UofL Dept of Medicine 2023 Year in Review

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE DEPT. OF MEDICINE

Our Department Chair

MEET KIM ALLAN WILLIAMS

Kim Allan Williams joined us as department chair in July 2022. A Chicago Southsider, Williams earned his college and medical degrees at the University of Chicago (UC), completed internal medicine internship and residency at Emory University and overlapped fellowships in cardiology, clinical pharmacology and nuclear medicine at the UC. A career cardiac imager focused on nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT, Williams founded and directed UC’s renowned nuclear cardiology laboratory (1984-2010) and served as president of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (2004-2005). Furthering his focus on health equity, he became chief of cardiology at Wayne State University in inner-city Detroit (2010) and served as chairman of the board of directors of the Association of Black Cardiologists (2010-2012). In 2013 he returned to Chicago as chief of cardiology at Rush University and was elected president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC, 2015-2016).

From this position he sought to further the College’s impact in areas of health equity, international chapter growth, cardio nutrition and fundamental primacy of preventive cardiology. He has co-authored ACC’s Primary Prevention and Hypertension Management Guidelines, both of which focus on lifestyle changes, particularly nutrition as the cornerstone of disease management and prevention. He is the founding editor of the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention (2018). Williams has combined nutrition-prevention and health equity initiatives developing the Urban Cardiology Initiative in Detroit and the H.E.A.R.T. programs (Helping Everyone Address Risk Today) in Chicago and Louisville, screening the underserved for cardiac risk factors and providing education on nutrition and lifestyle changes.

What inspired you to come to the University of Louisville as the Chair of the Department of Medicine?

They say a major move in academia requires “a push and a pull”. Coming to this position was certainly an exception. After a successful tenure rebuilding and expanding Rush Cardiology, I had been offered several leadership positions. But a major move like this one can’t be just about getting a promotion up the academic ladder. There has to be a mission, a purpose and a true synchrony of vision between the institution and the recruited leadership. That was certainly the case here. The University of Louisville has a global perspective, national and international leaders and great regional influence. Yet, there is a great sense of local caring for the underserved. This combination was very attractive as

we have been very intentional about developing programs in health equity, nutrition and disease prevention. Meeting everyone, it was clear that there was leadership here with vision for excellence. We had top shelf basic scientists and high-level dedicated educators. But I could also see some robust opportunities to expand health care access, translational and clinical research, to aim for the highest clinical quality and accelerate our focus on patient experience, all while keeping our providers’ wellness at the forefront.

Having worked at multiple institutions, what do you think sets the UofL Department of Medicine apart from its peers?

The University of Louisville School of Medicine sets a high bar for academic excellence and the Department of Medicine is one of the largest and most academically productive in terms of extramural research funding, clinical investigations and publications. We will always strive to improve our processes and experiences for our patients, trainees, faculty and staff. This attitude of not accepting the status quo has been refreshing and helpful as we try to become the best that we can be. What role does the Department of Medicine play in the community of Louisville?

“I came to you because you came to us!” That’s a quote from last week’s clinic where a longstanding patient of another institution decided to come to University of Louisville for care at one of our West End clinics near his home. We have been partnering with UofL Health to go into the community and do cardiovascular screening. We target large gatherings, such as Juneteenth Celebration or the African American Male Wellness Walk, with our H.E.A.R.T. program. In this program we set up tables, do point of care cholesterol and blood pressure testing, take a good history and calculate the ACC 10-year risk of heart attack, stroke and death. We then counsel the patient about their risk and even make appointments for the patient right then and there for anyone who is at moderate or high risk. The impact has been great as 80% of the attendees have some important abnormality that needs evaluation and management. Many in academic centers want to stay on the main campus and not go to where the people are, but that’s not what we do. In addition to the screening, we are setting up clinics in the West End and we envision growth in both primary care and subspecialty care for the underserved in their own neighborhoods. It’s not enough to just talk about access to care. We actually have to make it happen.

How would you describe the clinical, educational, and research missions in the Department of Medicine?

Our clinical programs deliver cutting-edge and guidelinedriven evaluation and management of patients. We were always striving to do more and we are intentional about our quality review process. I can tell you that our education is high level, effective and gets great results. Not just in terms of passing board certifications and getting the best jobs after completing the training, but also our results are manifest on a daily basis with every patient that’s seen and experiences optimization of their care to the best of our ability. We also continue to have high levels of funding for research which distinguishes us from many of our colleagues in the city, region, state and nation.

