Division of Cardiology

Newsletter of the Leon H. CharneyDivision of Cardiology

With great excitement we bring you this first issue of our Division of Cardiology Newsletter. Published quarterly, the Newsletter will provide information on the activi-ties and accomplishments of the faculty, fellows, staff and friends of the Leon H. Char-ney Division of Cardiology. Our plan is to distribute the Newsletter electronically via email and also post it on our website at: www.med.nyu.edu/medicine/cardiology. Each issue will provide a mix of features, including news items, announcements, clinical trial updates, awards and recognitions and listings of new grants, publications and presenta-tions. We hope this information will be of interest to many of you and welcome your feedback and suggestions for topics to include in future issues! We also are looking for a name for the Newsletter! Contact us at: [email protected]. Many thanks to Brian Sullivan, Abena Palmore, Erika Laurion, Carl Glenn and Gary Sokolow for making this project a reality. - Glenn I. Fishman, M.D., Director, Division of Cardiology

Smilow Center OpeningNew Translational ResearchCenter Houses CardiovascularBiology ProgramPage 2

FellowsUpdate on our traineesPage 3

New Faces in the DivisionProfiles of New Faculty and Staff in our DivisionPage 4

Honoring our BenefactorsLuncheon Presentations Discuss “The biomedical Revolution and a Healthy Heart.”Page 6

Featured Clinical TrialsTesting Novel Therapies Page 6

Clinical UpdateFocus on Cardiac RehabilitationPage 9

Grants CornerElectronic SubmissionPage 10

New Awards and HonorsAccomplishments of colleagues in the Division of CardiologyPage 11

The Quarterly Newsletter - Fall 2006

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In This Issue

http://www.med.nyu.edu/medicine/cardiology

http://www.med.nyu.edu/medicine/cardiology

mailto:[email protected]


With the recent comple-tion of the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center, basic and translational investigators within NYU’s Division of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Biol-ogy Program have con-solidated their research programs in one location. Housed on the 8th floor of he new Joan and Joel Smilow Translational Re-search Bulding, with recruitment efforts ongoing to fill the 7th floor as well, investigators enjoy a a state-of-the-art research center with expansive views of the East Side of Manhattan. Given the enormous burden of cardiovas-

cular disease in our popu-lation, scientists in Smilow are focusing their efforts on studies that will lead to improved diagnosis, pre-vention and treatment of clinically relevant disor-ders including arrhyth-mias, heart failure and vas-cular disease. Currently four research groups are located on the 8th floor in the new building led by

Principal Investigators Drs. Glenn I. Fishman, Edward A. Fisher, David E. Gutstein and Gregory E. Morley. Addi-tional information on the Smilow Center can be found at: www.med.nyu.edu/smilowcenter/.

EDWARD A. FISHER, MD, PhD

Dr. Edward A. Fisher, Director of the Marc and Ruti Bell Vascular Biology and Disease Program. His major areas of focus are mechanisms related to risk factors causing coronary artery disease. His group spans the range of cell-free systems to mouse models and use modern techniques of cellular and molecular biology. Recent pa-pers have highlighted their work in novel pathways regu-lating hepatic lipo-protein secretion as well as atheroscle-rosis regression. In addition to the laboratory program, Dr. Fisher also leads a clinical research program in risk fac-tor reduction.

GLENN I. FISHMAN, MD

Dr. Glenn I. Fishman, Director of the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology. His laboratory is interested in understanding cardiovascular development and disease. A major focus of the laboratory is elucidating the nature of cardiac excitability, including the molecular genetic basis of conduction system development and function, as well as the molecular patho-physiology of cardiac ar-rhythmias. The laboratory utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach, combining mo-lecular biology, electro-physiology and genetically modified mouse model systems.

