Jo H. J Vis Exp. 2010;. pii: 1861. doi: 10.3791/1861. 38. Glucose-independent, black-white differences in hemoglobin A1c levels: a cross-sectional analysis of 2 studies. Ziemer DC, Kolm P, Weintraub WS, Vaccarino V, Rhee MK, Twombly JG, Narayan KM, Koch DD, Phillips LS. Ann Intern Med. 2010;152:770-7. 39. Sustained VEGF delivery via PLGA nanoparticles promotes vas-cular growth. Golub JS, Kim YT, Duvall CL, Bellamkonda RV, Gupta D, Lin AS, Weiss D, Robert Taylor W, Guldberg RE. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2010;298:H1959-65. 40. Serum resistin: physiology, pathophysiology and implications for heart failure. Bhalla V, Kalogeropoulos A, Georgiopoulou V, But-ler J. Biomark Med. 2010;4:445-52. Review. Erratum in: Biomark Med.2010;4:643. 41. Changes in the vascular area fraction of the hippocampus and amygdala are induced by prenatal dexamethasone and/or adult stress. Neigh GN, Owens MJ, Taylor WR, Nemeroff CB. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2010;30:1100-4.

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Recent publications

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42. Agreement is poor among current criteria used to define re-sponse to cardiac resynchronization therapy. Fornwalt BK, Sprague WW, BeDell P, Suever JD, Gerritse B, Merlino JD, Fyfe DA, León AR, Oshinski JN. Circulation. 2010;121:1985-91. 43. Inflammatory markers and incident heart failure risk in older adults: the Health ABC (Health, Aging, and Body Composition) study. Kalogeropoulos A, Georgiopoulou V, Psaty BM, Rodondi N, Smith AL, Harrison DG, Liu Y, Hoffmann U, Bauer DC, Newman AB, Kritchevsky SB, Harris TB, Butler J; Health ABC Study Investigators. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;55:2129-37. 44. Usefulness of cardiac index and peak exercise oxygen con-sumption for determining priority for cardiac transplantation. Methvin A, Georgiopoulou VV, Kalogeropoulos AP, Malik A, Ana-rado P, Chowdhury M, Hussain I, Book WM, Laskar SR, Vega JD, Smith AL, Butler J. Am J Cardiol. 2010;105:1353-5 45. Epicardial adipose tissue and coronary artery plaque charac-teristics. Alexopoulos N, McLean DS, Janik M, Arepalli CD, Stillman AE, Raggi P. Atherosclerosis. 2010;210:150-4. 46. Diabetes care in black and white veterans in the southeastern U.S. Twombly JG, Long Q, Zhu M, Wilson PW, Narayan KM, Fraser LA, Webber BC, Phillips LS. Diabetes Care. 2010;33:958-63. 47.Quality of life of cutaneous disease in the ectodermal dyspla-sias. Pavlis MB, Rice ZP, Veledar E, Bradley BR, Spraker MK, Chen SC. Pediatr Dermatol. 2010;27:260-5. 48. A novel catheter in patients with peripheral chronic total oc-clusions: A single center experience. Khalid MR, Khalid FR, Faroo-qui FA, Devireddy CM, Robertson GC, Niazi K. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2010 Apr 29. [Epub ahead of print] 49. Intermittent Variation in Paced QRS Morphology: What Is the Mechanism? El-Chami M, Yoo D, Hoskins MH. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2010 Apr 27. [Epub ahead of print]. 50. Caloric sweetener consumption and dyslipidemia among US adults. Welsh JA, Sharma A, Abramson JL, Vaccarino V, Gillespie C, Vos MB. JAMA. 2010;303:1490-7. 51. Should we measure C-reactive protein on earth or just on JUPITER? Bajpai A, Goyal A, Sperling L. Clin Cardiol. 2010;33:190-8. 52. Role of the adaptive immune system in hypertension. Harrison DG, Vinh A, Lob H, Madhur MS. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2010;10:203-7.

