News and Honors
March 26, 2024
CMRU Recognized by Area Nonprofit for Team Excellence
From left, UGM Volunteer Coordinator Tonya Johnson, UGM CEO Bruce J. Butler, Neil Keshvani, M.D., and Daniel Ayodel, M.B.S. In October 2023, members of the laboratory conducted comprehensive cardiovascular health screenings, education, and nutritional guidance to over 200 individuals at Calvert Place. The shelter serves adult homeless men and veterans ages 18 and older. Staff members work to address the diverse and sometimes critical needs of each person they serve by providing hot meals, a comfortable bed, clothing, a warm shower, health and mental health clinics, and daily spiritual services.
“Our entire laboratory collaborated in planning and executing this project,” says Michael Mitakidis, M.D. “Dr. Neil Keshvani, a Cardiology fellow and postdoctoral researcher in the lab, assumed the medical leadership role, ensuring that cardiovascular risk assessments were meticulously defined and administered. During the patient education session, he emphasized cardiovascular risk and self-care. Following this, Daniel Ayodele, our Clinical Research Coordinator, orchestrated a comprehensive health-screening maze in the shelter’s hall, with CMRU's team members carefully recording screening results for the cardiovascular risk report as residents moved through various stations. At the final station, residents engaged in discussions about their screening findings with our clinicians.”
March 8, 2024
CMRU's Inaugural Lecture Series on Novel Therapeutic Approaches to HFpEF
From L-R: Drs Pandey, Fudim and Wang The lecture series was launched with Marat Fudim, MD, MHS, an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology at Duke University, serving as the first guest speaker. Dr. Fudim shared valuable insights on innovative treatments for HFpEF. He emphasized the urgency of addressing HFpEF on a national level and highlighted the importance of managing comorbidities to enhance treatment effectiveness. Dr. Fudim also discussed how the growing availability of monitoring devices is being leveraged for patient treatment, increasingly in remote settings. He concluded by underscoring the significance of cardiometabolic drugs as transformative treatments tailored to specific patient categories and types.
February, 2024
Our Harbor-UCLA Practicum in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Experience
Well done team (L-R): Lajjaben Patel, Traci Betts, Ritika Dhruve, Juan David Coellar Pauta Back in 1982, Drs. Karlman Wasserman and Brian J. Whipp launched something special: The CPET Practicum! Since then, this program has evolved to keep pace with advancements in technology and changes in clinical practice and sports medicine, all while maintaining a steadfast focus on exercise physiology. Over two and a half days, we as participants engaged in a dynamic blend of in-person didactic presentations, laboratory demonstrations, and engaging group discussions.
Throughout the Practicum, clinical case examples are skillfully woven into the fabric of learning, highlighting key concepts, demonstrating the practical application of CPET, and explaining an accurate approach to data summary and interpretation. The educational goals are twofold: to deepen understanding of the physiologic basis of gas exchange responses to exercise and to empower participants to effectively utilize CPET variables to characterize exercise function in both health and disease.
This enriching experience is tailored for physicians, scientists, laboratory personnel and physical therapists actively engaged in cardiopulmonary exercise testing. It was one of the most comprehensive training experiences so far.
Our team focuses on understanding how 'Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction' (HFpEF) impacts patients, using Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) as a key tool. This practicum will help us improve our lab's efficiency and hopefully uncover new insights that can directly benefit patient care. We aim to bridge the gap between research and practice, aiming to improve outcomes for individuals with HFpEF.
November, 2023
CMRU news events in November
June 15, 2023
CMRU launches its own analytical wet lab and biorepository!
Designed, and renovated within 4 months, the CMRU Analytical Laboratory opened its doors in early 2023. The Multi-PI clinical research laboratory facility is equipped to provide the latest technology and clinical testing services to UTSW investigators. Analyzers onsite include:
The Roche Cobas c 311 analyzer which is an automated, software-controlled system for clinical chemistry analysis. It is designed for both quantitative and qualitative in vitro determinations using a large variety of tests for analysis
The Roche Cobas e411 analyzer, is a fully automated analyzer using a ElectroChemiLuminescence (ECL) technology for immunoassay analysis.
The VerifyNow system that provides an easy, rapid, and proven solution to assess platelet reactivity to antiplatelet medications.
In addition to processing and comprehensive testing on-site, the facility recently launched a state-of-the-art biobank that collects, catalogs, and stores human biological samples such as whole blood, plasma, and serum for research. A seamless barcoded cryo-storage datamatrix coding platform is used to enable safe sample identification. The specimens are earmarked for key trials and projects with significant future impact.
May 9, 2023
Racial disparities exist in use of statins to reduce heart disease risk, UTSW study shows
Black and Hispanic adults are significantly less likely to take statin drugs for preventive measures compared with white adults.