Smilow Research Center Opening


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Research Programs

http://www.med.nyu.edu/smilowcenter/

http://www.med.nyu.edu/smilowcenter/

DR. DAVID E. GUTSTEIN

Dr. David E. Gutstein is an Assistant Professor in the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology and holds a joint appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology. In his laboratory, he is investigating car-diac pathophysiology using mutant mouse models and other experimental techniques. He is interested in the basic pathways and mechanisms under-lying cardiac devel-opment and func-tion and how these pathways become disrupted in dis-ease states.

DR. GREGORY E. MORLEY

Dr. Gregory E. Morley, also an Assistant Professor, has the long rang goal of determining the mechanisms of impulse initiation and conduction and the role they play in trig-gering and maintaining cardiac arrhythmias. In the labora-tory, high speed imaging techniques are used to visualize electrical wave propagation at both the macroscopic and cellular levels. Ongoing studies are directed at identifying the major determinants of conduc-tion heterogeneities commonly as-sociated with cardiovascular disease. Ultimately, a better understanding of the processes that govern cardiac conduction will lead to fundamen-tally new directions for the treat-ment of malignant cardiac arrhyth-mias.

Fellows The graduating fellows from our Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship entering Class of 2003 have all remained at NYU for additional years of training. Renato Apolito, Kevin Steinberg and Loran Yehudai began their training in Interventional Car-diology. Ania Garlitski, Jad Swingle as well as Scott Bernstein began training in Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. Lenny Yatskar has joined us as an Attending in the Division of Cardiology’s Interventional Cardiology Program.

We extend a very special welcome to our new fellows, who began their training on July 1, 2006.


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Eleni DoufekiasCornell Medical Center

Mark D. FischBoston Medical Center

Louis H. MillerNew York University

William S. ShinYale-New Haven

Adam H. SkolnickBeth Israel Deaconess

Eugene KimBoston Medical Center

Zev B. FrankelMount Sinai Hospital

Susie HongMount Sinai Hospital

New Faces in the Division of CardiologyJennifer H. Mieres, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A, F.A.S.N.C. joins the faculty as an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of Nuclear Cardiology at NYU Medical Center. A gradu-ate of Bennington College and Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Mieres completed her training in Internal Medi-cine, Cardiology and Nuclear Cardiology at St Luke’s Roose-velt Medical Center in New York City. She was the Director of Nuclear Cardiology at North Shore University Hospital in Long Island New York from 1995 to June, 2006.

Dr. Mieres is a Fellow of the American College of Physi-cians, American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Society of Nu-clear Cardiology and is board certified in cardiovascular diseases and nuclear cardiology. Her clinical research interests include women and heart disease and the role of cardiac imaging in the diagnosis and risk assessment of coronary disease. She is one of the principle investigators of the ongoing multi-center diagnostic trial “The WOMEN.”

Dr. Mieres has been a member of the invited faculty at the Scientific Sessions for the American Heart Associa-tion and American College of Cardiology. She is a found-ing member of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiol-ogy and is the Vice President elect of that society.

Dr. Mieres is also actively involved with the AHA on a local and national level and is a nation spokesperson, past member of the national board of Directors, and is the Chair of the Cardiac Imaging Committee of the Council of Clinical Cardiology for that organization. She is a member of the national AHA’s Nominating Committee, Strategic Planning Task force and Professional Education Committee. Dr. Mieres is the immediate past president of the AHA’s Long Island Region and is the Secretary of the AHA’s local Heritage Affiliate. Dr. Mieres also serves as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Women Heart (the national coalition for women living with heart disease). She is a recipient of the 2002 New York State Governor’s award for excellence and as a producer of

the PBS documentary “A Woman’s Heart,” for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Best documentary in the Health Science category at the 46th Annual New York Emmy Awards held in March 2003.