Of all your accomplishments thus far as Chair of Medicine, what makes you most proud?

It has been a very busy first two years as chair! I could point to so many accomplishments, but none of them would be possible without the hard work and dedication of my vice chairs, Aruni Bhatnagar in research, Dinesh Kalra in quality, Jennifer Koch in faculty affairs & education and Kris Krueger in clinical operations. In terms of educational initiatives, we are thrilled to now have monthly chair rounds with the house staff where they can speak to and learn from the department chair directly during case reports and review of the literature. We also reinvigorated the “M&M” Conference, rebranding it as “Measure and Modify”. Come to learn and improve processes, not to point fingers or lay blame. We enhanced our national exposure with taking Internal Medicine Grand Rounds and its accompanying 60-second summary, The Cardinal Minute, on to VuMedi, YouTube and X. We also initiated internal research funding to develop clinician scientists, hopefully to try and match our stellar basic scientists’ prolific and successful research enterprise. We call it the Clinical Research Enhancement Awards for Trial Excellence (CREATE), aiming to expand our clinical research portfolio and provide opportunities for our junior faculty and trainees to participate in advancing medical science and publications.

Our clinical mission expansion has been central to our efforts, improving quality metrics, patient experience and provider wellness. We have recruited 48 faculty memebers in the first two years, including a new Division Chief in Rheumatology (Dr. Hussam Sarakbi) and began an entirely new Division of Palliative Medicine (interim chief, Jennifer Koch), responding to the needs within our system. We started the Clinical Operations Redesign Program (CORP), which we subtitled, “The Pebble Box: Is there a pebble in your shoe?” Everyone is expected to turn to leadership in any frustration with the system, the faculty, the staff, or even the chair – any issue will be addressed, none too small. We want to smooth out our documentation and billing and improve our electronic health record responses and efficiency, our check in times, our check

out times and our patient access times. We have a big clinical system at UofL Health – 250 sites now – and we need to continue to grow and partner with our UofL Physician Community Medical Group (CMG) whenever we can.

How do you envision the future of the UofL Department of Medicine?

They say that the “best way to predict the future is to create it!” To that end we are envisioning better communication, provider wellness and discrete goal-oriented mission success. We are enhancing intra- and interdepartmental communication by initiating a Department of Medicine newsletter and compiling this annual report. Importantly we have initiated a faculty engagement series which includes open office hours with the chair of medicine for any faculty member who feels the need. We began a program which I call “Tables and Chair,” taking 10% of the department faculty per month along with their significant others, to a heart healthy evening of food and conversation. We have begun our own Department of Medicine Strategic Plan, focusing on the “Five Pillars of Excellence” I outlined as my vision for departmental excellence when taking this position:

1. CLINICAL: led by Kristine Krueger

2. ADMINISTRATION: led Rosemary Ouseph

3. RESEARCH: led by Aruni Bhatnagar

4. ADVOCACY: led by Dinesh Kalra

5. TEACHING: led by Jennifer Koch

Within each of these pillars we are working on 10 to 15 strategic goals with metrics, deliverables, quarterly dashboards and the expectation of continuous improvement. We are focused on these goals because we know that we are here in the state ranked 48th in health for a reason and we will not give up on improving the lives in our commonwealth. I am honored to be in this leadership position to help effect this and I am thankful for the faculty who come to work and help every day. I fully appreciate the excellence and resources within our niversity and in our Health System partners and I look forward to continuing to help build a healthier Kentucky, country and world.

Come join us!

Kim Allan Williams MD, MACC, MASNC, FAHA, FESC

Our People: Our Mission:

The UofL Department of Medicine compassionately advocates for and improves the lives and health of the diverse Louisville community, Kentucky and beyond through continued clinical excellence, the highest quality of medical education and innovations in basic science and clinical research.

STAFF MEMBERS FACULTY MEMBERS

RESIDENTS FELLOWS

Providing excellent clinical care remains at the heart of our mission. In 2023, Department of Medicine faculty treated patients at 77,212 outpatient appointments. These took place at 11 clinical sites spanning the UofL Health system.

CLINICAL

CLINICAL SITE ADDITIONS

» The Division of Nephrology added services at UofL Health – Medical Center Northeast.

» Kim Allan Williams established cardiovascular medicine clinics at UofL Physicians Parkland and Dixie Highway locations, increasing access in underserved neighborhoods of Louisville.

