September 2017  -
Fall 2017 GW Cardiology Lecture Series Launches with the Understein Visiting Professor



Rick Nishimura, MD, Professor in Cardiovascular Diseases, and Chair, Division of Structural Heart Disease at Mayo Clinic Rochester, was the GW Heart & Vascular Institute's 2017 Understein Memorial Visiting Professor on September 6th and 7th. Dr. Nishimura, delivered our GW Cardiology Grand Rounds on "Pericardial Disease: A New Look at an Old Disease" and Medical Grand Rounds on "Diastolic Heart Failure-A Practical Approach for Physicians" to more than 200 GW faculty and trainees.  
 
The Understein Memorial Lecture Fund was established in 1978 by the family of Jack Understein, in gratitude for the care provided at GW. The Institute is grateful to the Understein family for its generous contribution that makes this annual lectureship and tribute to Jack Understein. Jack Understein's son, Norman Understein, attended the lecture and joined Dr. Nishimura and GW's cardiology fellows for dinner following the event. 
 
Our Cardiology Grand Rounds was broadcast live via WebEx and recorded and archived as part of our weekly webinar series. This series is supported by a generous donation from the Bloedorn Foundation as well as Dr. Azita Moalemi, a GW Cardiology Fellowship alum.   

Institute's Diabetes Pilot Project Breaks Ground with Food & Friends

This summer, the GW Heart & Vascular Institute's Dr. Gurusher Panjrath completed a two-year project with Food & Friends providing meals for individuals living with type 2 diabetes. For the past 18 years Food & Friends has provided more than 20 million meals delivering nutritionally-balanced, delicious food Monday through Saturday directly to clients' homes in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Each delivery includes food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with liquid nutritional supplements, as needed. Community dietitians and professional chefs work closely to provide individualized services to clients.   In the past Food & Friends focused on helping individuals with HIV/AIDS or cancer. This new pilot program expanded Food & Friends' outreach to patients with diabetes. Over two years, Dr. Panjrath's team recruited 101 patients with diabetes at the GW and United Medical Centers in DC. Food & Friends prepared and delivered approximately 116,000 meals to these diabetes clients and family members. Our GW research staff completed 330 nutrition assessments. Diabetic-Heart Healthy meal plans provided on average 1,800 calories, 80 grams of protein and less than 2,000mg of sodium per day. The meal plans exclude refined grains, starchy vegetables and significantly limit items containing sucrose.
 
"We chose to partner with Food & Friends because they are the most robust and dependable organization out there," said Dr. Gurusher Panjrath. "They understand how to bring about change through better nutrition, nutrition counseling and food security."
 
At the study's conclusion, the GW team analyzed the data and saw positive impact of Food & Friends' nutrition services on clients' health, including improved medication adherence and increased diabetes knowledge. Most importantly, they saw a significant change in their blood sugar level. Improving glucose control can cut the risk of kidney disease, cataracts, heart failure, amputation, peripheral vascular disease, and other ailments common among those living with poorly controlled diabetes.


Institute Supporting DC's Poorest Residents in Health at Bread for the City 

Bread for the City, created in 1976 by a coalition of downtown churches, provides comprehensive services, including food, clothing, medical care, legal and social  services to low-income Washington, DC residents. Operating out of two sites, Bread for the City s erves an average of 10,000 DC residents every month, totaling more than 31,000 uni que individuals annually at no cost to the  client . The GW Heart & Vascular Institute has been a past and current supporter of the Bread for the City medical team. This September, the Institute donated a new EKG machine which interfaces directly with each patient's electronic medical record to the Bread for the City primary care clinic. 

This machine replaces the original EKG machine the GW Heart and Vascular Institute donated to this clinic 10 years ago.  
Next Generation of Cardiologist - 
Incoming and Graduating Fellows

This June, GW General Cardiology Fellows and Advanced Cardiology Fellows graduated and moved forward to the next stage of their careers in medicine. Dr. Sam Karki is a noninvasive cardiologist in a private practice in Baltimore. Dr. Sanjay Shah is an advanced electrophysiology fellow in his home state of California, at the University of San Diego. Dr. Bianca Ummat is completing her advanced interventional training at GW. Drs. Gurpreet Sodhi and Michael Cahill completed our one-year advanced interventional cardiology fellowship. Dr. Sodhi is doing advanced heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, and Dr. Cahill is serving as a cardiologist in the military.
In July, we welcomed GW General Cardiology Fellows Class of 2021: Drs. Angela Ryan and Raza Yunus, both from GW, and Dr. Joe Forgione from Georgetown. Dr. Talal Alzanhrani, a Saudi-trained physician and GW medical resident joined the fellowship in January.