David E. Cohen, M.D. joined our cardiology faculty in July 2006 as the Director of the new NYU Program in Critical Limb Ischemia. Dr. Cohen obtained his medical degree from Columbia University, completed his medical residency at the University of Michigan, a cardiology fel-lowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an interventional cardiology fellowship at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY. Ten years ago he took a sabbatical at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston under Drs. Jeffrey Isner and Ken-neth Rosenfield in periph-eral vascular intervention. He is Board Certified in Cardiovascular Diseases and Interventional Cardi-ology and also in Endovas-cular Medicine by the newly created American Board of Vascular Medicine.

Since that time, while in practice at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ, Dr. Cohen has applied many newly emerging endovascular technologies to a wide variety of challenging vascular conditions such as multi-level peripheral arterial disease, long occlusions, and complex tibial occlusive disease. These endovascular modalities include laser angioplasty, advanced atherec-tomy procedures, and stenting. Dr. Cohen has been an active investigator in a variety of research protocols in-cluding the LACI-2 trial for laser angioplasty in critical limb ischemia, and the LEAP trial which is applying ad-vanced plaque analysis after atherectomy procedures. Dr. Cohen’s passion for peripheral arterial disease manage-ment has led to a transition in his practice from coronary to peripheral arterial disease, founding Circulatory Care of New Jersey. He has also embraced an endovenous approach for the treatment of symptomatic venous in-sufficiency and has also founded the Center for Advanced Vein Therapy in New Jersey.

The NYU Program in Critical Limb Ischemia is aimed at building upon the existing endovascular/peripheral vascu-


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lar program in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, pioneered by Drs. Michael Attubato and Anvar Babaev. The program will focus on treating patients with claudi-cation and with critical limb ischemia. Dr. Cohen will help to develop teaching programs and research oppor-tunities in vascular disease and atherosclerosis. He will be working closely with the current cath lab faculty to bring this exciting program to fruition. Office consulta-tions are available through the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

Victor Navarro, M.D. joined our cardiology faculty earlier this year as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Born in Havana, Cuba, Dr. Navarro grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1984 he graduated magna cum laude from the Central University of Venezuela School of Medicine, where he obtained his Physician-Surgeon degree. He ranked first in his class. Dr. Na-varro came to New York in 1986 where he completed his internship, and subsequently his residency and Cardiology fel-lowship at the Long Island Col-lege Hospital (LICH) in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Finally he completed his Invasive Car-diology fellowship at Maimoni-des Medical Center in 1992.

Dr. Navarro has been in clinical practice in the area of Brooklyn since 1992. In 1999 he joined the LICH Divi-sion of Cardiology where he held the position of Direc-tor of the Exercise and Electrocardiography Labs. In May 2006, he joined the NYU Division of Cardiology as Assis-tant Professor. He is currently committed to expanding the Brooklyn and Manhattan NYU Faculty Group Prac-tice.

Leonid Yatskar, M.D., has joined the faculty of the Division of Cardiology Faculty in July 2006 as an inter-ventional cardiologist. Dr. Yatskar recently completed his fellowship training at NYU in Interventional Cardiology this past June 2006. He is boarded in both in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.

Dr. Yatskar is currently working in a practice in Brooklyn, as well as holding a staff physician in the Catheterization Laboratories at Bellevue Hospital Center and Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

Dr. Yatskar’s research interest focus on the topic of Coronary Artery and Peripheral Vascular Disease man-agement. He is a co-investigator in the ACUITY, OAT, DYNAMIC Registry, SHOCK 11, BIAMI and STRADI-VARIUS Clinical Trials.

Ms. Diana Levyatova CPC recently joined the staff of the Division of Cardiology as the Billing Coordinator & Coder for NYU Cardiac Catheterization Associates. Prior to joining the Division of Cardiology she was em-ployed as a Coder/ Biller for the Stamford and Green-wich Hospital Systems. Diana recently became a Certi-fied Professional Coder (CPC) and she is fluent in four languages (Russian, Ukranian, Polish and English).