» The Divisions of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine along with the Division of Nephrology are providing much needed inpatient services to UofL Health South Hospital.

» The Divisions of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine along with the Division of Nephrology have hired a nephro-critical care physician.

Advanced Endoscopy AN INTERVIEW

WITH NATHAN LIU

Advanced Endoscopy is one of the newest and most exciting subspecialties in internal medicine and UofL Assistant Professor of Medicine Nanlong “Nathan” Liu is performing some of the most technically difficult procedures being done nationally. After completing medical school, residency, and gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Louisville, Liu sought 18 months of advanced training at the University of Florida. Liu returned to UofL and is quickly developing a program serving our local community as well as patients referred from surrounding states, including from academic centers where similar procedures are not offered.

“The definition of Advanced Endoscopy has broadened and over the last 10 years there has been an exponential increase in the amount of therapeutic procedures that we can perform,” states Liu. Liu’s practice includes a vast array of procedures; he performed over 1300 procedures in 2023. These included advanced level pancreatico-biliary tract procedures, third space endoscopy, bariatric endoscopy and endoscopic submucosal resection.

Patients benefit from the availability of these less invasive approaches. “We have a saying in advanced endoscopy, that the worst candidates for surgery are the ones that benefit the most from endoscopy,” according to Liu. “Some of our procedures are superior and improve quality of life, with less morbidity and cost”.

What does the future of advanced endoscopy look like at the University of Louisville?

Liu envisions continued growth, resulting in a center of excellence as well as an advanced endoscopy fellowship program. “I love my job. I never have the same day. My field is rapidly growing and constantly evolving. I also love that there are so many nuances to my field and there are different ways of performing the procedures, so collaboration and learning from experiences is crucial. I truly feel with my job and what I do, I make a difference in the patients’ lives. Even a new diagnosis of cancer allows the patient to get a step closer to seeking treatment or closure. I also love getting to work with fellows and residents and sharing with them what we in the world of advanced endoscopy can do to help patients”.

Nanlong “Nathan” Liu, MD

Palliative Medicine AN INTERVIEW WITH JENNIFER KOCH

2023 marked the creation of a new clinical division in the Department of Medicine – the Division of Palliative Medicine. Historically housed with general internal medicine, palliative medicine has long been an important clinical service that the department has provided to patients at University of Louisville Hospital.

Interim Division Chief Jennifer Koch recalls when palliative medicine was a brand new discipline. “At that time, most physicians didn’t even know what palliative medicine was. We met with people throughout the hospital to explain the benefits of a focus on treating not only pain and symptoms in patients with serious illness, but also considering their other needs, such as psychological and spiritual”.

Since that time, awareness of palliative medicine has grown immensely, in part due to the Department of Medicine offering a palliative medicine clerkship and UofL being the first medical school nationally to require this experience for every medical student. In addition, Department of Medicine faculty have achieved national recognition for researching and creating best practices for interprofessional education in palliative care.

In recent years palliative medicine has grown to include an inpatient service at UofL Health - Jewish Hospital and an outpatient clinic in UofL Health - Brown Cancer Center. “We have identified many additional opportunities to expand palliative medicine throughout the health system. We believe that all patients deserve comprehensive, interdisciplinary care, particularly when they face life-limiting illnesses,” states Koch. “The establishment of a dedicated Division of Palliative Medicine will provide the structure necessary to pursue these opportunities”.

CLINICAL CALL-OUTS

» Clinical RVUs were increased 8.5% in 2023 compared to 2022

» Division of General Internal Medicine set it sights on addressing the community’s primary care shortage by increasing recruitment of primary care physicians

» The department successfully recruited Ian Smith as executive director, bringing with him extensive experience in academic departments and health systems.

» The Division of Infectious Diseases obtained Part B Ryan White funding, a $4.5M grant for 25 employees and services that provides case management and social support for patients with HIV.

Jennifer Koch, MD, FACP

We train hundreds of medical students, residents and fellows each year. Our training programs shape compassionate physicians, primed for careers in hospital medicine, primary care and internal medicine subspecialties.

EDUCATION

Education At UofL

AN INTERVIEW WITH DAWN CASTER

From the first day of medical school to graduating from a top-notch fellowship program, the University of Louisville Department of Medicine strives to provide an educational experience where graduates move on to practice compassionate and evidence-based medicine in a variety of settings, from the clinic to the bench.

