Heart Month — Why SCAD clinical trials are so important

Our Heart Month “Ask the Experts” February 5 addresses the importance of clinical studies and women’s cardiovascular research. Listen through this link: https://youtu.be/YzPy3kg2d5E

Special guests are all iSCAD Registry principal investigators (PI):

  • Dr. Heather Gornik, University Hospitals — Cleveland
  • Dr. Gretchen Wells, University of Kentucky
  • Dr. Esther Kim, Vanderbilt University

Meet the Panelists

Dr. Heather Gornik is a cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist, and is Co-Director of the Vascular Center of the Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute at University Hospitals, as well as Acting Chief Quality Officer. She is an internationally recognized expert in the care of complex vascular diseases, particularly fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), and serves on the Medical Advisory Board of FMDSA and the steering committee of the United States Registry for FMD. She led the development of national guidelines related to the diagnosis and clinical care pathways for patients with vascular disease and is an expert in noninvasive vascular diagnostic testing. Dr. Gornik is PI of the iSCAD Registry site at University Hospitals.

 

Dr. Gretchen Wells in a non-invasive cardiologist and Director of the Women’s Heart Health program at the University of Kentucky Gill Heart & Vascular Institute. In addition to SCAD, her research focuses on the connection between psychological attributes and cardiovascular disease outcomes. She also studies novel approaches to microvascular disease. Dr. Wells participates on the national level in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), an NHLBI-funded study that began in 1991 and has identified a number of advances in women’s healthcare including the identification of risk factors and courses of treatment. Dr. Wells is PI of the iSCAD Registry site at the University of Kentucky.

 

Dr. Esther Kim is a cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist and Director of the Arteriopathy Clinic at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. She specializes in uncommon arterial disorders including SCAD, FMD, and aneurysmal disease. Dr. Kim holds leadership positions in several national cardiovascular societies including the Society for Vascular Medicine, the American Society of Echocardiography, and the American Heart Association. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for Vascular Medicine, the premier peer-reviewed vascular medicine journal. Dr. Kim is the SCAD Alliance Scientific Advisory Board Chair, National Principal Investigator (PI) of the iSCAD Registry, and iSCAD Steering Committee Chair.