Ms. Jamie Wright CPC also joined our staff in April 2006. Jamie is working as the Billing Coordinator/Coder for the Nuclear Stress Lab and the Cardiac Rehab Pro-gram. Prior to joining the Division of Cardiology, Jamie worked as the Team Leader for the Center for Weight Loss Surgery at Danbury Hospital and before that she worked for Continuum Health Partners for over 7 years, in several different capacities including the Practice Man-ager of a Large Multi-Specialty practice. Jamie is also a certified Professional Coder with over ten years experi-ence in the healthcare field.

Ms. Erika Laurion, MS, joined the staff of the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology in May 2006. Erika is working as an Executive Assistant to the Clinical Cardio-vascular Research Program. Prior to joining the Division of Cardiology, Erika worked as an Administrator of the Division of Cardiology at Beth Israel Medical Center. Erika has a M.S. from the Institute of Human Nutrition at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Uni-versity and a B.A. in Business from SUNY.

We are also please to announce that Ms. Nadine Birbalsingh has joined the Heart Failure Program staff as Drs. Jorde and Vittorio’s Administrative Assistant; Ms. Rachel Chao Wang has joined the Cardiovascular Research Staff as a Research Coordinator; Mr. Victor Joaquin, Research Technician has joined Dr. Edward Fisher’s Research Staff; Mr. Marc Ponzio, Research Technician has joined Dr. David Gutstein’s Research Staff and Ms. Miriam Cohen-Navarro (Office Mgr), Ms. Claudia Irving (Medical Assistant), Ms. Rosa She-hoah (FGP Assistant) and Ms. Katya Amirov (Sonographer) have joined the Division of Cardiology Staff as part of Dr. Navarro’s Brooklyn and 14th Street Manhattan Office Staff.


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Celebration Luncheon to Honor Our Friends!Each spring, NYU Medical Center holds a luncheon to recognize and thank the many friends who have to supporting this institu-tion. Invited to this elegant event are the John Revere Society members who have included the Medical Center in their estate plans, and the 1841 Society members who have made annual do-nations of $5,000 or more. This year, the luncheon took place on May 8, 2006, at the Regency Hotel on Park Avenue and 61st Street and honored our very own Leon H. Charney whose extraor-dinarily generous philanthropy led to the naming of our Division of Cardiology in his honor in 2001 (pictured here with Drs. Kal-man, Fisher and Fishman).

The theme for the luncheon was “Take Heart.” The event featured an informative presentation on cardiovascular biology and medicine entitled: “Of Mice and Men, and Women Too: The Biomedical Revolution and a Healthy Heart.” Leading the presentation was Glenn I. Fishman, whose topic was “Cardiovascular biology and medicine – translating discovery into healthy hearts at NYU.” Also participating was Edward A. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., the Leon H. Charney Professor of Cardio-vascular Medicine, who spoke about lowering your risk of heart disease and putting the good cholesterol to work. Jill Kalman, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief, Cardiac Service, Tisch Hospital and Director, Cardiomyopathy Program, discussed the topic “Success with heart failure: a survival guide for the weak at heart.”

At NYU Medical Center, our donors are truly the heart of our institution. Our donors enable our doctors to dis-cover new cures, to provide the most progressive, compassionate care to our patients, and to utilize the most modern, technologically advanced equipment. We are proud to share some of the remarkable advances that have been taking place in NYU’s Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology – achievements that would not have been possible without the dedication and generosity of our wonderful friends.

Featured Clinical TrialsCurrently there are 50 open trials in the Division of Cardiology. Below we highlight four of these, with plans to focus on additional trials in subsequent issues of the Newsletter. We encourage you to consider enrolling ap-propriate patients in these and other active clinical trials. Please contact the appropriate coordinator for each study with any questions you may have. You can also join our Cardiology Research Conferences every Wednesday at noon at Bellevue Hospital. Contact [email protected] for more info.