Dawn Caster could be a considered a foremost expert as she has experienced it all throughout her medical training and career at UofL. She began as a medical student in 2002, then moved on to the Internal Medicine Residency Program where she became a chief resident. She followed that with a fellowship in nephrology.

“I kind of grew up at UofL and I feel like I’ve been supported through all the life changes in my time here,” Caster said. “It’s a very supportive environment. I feel like everyone around me has always wanted to see me succeed in what I wanted to do and were helpful along the way. If you have a passion about something, even if you’re a new faculty member, if you want to do the work to make it happen, you don’t get a lot of ‘no’s’”.

That feeling of camaraderie has followed Caster as she joined the faculty in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at UofL. Having become an associate professor of medicine, she is not only very involved with clinical practice, but is very dedicated to her role as a medical academician. “Deep down, I love internal medicine,” Caster said. “I love all the facets of it, thinking through

complex problems and trying to solve the mysteries in complex patients. I felt nephrology was a really good fit because it combines all the things I love about internal medicine but was more focused on one organ system. We take care of patients and see all facets of internal medicine including those with heart disease, liver disease, autoimmune disease and those who are critically ill”.

Additionally, Caster has built a prolific research profile, becoming the proverbial “triple threat” in academic medicine. “I did not know I would end up in a career that was so heavily research oriented,” Caster said. “I loved academic medicine going into my fellowship and found there was research going on everywhere. Eleanor Lederer (former chief of nephrology) was a mentor and a great example of the triple-threat of academic medicine as a clinician, educator and researcher. I really looked up to her and I wanted to embody the idea of the triple-threat”.

Through it all, Caster points to an atmosphere of cooperation that she feels is unique to the University of Louisville.

“It’s an environment that allows junior faculty to get to a leadership position early and allows you to explore something you’re really interested in,” Caster said. “I feel like I have the support to specialize within nephrology, which in turn helped with my research. It’s been a combination of having great mentors and also having that feeling of collegiality and support from the university and medical school”.

RESIDENCY & FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS

FELLOWSHIP:

» Cardiovascular Medicine

» Interventional Cardiology

» Mohs Surgery (Dermatology)

» Endocrinology

» Gastroenterology

» Infectious Diseases

FASN

» Medical Oncology/Hematology

» Nephrology

» Palliative Medicine

» Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine

» Sleep Medicine

RESIDENCY:

» Internal Medicine

» Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics

» Dermatology

Dawn Caster, MD,

What Sets UofL Apart

AN INTERVIEW WITH JENNIFER OLGES

It’s a simple question, but it’s one that program director Jenny Olges loves to answer: What sets UofL apart from other internal medicine residency programs? “Our residency program trains well-rounded physicians who are fully prepared for the next step in their careers – whether that is hospital medicine, primary care or a subspecialty – in a fun yet challenging environment,” Olges said.

With an annual roster featuring 72 categorical and 16 preliminary residents, along with 20 Combined Med-Peds residents, the University of Louisville Internal Medicine Residency Program provides an inclusive environment, excellent mentorship, diverse training locations, balanced autonomy and many research and scholarship opportunities, all within a vibrant community in the city of Louisville.

According to Olges, these factors make the UofL program unique among its peers both regionally and nationally. “One thing that we pride ourselves on is the level of autonomy that we provide to our residents,” Olges said. “It’s done in such a way that there is attending oversight and feedback, but the residents are challenged to think critically and develop their own plans for workup and management. Our goal is for them to be confident and capable in independent practice when they graduate from our program”. Having the opportunity to work at multiple sites also enhances the training for residents at the University of Louisville. “Our residents train at three very different hospitals, which exposes them to diverse patient populations and a wide spectrum of pathologies, including pre- and post-transplant medicine”.

Olges is assisted by an outstanding and experienced team which includes associate program directors Kaitlin Gordon, Justin Kingery, Tyler Sharpe and Clayton Smith. In addition, the program also counts on a solid core of chief residents in Natasha Chandler, Martha Gallegos and Helen Turner. Together, they have built a program that fully prepares its graduates to practice compassionate and evidence-based medicine in a variety of settings.

“We continue to grow and expand our opportunities to meet the needs of our residents in this ever-changing healthcare landscape,” Olges said. “Today’s residents are tomorrow’s leaders and they are ready to navigate the challenges and advance the field of medicine”.