53. Shear stress and plaque development. Dhawan SS, Avati Nan-jundappa RP, Branch JR, Taylor WR, Quyyumi AA, Jo H, McDaniel MC, Suo J, Giddens D, Samady H. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2010;8:545-56. 54. Much ado, but not what to do. Block PC. J Invasive Cardiol. 2010;22:167. 55. Viability assessment with MRI is superior to FDG-PET for vi-ability: Con. Patterson RE, Sigman SR, O'Donnell RE, Eisner RL. J Nucl Cardiol. 2010;17:298-309. 56. New-onset atrial fibrillation predicts long-term mortality after coronary artery bypass graft. El-Chami MF, Kilgo P, Thourani V, Lattouf OM, Delurgio DB, Guyton RA, Leon AR, Puskas JD. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;55:1370-6. 57. Bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombosis less than one year after replacement and an ablative MAZE procedure: a case report. Saeed O, Williams BR Jr, Ku M, Lattouf OM. J Cardiothorac Surg. 2010;5:18. 58. MiR-21 is induced in endothelial cells by shear stress and modulates apoptosis and eNOS activity. Weber M, Baker MB, Moore JP, Searles CD. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010;393:643-8. 59. Isolation of labile multi-protein complexes by in vivo con-trolled cellular cross-linking and immuno-magnetic affinity chro-matography. Zlatic SA, Ryder PV, Salazar G, Faundez V. J Vis Exp. 2010;pii: 1855. doi: 10.3791/1855. 60. Adenosine stress magnetic resonance imaging in women with low risk chest pain: the Emory University experience. Lerakis S, Janik M, McLean DS, Anadiotis AV, Zaragoza-Macias E, Veledar E, Oshinski J, Stillman AE. Am J Med Sci. 2010;339:216-20. 61. Redox control of vascular smooth muscle migration. San Martín A, Griendling KK. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2010;12:625-40. 62. Economic burden of melanoma in the elderly population: population-based analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)--Medicare data. Seidler AM, Pennie ML, Veledar E, Culler SD, Chen SC. Arch Derma-tol. 2010;146:249-56. 63. Laminar shear stress modulates phosphorylation and localiza-tion of RNA polymerase II on the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene. Moore JP, Weber M, Searles CD. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2010;30:561-7.

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Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

Recent publications

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64. Ischemic heart disease in women: many questions, few facts. Vaccarino V. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3:111-5. 65. QRS duration is associated with atrial fibrillation in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. El-Chami MF, Brancato C, Lang-berg J, Delurgio DB, Bush H, Brosius L, Leon AR. Clin Cardiol. 2010;33:132-8. 66. Effects of labetalol on hemodynamic parameters and soluble biomarkers of inflammation in acute coronary syndrome in pa-tients with active cocaine use. Hoskins MH, Leleiko RM, Ramos JJ, Sola S, Caneer PM, Khan BV. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 2010;15:47-52. 67. Cardiovascular imaging research at the crossroads. Shaw LJ, Min JK, Hachamovitch R, Peterson ED, Hendel RC, Woodard PK, Berman DS, Douglas PS. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2010;3:316-24. 68. Reliable methods to evaluate the clinical severity of ich-thyosis. Kamalpour L, Rice ZP, Pavlis M, Veledar E, Chen SC. Pediatr Dermatol. 2010;27:148-53. 69. Bioartificial matrices for therapeutic vascularization. Phelps EA, Landázuri N, Thulé PM, Taylor WR, García AJ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107:3323-8. 70. Uncoupled cardiac nitric oxide synthase mediates diastolic dysfunction. Silberman GA, Fan TH, Liu H, Jiao Z, Xiao HD, Lovelock JD, Boulden BM, Widder J, Fredd S, Bernstein KE, Wolska BM, Dika-lov S, Harrison DG, Dudley SC Jr. Circulation. 2010;121:519-28. 71. Computed tomography for atherosclerosis and coronary ar-tery disease imaging. Raggi P, Achenbach S. Discov Med. 2010;9:98-104. 72. Interleukin 17 promotes angiotensin II-induced hypertension and vascular dysfunction. Madhur MS, Lob HE, McCann LA, Iwa-kura Y, Blinder Y, Guzik TJ, Harrison DG. Hypertension. 2010;55:500-7. 73. Induction of hypertension and peripheral inflammation by reduction of extracellular superoxide dismutase in the central nervous system. Lob HE, Marvar PJ, Guzik TJ, Sharma S, McCann LA, Weyand C, Gordon FJ, Harrison DG. Hypertension. 2010;55:277-83, 6p following 283. 74. Transesophageal echocardiography to help position and de-ploy a transcatheter heart valve. Lerakis S, Babaliaros VC, Block PC, Junagadhwalla Z, Thourani VH, Howell S, Truong T, Guyton RA, Martin RP. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2010;3:219-21.