PI - Harmony Reynolds, MD

Coordinator: Karen Hager pager 917 812 9070

The goal of this study is to determine the utility of measurement of carotid intimal-medial thickness in the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease as the etiology of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Why we should enroll?

To support this investigator initiated study funded by a grant from the New York Cardiac Center Foundation. Very easy study to enroll. One additional test for patient.


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CUE HF



Fellows are critical in identifying patients. Coordinator will do the rest by enrolling the patient and schedule for carotid ultrasound. This test was previously not available at Bellevue and is now as of ~ June 19, 2006.

Major inclusion:

• Cardiomyopathy (EF ≤ 40%) of uncertain cause• Scheduled for coronary angiography

Major Exclusion:

• Patients will be excluded if they are known to have severe CAD• History of myocardial infarction.

PI – James Slater, MD

Coordinator: Karen Hager- pager 917 812 9070

A study of the Evalve Cardiovascular Valve Repair System (CVRS) Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge REpair Study.

Phase II evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of an endovascular approach to the treatment of mitral valve regurgita-tion using the Evalve Cardiovascular Valve Repair System.


First pivotal study of its kind. Help NYU become a leader in the NYC community for study enrollment. Very competi-tive site selection (Columbia and Cornell are also sites). So far 1 patient was rolled in (not randomized, received clip) one patient scheduled for second roll-in.

A fellow has referred a patient who was screened but not randomized. Many fellows probably see eligible patients who may not be aware of the study and may be interested and eligible.

Patients are randomized 2:1 for clip or surgery respectively.

Major inclusion:• Mod to severe (3+) or severe (4+) chronic mitral valve regurgitation• Symptomatic with > 25% LVEF or Asymptomatic with (call contact for specifics)• Candidate for mitral valve repair or replacement surgery, including cardiopulmonary bypass.

Major Exclusions• Evidence of an acute MI <12 weeks of the intended treatment• The need for any other cardiac surgery including surgery for CAD, atrial fibrillation, pulmonic, aortic or tricuspid valve

disease.

PI – Harmony Reynolds, MD

Coordinator: Karen Hager- pager 917 812 9070

Is chelation therapy/vitamin therapy safe and effective for treatment of cardiovascular disease (in combination with tradi-tional treatments)?


To prove or disprove use of chelation to treat CAD and because it is a NIH/NCCAM funded study that needs a boost in enrollment.

Patients have 30 weekly infusions followed by 10 monthly infusions. Open label low-dose vitamins throughout infusion period and double blind high dose/placebo vitamins throughout study and follow up. Infusions are done by RN at the General Clinical Research Center, Bellevue Hospital 8E. Travel compensation given to patients.


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EVEREST

TACT

Total enrolled at NYU to date: 7

Total enrolled in all sites: 991

Major Inclusions:• >50• Previous MI

Major Exclusions: • Stage II hypertension • Inability to tolerate weekly fluid load of 500cc• Smoking• Planned revascularization

PI – Jill Kalman, MD

Coordinator: Christine Surach, NP: 212 263 3134

A study of the Evaluation and Efficiency of the Optimizer System with Active Fixation Leads in Subjects with Heart Fail-ure Resulting from Systolic Dysfunction: FIX- HF-5

This is a randomized Phase II investigational device clinical trial for patients with moderate to severe heart failure, and normal width QRS on EKG. Sponsor is Impulse Dynamics.


Over the past decade the use of pacemakers and devices for patients with heart failure has exploded, most importantly, with the widespread adoption of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy and Defibrillators. However, it is estimated that less than half our patients with advanced heart failure have a prolonged QRS and these patients are therefore not indicated for the benefits of resynchronization devices. This present clinical trial evaluates the efficacy of a new investigational im-planted device designed to treat patients with chronic heart failure and a normal QRS duration. The investigational de-vice is the OPTIMIZER III System; by Impulse Dynamics. This system delivers non-excitatory cardiac contractility modula-tion (CCM) signals. These signals are intended to enhance the influx of calcium and thus influence myocardial properties in patients with chronic heart failure, and improve outcomes. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of the device on exercise and quality of life endpoints, as well as mortality. Phase I safety has been completed without overt safety concerns. NYU is one of 50 enrolling sites in the US. Thus far, 1 patient has been enrolled at NYU and implanted with the Optimizer device on June 7, 2006.