2023 AWARDS

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE PROFESSIONALISM AWARD: Joey Hebert, MD

DIVISION OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE TEACHING AWARD: AMBULATORY MEDICINE: Jennifer Koch, MD & Erin Murphy, MD

DIVISION OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE TEACHING AWARD: HOSPITAL MEDICINE: Tyler Sharpe, MD

STUART URBACH AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FACULTY TEACHING: Rodrigo Cavallazzi, MD

Jennifer R. Olges, MD, MPH, FACP

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE FELLOW AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING: Zachary Baird, DO

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE OUTSTANDING SENIOR RESIDENT AWARD: Michael Hogg, MD, Jaewon Jung, MD, Marianna Weaver, DO

Faculty within the Department of Medicine are involved in nine Centers and Institutes conducting cutting edge research on a wide variety of topics including cardiovascular disease, metabolicassociated steatohepatitis and environmental health, along with advancing cancer research to ensure lifesaving treatment.

RESEARCH

DOM Research

AN OVERALL LOOK

DEPARTMENT STRENGTHS

Research provides an opportunity to advance medical knowledge and innovate to expand our understanding of science and technology. Our research community is dedicated to finding new methodologies for advancing clinical care and promoting positive health outcomes. The University of Louisville leadership along with the commonwealth of Kentucky have committed state funds to support our research programs and recognize the trailblazing progress our scientific experts have achieved.

The Department of Medicine’s outstanding faculty hold 20 Endowed Chair titles with an additional seven recognized with the distinction of Distinguished University Scholar or University Scholar in recognition of their exceptional research funding support. In 2023, our basic research faculty received over $34 million from external organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and American Heart Association, among others.

UofL Department of Medicine researchers are experts in their field and collaborate across the country to share their knowledge by contributing to the medical literature, participating in nationwide programs as invited lecturers and serving on national study sections. Many of our faculty are recognized as worldwide leaders in their field and work in partnership with international organizations.

To give you an idea, Dinesh Kalra, Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine, was elected Governor of ACC’s Kentucky Chapter and to the Executive Board of the National Lipid Associa-

tion in 2023. He was also elected to the Kentucky Medical Association’s advocacy committee to engage with state legislators on prior authorizations and expansion of coverage for coronary calcium scoring. Forest Arnold, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, was instrumental in establishing a five-year research study supported by Pfizer in all UofL Health acute care hospitals to study Streptococcus pneumoniae in subjects affected by this illness.

In addition, the Division of Infectious Diseases expanded their role in HIV care by receiving a $4.5 million grant from the Ryan White Foundation to provide case management and social support for these patients. As further testament to our research productivity, over 100 of our researchers from the University of Louisville were in the top 2% of cited materials in the world. Impressively, 24 of those individuals are among Department of Medicine faculty members who are documenting and presenting cutting-edge medical advances.

Centers & Institutes

OUR FACULTY’S CONTRIBUTIONS

BROWN CANCER CENTER

The Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Section for Translational Research is led by Levi Beverly and comprises 21 laboratories headed by doctoral researchers. The Section added six new investigators in 2023 including Robert Monsen, Nadiia Lypova and Parag Shah who were promoted from staff positions to faculty members, while Leah Siskind and Juw Won Park were recruited from other departments at the University. Jae Yeon Hwang was brought on as a new faculty member within the Bioinformatics Core Facility. In 2023, the Section members participated in nearly 50 grant funded research projects, published 68 peer-reviewed manuscripts and gave more than 20 invited oral presentations.

In addition to basic science research, the Brown Cancer Center faculty participate in innovative clinical trials to help patients dealing with an array of cancers. In 2023, the Brown Cancer Center received over $4.5 million dollars to further their clinical trials program. In addition, they have approximately 66 current clinical trials enrolling new patients and an additional 47 trials that are closed to new enrollment but have ongoing follow-up for patients under treatment. The Center also manages a Cancer Database and Specimen Repository (CDSR) that comprises one over-arching trial with 58 sub-studies with 12 additional investigator initiated clinical trials. The Brown Cancer Center utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to treating cancer and collaborates extensively with researchers throughout the University of Louisville and beyond.