75. Common genes contribute to depressive symptoms and heart rate variability: the Twins Heart Study. Su S, Lampert R, Lee F, Bremner JD, Snieder H, Jones L, Murrah NV, Goldberg J, Vaccarino V. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2010;13:1-9. 76. A rare coincidence of two coronary anomalies in an adult. Cruz C, McLean D, Janik M, Raggi P, Zafari AM. Cardiol Res Pract. 2010;2010:376067. 77. Statins Decrease Oxidative Stress and ICD Therapies. Bloom HL, Shukrullah I, Veledar E, Gutmann R, London B, Dudley SC. Car-diol Res Pract. 2010;2010:253803. 78. A rare case of squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder pre-senting as a metastatic right ventricular mass. Bonsall JM, Hughes R, Mosunjac M, Harrison D, Samady H. Case Report Med. 2010;2010:789609. 79. Ten-year experience with sevelamer and calcium salts as phosphate binders. Raggi P, Vukicevic S, Moysés RM, Wesseling K, Spiegel DM. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010;5:S31-40. 80. Use of statin therapy to reduce cardiovascular risk in older patients. Wenger NK, Lewis SJ. Curr Gerontol Geriatr Res. 2010:915296. 81. Use of remote monitoring to improve outcomes in patients with heart failure: a pilot trial. Kulshreshtha A, Kvedar JC, Goyal A, Halpern EF, Watson AJ. Int J Telemed Appl. 2010;2010:870959. 82. Use of balloon aortic valvuloplasty to size the aortic annulus before implantation of a balloon-expandable transcatheter heart valve. Babaliaros VC, Junagadhwalla Z, Lerakis S, Thourani V, Liff D, Chen E, Vassiliades T, Chappell C, Gross N, Patel A, Howell S, Green JT, Veledar E, Guyton R, Block PC. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2010;3:114-8. 83. Thrombolysis for saddle pulmonary embolism and 3-chamber thrombus. Salman T, Satija S, Martin SF, Sperling L. Tex Heart Inst J. 2010;37:234-6. 84. President's address: Common mechanisms of multiple dis-eases: why vegetables and exercise are good for you. Alexander RW. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2010;121:1-20. 85. Choice of reperfusion strategy at hospitals with primary per-cutaneous coronary intervention: a National Registry of Myocardial Infarction analysis. Fazel R, Krumholz HM, Bates ER, French WJ, Frederick PD, Nallamothu BK; National Registry of Myocardial In-farction (NRMI) Investigators. Circulation. 2009;120:2455-61.

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NIH Grants Sergey Dikalov – “Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress in Angiotensis II Induced Endothelial Dysfunction,” NIH R01HL094469-01; $261,400/yr David Harrison – “Roles of Oxidation and Inflammation in Aortic Stiffening,” NIH R01HL105294-01; $387,500/yr David Sheps – “Mental Stress Ischemia: Mechanisms and Prognosis,” NIH P01 HL101398-01; $2,181,276/yr

Other Grants John Douglas Jr. – “A Prospective, Multi-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind Trial to Assess the Effectiveness and Safety of 12 versus 30 months of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) in Subjects Undergoing Percutaneous Coro-nary Intervention (PCI) with Either Drug-eluting Stent (DES) or Bare Metal Stent (BMS Placement for the treat-ment of Coronary Artery Lesion,” Harvard Clinical Research Institute Young-sup Yoon – “Treatment of Diabetic Limb Ischemia with Human-induced Pluripotent Stem Cells,” Medical College of Georgia; $100,000/yr

Recent grants Congratulations to faculty who have received grants recently. Please let us know about new grants by email at kbrill@emory.edu

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Newsletter Ideas? Please email Kathleen Brill kbrill@emory.edu with any suggestions or feedback.