Major inclusions:• Treatment of heart failure for at least 90 days, including beta-blocker• Appropriate stable medical therapy for heart failure • EF of 35% or less• NYHA class III or IV• QRS 120ms or less

Major Exclusions:• VO2 max less than 9% • Prior heart transplant • MI or CABG less than 90 days, PTCA less than 30 days • Atrial Fibrillation• PR interval greater than 275 ms• Mechanical tricuspid or aortic valves• Implanted Bi-Ventricular device, or with a clinical indication for Bi-V


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FIX-HF-5

Clinical Update: Cardiac Rehabilitation In March of 2006, Medicare published a national decision memorandum that extends coverage for outpatient cardiac re-habilitation to several new groups of patients who have had stent placement and heart valve repair and replacement. This is an opportunity for this specific patient subgroup to NOW take advantage of the comprehensive services provided at the NYUMC Joan and Joel Smilow Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Center at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. The following information elaborates on the process of referral to the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation pro-gram. OUTPATIENT PROGRAM ENROLLMENT CRITERIAEntry criteria include diagnoses that are reimbursed by the patient’s insurance carrier. The following are usually accepted diagnoses:

• Myocardial infarction within one year• Coronary bypass surgery within one – two years• Stable angina documented by a stress test

Effective March 22nd, 2006 Medicare expanded outpatient coverage to include• Heart valve repair/replacement• Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)/ coronary stenting

Most private insurance carriers and Medicare will cover 80 – 100% of the cost of the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program under major medical plans. Other diagnoses may be acceptable to insurance carriers as well and will be re-viewed on an individual basis. ENROLLMENT

• Referral letter from his/her primary physician or consulting cardiologist documenting the cardiac history and need for cardiac rehabilitation therapy

• A medical prescription which states the diagnosis, date of onset and the recommendation for 36 cardiac sessions of monitored outpatient cardiac rehabilitation

• Lipid profile analysis (Total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and Triglycerides)• Cardiac stress test within 3 months of the start of the program• Supplemental laboratory information: echocardiogram, cardiac catheterization and Holter reports

EXERCISE CLASS STRUCTURE Each patient will have an individual exercise prescription plan. During the exercise hour, the patient will exercise 15 minutes on three exercise modalities with suggestions for use of specific modalities. The Cardiologist and the Exercise Physiologist will monitor the aerobic progress at intervals during the 36 sessions with recommendations to adjust the patient’s target heart rate and exercise workload. Prior to completion of the program, each patient will schedule an exit interview with the Cardiac Rehabilitation Physiatrist to review the patient’s coronary risk diary and with the Exercise Physiologist who will customize an exercise discharge plan in relation to the patient’s particular performance. The circuit weight-training program is designed to recondition and improve muscular strength and endurance through-out the entire musculoskeletal system. In combination with the aerobic component of our program, this will allow pa-tients to further maximize their functional independence and overall quality of life. The weight-training program is moni-tored and supervised by the Physiatrist, Physical Therapist and Exercise Physiologist. After 12 monitored exercise ses-sions, if the patient is an appropriate candidate, one exercise modality will be substituted with a 15 – minute weight-training sessions.


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CORONARY RISK FACTOR EDUCATION CLASSES A schedule of the coronary risk factor education classes will be given to the individual at the intake interview. These classes are presented in a 12 weekly topic cycle and are offered three times per week. The classes cover various topics from the benefits of exercise to stress management techniques. The classes are highly encouraged for all individuals with coronary risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity.