ALCOHOL RESEARCH CENTER

The University of Louisville NIH-funded P50 Alcohol Research Center has a tightly linked group of investigators working on the common theme of nutrition, alcohol and organ injury. The four project PIs are: Project 1: Irina Kirpich and Craig McClain; Project 2: Shirish Barve; Project 3: Shao-yu Chen with Huang-ge Zhang collaborating; and Project 4: Wenke Feng and Huang-ge Zhang. Both projects 3 and 4 utilize exosome-like nanoparticles and Zhang runs the UofL Plant Exosome Core Laboratory, which is partially supported by the ULARC. We have one technical core—Omics—led by Xiang Zhang (metabolomics) and Michael Merchant (proteomics). Our well-characterized stored samples have been used by multiple groups at UofL and throughout the country.

During this past year, McClain and colleagues (Kirpich, Feng, Ghare, Kong) collaborated with the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at the University of Louisville on a $1million interdisciplinary grant: “COVID Effects on Experimental Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease and the Impact of Novel Nutritional Interventions”. Several of our members also received new NIH/federal funding: Cave: DoD; Deng: NIH R01; Feng: NIH R21; Gobejishvili: NIH R01 Supplement; Jala: NIH R21; McClain: VA Merit and NIH P20 Supplement; Song: NIH R21; Wahlang: DoD; and Watson: DoD.

RESEARCH BY THE NUMBERS:

Supporting the Community Special Recognitions

LONGER & HEALTHIER LIVES

The Division of Environmental Medicine’s research team is partnering with Louisville community leaders and Simmons College of Kentucky to investigate the concept of a Universal Basic Neighborhood. The research project will identify the neighborhood resources that promote longer, healthier lives for residents and explore ways to enhance health equity in underserved areas. This work is supported by a $500,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Under the guidance of our new chair, Kim Allan Williams, the Department of Medicine has partnered with the Humana Foundation to launch “The HEART of Louisville Project: Helping Everyone Address Risk Today”. The program will provide cardiac screening specifically directed toward diverse and at-risk populations during local events and in underserved neighborhoods. With onsite testing results, participants will be provided with a risk assessment and educational materials and asked to follow up with a recommended healthcare professional if needed.

Since the onset of Covid-19, our clinical providers have worked tirelessly treating an overwhelming number of patients who became ill with severe lung disorders. Many of those patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as a result of having Covid19. Researchers at the University of Louisville studied patients that developed ARDS compared to those that didn’t, and they discovered a unique immune cell that became highly elevated in the most severely ill patients.

Their discovery has led to increased exploration into this phenomenon. Our nephrology faculty are part of the collaborative research grant charged with testing a new compound to help treat patients with this syndrome. Their findings may provide new treatment options for patients affected by numerous lung disorders.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Farrukh Aqil, PhD

Assistant Professor, Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology

Farrukh Aqil was extremely productive in 2023. Aqil served on multiple study sections, acted as guest editor for 2 special issues (Cancer Letters, IF-9.76 and Cancers, IF-6.58) and served as ad hoc reviewer for numerous journal articles. His work was funded by five different external grants in 2023, including a COBRE pilot project, a Kentucky Lung Cancer Research Project and two NIH STTR grants. Aqil was a co-author on 10 publications in 2023, on which he served as corresponding author on four of these articles. Finally, he presented his work as an invited speaker at a conference in India and he was an author on nine additional abstracts and posters.

Roberto Bolli, MD, DSc, FAHA, FACC

Professor, Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Institute for Molecular Cardiology Director

Roberto Bolli was awarded an $8 million grant from the Department of Defense to conduct CATO, a Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial of umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells (UC-MSCs) in patients with heart failure. The study will test two novel hypotheses: 1) UC-MSCs are beneficial in heart failure when given intravenously, and 2) four doses of UC-MSCs are more effective than a single dose. CATO will be the first study in the US to assess intravenous delivery of any cell type in heart failure and the first study to assess whether multiple doses are superior to a single dose. The results may lead to a paradigm shift in the treatment of heart failure. The other collaborating institutions are University of Miami, Texas Heart Institute and Johns Hopkins.

Clara Sears, PhD

Assistant Professor, Division of Environmental Medicine

Clara Sears joined the Department in 2021 after completing her postdoctoral studies at Brown University School of Public Health. Her research in epidemiology investigates the effects of environmental factors on early life development and cardiovascular health. In 2023, she was awarded an R01 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that focuses on identifying the impacts of environmental toxicant mixtures on adolescent sleep health and allostatic load. Sears has over 45 peerreviewed publications, including two 2023 lead author studies published in top scientific journals in her field. She was recognized as the 2023 Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute Faculty of the Year.