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

Emory Cardiology Newsletter

August/September 2010

“50 years and counting” Nanette Wenger Reception

September 11, 2010 Remarks by Nanette K. Wenger, MD

L et me thank each of you for sharing this memorable day with me. To say that I am overwhelmed is an understate-ment, overwhelmed with enormous gratitude for the

warmth, friendship, collegiality and memories of half a century. I have had a dream triumvirate of a career, serving multiple mas-ters as we do in academia: the care of complex patients at Grady

Memorial Hospital, whose substantial disease burden is characteristically accentuated by multiple socioeco-nomic issues; the teaching and train-ing of young physicians, and in particu-lar an increasing number of young women, and watching them mature and contribute; and the ability to per-form clinical research studies with national and international colleagues, with the results of many of these stud-ies materially influencing clinical car-

diovascular care today. Emory has a brand legacy in cardiovascular medicine – Hurst, Logue, and Gruentzig —among others. Grady Memorial Hospital is part of that legacy, a legacy of quality cardio-vascular patient care, professional education and clinical research. I am thankful for the opportunity to have contributed. Let me comment briefly on three disparate but related entities: octogenarians; on being a doctor, a professional; and on family, friends, and community. First, octogenarians: I joined that burgeon-ing group just last week and want to empha-

size that we will increas-ingly populate your offices, your diagnostic laboratories, your hospitals and intensive care units, and your operating rooms. And we will require individualized assessment and care, because you must learn what it is that we value. Do we want simply to feel better, to be completely well and active, to live longer? And how much risk and discomfort, how much

hospitalization are we willing to invest for each outcome? These conversations must occur while we are well, so that decisions subsequently made can be based on shared

values and individual needs. Next, on being a doctor, a professional: The dictionary character-izes a professional as “requiring specialized knowledge and prepa-ration” and we know that all too well. As “mandating high stan-

dards of achievement and conduct” in “work that has as its prime purpose the rendering of a public service.” Let me emphasize the pivotal role of per-sonal integrity, of earning and main-taining trust. Healthcare professionals deliver no tangible goods, no tangible products, so that it is impossible to separate the service rendered from the person, as the professional is an integral part of the service rendered. And the dictionary adds “committing its members to continued study.” High standards of achievement

and competence are necessary if we are to act as advocates for our patients. Finally, and possibly most important, family, friends and community. My parents started me on this journey by instilling values of diligence and of ex-cellence. I appreciate my multiple friends and colleagues – the commu-nity of scholars at Emory and friends in the general Atlanta community. Friend-

ship is an enormous gift, and I am blessed with many friends. Our three daughters, Dr. Deborah Wiatrak, Dr. Judith Wenger, and Dr. Beth Wenger and their families – they have honored me by travel-ing here today. And most specially, my husband of now almost 53 years, and I will ask Julius to join me at the podium because to-gether we have provided over a century of service to the Emory University School of Medicine. His wisdom, counsel, love and support underwrite all of what has been celebrated today. Let me close by sharing with you a quote from the 20th century philosopher and theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel, one that has influenced my professional and personal life. Heschel wrote:

Living is not the private affair of the individual Living is what man does with God’s time What man (or woman) does with God’s world

Dr. Wenger with Drs. Joel Felner and J. Willis Hurst

Dr. Allen Dollar pre-sents Dr. Wenger with a bound copy of her 124-page CV

Grady CEO Michael Young with Dr. Wenger

Dr. Wenger with husband Julius and daughters Deborah, Judith and Beth

Dr. Wenger shows Dr. Charles Wickliffe her Certificate of Appreciation awarded by the American College of Cardiology