An individual, who is interested in the program, may call 212-263-HEART between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:30 p.m., Monday – Friday to schedule an appointment with the Cardiac Rehabilitation Physiatrist and the Advance Practice Nurse. Mariano Rey, MD Jonathan Whiteson, MD Ana Mola,MA,RN,ANP-C Co-Medical Director Co-Medical Director Program Director

Grants Corner: Electronic SubmissionWelcome to the Grants Corner, which will be a regular feature of the Newsletter. The purpose of this segment is to provide cardiovascular researchers and investigators within the Division of Cardiology information on grants, including recent changes at the National Institutes of Health, funding opportunities, newly received grants and other relevant grant news.

This inaugural column will look at the NIH’s transition to electronic submission of grants and its impact on the submis-sion process. As of February 1, 2007, all R01 grants will move to electronic submission and, as of June 1, 2007, all K awards will move to electronic submission.

Electronic submission will involve a number of changes to grant applications that I will cover in future columns. For now, it is important that researchers and investigator register with the NIH’s eRA Commons, if they have not already. You can do this by contacting Saadia Malik at NYU’s Sponsor Programs Administration office at extension 3-8151.

One of the largest changes for electronic submissions is that the institution—and not the investigator—submits the grant electronically. At NYU, SPA will submit all electronic grants. Final versions of grants will need to be ready for sub-mission and given to SPA at least a week before the final deadline. Paper deadlines enabled an investigator to receive early signoff from SPA, continue to work on the grant until the final deadline, and then send it out. The timing of elec-tronic submissions will not allow for this and, in essence, the deadline for completed grants will now be a week before the final due date.

The Department of Medicine is in contact with SPA and training sessions on electronic submission are being planned. You can also reach out to SPA individually. If you have any questions about any item in this column or need assistance with a grant, you can contact me at 3-4127 or at [email protected].


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New Awards /Honors

Itzhak Kronzon, MD (pictured here in a very recent photograph) was re-nominated senior professor by special appointment at Tel Aviv University, Israel. He also received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Indian Academy of Echocar-diography, was elected as a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and was appointed a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the European Jour-nal of Echocardiography. Last summer, he was appointed an honorary member of the Venezuelan Cardiology Society.

and in other news from the Non-Invasive Lab.....

Gila Perk, 3rd year fellow in cardiology received the career development award from the American Soci-ety of Echocardiography. This most prestigious award was in support of her project Echocardiographic Evaluation of Chest Pain in the ER. Lana Choy-Shan, a 2nd year medical resident was the winner of the New York Echocardiography Society Joan Barber competition for the best presentation in clinical echocar-diography. The topic presented was: Automatic calculation of Global LV Function by Non Doppler Speckle imaging.

Edward Fisher, MD, PhD was awarded a second NIH RO1 award for the study of Regression of Atherosclerosis and Diabetes.

Harmony Reynolds, MD received a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award. She was also recently elected to fellowship in the American Col-lege of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography.

Jennifer Mieres, MD was elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association and Chair of the National Cardiac Imaging Committee of the Clini-cal Council of Cardiology and Incoming Vice President of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology.

Daniel Fisher MD was Elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology.


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Judith Hochman, MDappointed by NHLBI Direc-tor to the Executive Com-mittee to Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Clinical Tri-als Working Group. She was also named to the Editorial Boards of the following jour-nals: Acute Cardiac Care, Circulation, American Heart Journal and Critical Pathways in Cardiology.

Mark Lipton, MD was awarded a $300,000 NIH Grant award to develop a plan for a regional health Information Exchange.

Mariano Rey, MD was named Director of the NYU Institute for Community Health and Research and has recently received a $3.5 mil-lion grant from New York City for the NYC Hepatitis Program.

Congratulations to all of these individuals for their achievements! If you have good news to share with the Division, please forward it to [email protected] and we will include it in the next is-sue of our Newsletter.

Faces in the Crowd!


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Documents

Division of Cardiology