Find out more
May 5, 2023
Dr. Sumitabh Singh selected as a Foster Fellow
Dr. Sumitabh Singh, a CMRU alumni, was selected as a Foster Fellow at the recently concluded Seldin Symposium. The Donald W. Seldin Research Symposium is the annual showcase research event of the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Highlighting the tremendous research activity of Internal Medicine residents and fellows. The CMRU had a strong showing at the symposium with seven abstracts presented by CMRU fellows.
March 26, 2023
Dr. Sumarsono presents recent data at SHM Converge 2023
Dr. Sumarsono gave an oral presentation at the Society of Hospital Medicine Converge 2023, the national conference for academic hospital medicine recently held in Austin, Texas. The session was attended by academic hospital medicine leaders from around the country and was well received. His work has since been published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine: "Association of 48-h net fluid status with change in renal function and dyspnea among patients with decompensated heart failure: A pooled cohort analysis of three acute heart failure trials”
View Publication
December 11-22, 2022
International Teaching Seminar on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention
Lajjaben, a postdoctoral researcher in our lab, attended the 52nd Ten-Day International Teaching Seminar on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention from December 11-22, 2022 in Kochi, India. This seminar was aimed to encourage epidemiological research in the field of cardiovascular diseases and up-skill physicians and researchers. The seminar included a series of lectures, group discussions and excursions to the city of Kochi. It also provided a fantastic platform to network with accomplished researchers around the world.
November 6, 2022
Dr. Matt Segar named winner for AHA Samuel A. Levine Early Career Clinical Investigator Award
Matthew Segar, MD, MS, a Texas Heart Institute Cardiology Fellow, has been selected as the winner of the Samuel A. Levine Early Career Clinical Investigator Award competition by the American Heart Association’s Council on Clinical Cardiology (CLCD) for his presentation “Development and Validation of a Phenomapping Tool to Identify Patients With Diuretic Resistance in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: A Multi-Cohort Analysis.”
The Samuel A. Levine Early Career Clinical Investigator Award recognizes and rewards innovative clinical research by early career investigators and trainees and promotes careers in clinical cardiovascular investigation. The award is named for Samuel Albert Levine, MD, an American cardiologist. Dr. Levine was a pioneer in the treatment of coronary thrombosis.
July 14, 2022
UT Southwestern team wins grand prize in American Heart Association Data Challenge
A team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center cardiologist Ambarish Pandey, M.D., was awarded the grand prize in the American Heart Association Heart Failure Data Challenge hosted by the American Heart Association and the Association of Black Cardiologists. The six-month data challenge asked researchers to test the relationships between heart failure and health disparities, social determinants of health, and structural determinants of health.
Find out moreJune 3, 2021
Pandey wins NHLBI Big Data Analysis Challenge for heart failure research
Dr. Ambarish Pandey, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and a Texas Health Resources Clinical Scholar, is using big data to improve diuretic resistance among patients with acute heart failure.
Find out moreMedia
May 5, 2023
Frailty Linked to Heart Failure in Patients with T2D
For a study published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, Dr. Pandey and colleagues sought to evaluate whether frailty was an independent risk factor for HF in T2D. “This would help us better understand whether frailty can be targeted for interventions in future research,” Dr. Pandey says.
The Samuel A. Levine Early Career Clinical Investigator Award recognizes and rewards innovative clinical research by early career investigators and trainees and promotes careers in clinical cardiovascular investigation. The award is named for Samuel Albert Levine, MD, an American cardiologist. Dr. Levine was a pioneer in the treatment of coronary thrombosis.
Physician's Weekly
March 22, 2023
Black, Hispanic adults are less likely to get statins for heart disease, study finds
Black and Hispanic adults in the US are less likely than White adults to get statins, medications that prevent or treat common forms of heart disease, according to a new study.
For the study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Cardiology, the researchers analyzed data on more than 3,000 people ages 40 through 75 in the United States, broken down by their risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, also known as ASCVD, over a 10-year period. Just over 10.7% were in the highest-risk group, with a risk at or above 20%.
CNN
August 26, 2022
How to Get Heart Patients to Take Their Pills? Give Them Just One.
Patients given a combination “polypill” after a heart attack were more likely to stick to their regimens, researchers reported.
The New York Times
March 11, 2022
Guideline-Directed Therapies Underused in Frail HF Patients
Optimal guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) is prescribed less often in frail patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) than in nonfrail patients, and they may be more likely to die or be hospitalized as a result, an analysis from the GUIDE-IT study shows.
“There's a big implementation gap in getting these therapies to patients who are high-risk and who need them the most,” senior author Ambarish Pandey, MD, MSCS (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas), told TCTMD. “The first step would be to identify frail patients in our clinical setting, which we don't do a good job of, and I think that's where we need to start.”
TCTMD