The GW Heart & Vascular Institute's faculty, fellows, and their families donated their time on a Saturday morning preparing more than 200 packaged meals and groceries to support Food & Friends. Food & Friends provides over 1 million meals per year for people living with life-challenging illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and cancer in the DC region.

The symposium, held on Saturday, November, 19th at the Renaissance Hotel, provided clinicians involved in cardiac care with an update on best practices and cutting-edge care regarding heart failure, arrhythmias, valve disease, and coronary artery disease.

Led by Dr. Jannet Lewis, Helma Parikh, NP, and Kelli Metzger, RD, the GW Heart & Vascular Institute's Women's Heart Center sponsored an evening of cooking and nutrition tips at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD, to bring awareness to women's heart health. L'Academie's professional chef guided guests in cooking a fabulous Mediterranean Diet inspired meal.

On November 9th and 10th, Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director, Women's Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai, and a national leader on women's heart disease, led GW Cardiology and Medical Grand Rounds as the GW Women's Heart Center Visiting Professor.

Dr. Farmer's paper, Existing and Emerging Payment and Delivery Reform in Cardiology (JAMA Cardiology 11/16/16), reviewed the transition from fee for service to alternative new care pathways that incentivize coordinating care using real-time data to enhance quality and cost performance.

Drs. Farmer and Borden addressed the critical concern that drug spending is increasingly contributing to the cost of care, and policies are needed to manage pharmacy utilization.

• GW fourth-year medical student, Tania Dhawan, and Drs. Brian Choi and Richard Katz: Presented their study: Diet and Nutrition Smartphone Apps Demonstrate Poor Adherence to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This featured abstract was covered by three national magazines and seven websites.
• Dr. Cynthia Tracy presented a summary review of the top AHA electrophysiology abstracts.
• Dr. Ju Kim, GW cardiology fellowship alum, along with GW interventional cardiologists Drs. Ramesh Mazhari, Jonathan Reiner, Christian Nagy, and NIH cardiologist Dr. Nehal Mehta, presented a poster titled "A Novel Population of Neutrophils, Low Density Granulocytes, Are Upregulated in Acute ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infractions." This data highlighted the role that white blood cells have in linking the inflammation and clotting pathways during a myocardial infraction.
• Dr. William Borden participated in the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Council leadership meeting and a planning session for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Million Hearts 2.0 initiative.
  

The GW Heart & Vascular Institute's fundraiser to support our Seventh Annual Medical Mission to Honduras will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2016 from 2 PM to 4 PM , at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. The museum's newest exhibition, Bingata! Only in Okinawa , features textile treasures and contemporary works by Okinawan artists and fashion designers. Dr. Cynthia Tracy will present the seven-year history of the Institute's annual cardiac mission. This year was a record breaking effort, with 45 device implants, more than 200 consultations, and more than 100 echoes performed in just nine days. For more information on attending this event and how you can support this mission, please contact Jessica Johnson at jjohnson@mfa.gwu.edu.