Recent Editions
Welcome to Circulatory News, the official newsletter of The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you enjoyed the first issue of Circulatory News. Our goal is to make this newsletter a true reflection of the news, events, and achievements across the Heart Center. If you have story ideas or accomplishments to share, please connect with Jon Myers at jon.myers@bcm.edu.
I’m also excited to announce that Xander Wehren and I will serve as captains for the Heart Center’s inaugural AHA Heart Walk team. The walk will take place on Saturday, October 25 at 9:00 AM. The American Heart Association has generously supported many of our research programs over the years through funds raised at events like this, and we’ve set a team goal of $5,000.
I hope you’ll join us for a morning of camaraderie, purpose, and visible support for the fight against heart and vascular disease.
Warm regards,
Joseph G. Rogers, MD
Director, The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
The Electrophysiology Clinical Research & Innovations Lab, have published a landmark study in Nature Biomedical Engineering that could transform the future of cardiac care. The paper, Distributed battery-free bioelectronic implants with improved network power transfer efficiency via magnetoelectrics, details a new system of wireless, battery-free implants designed to deliver precise electrical stimulation within the body.
Gene Editing Lab has been awarded a highly competitive NIH R01 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The prestigious award will fund groundbreaking research into how changes in the heart’s immune system contribute to the progression of heart failure.
Grant Number: 1R01HL179012-01
Join Dr. Joseph Rogers and Dr. Xander Wehrens, co-captains representing the newly formed CV Center, as we come together for the 2025 Houston Heart Walk. This is a special opportunity to unite our cardiology teams from both BCM and THI in support of the lifesaving work that drives our mission every day.
When & Where
Saturday, October 25, 2025
7:30 AM – 11:00 AM
TMC Helix Park
Our team goal is to raise $5,000, and we invite all staff, trainees, and supporters to register under the “Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine” team. Every walker will receive a team T-shirt to wear proudly on event day.
Let’s walk together, show our strength as one team, and support a cause that matters to all of us.
Congratulations to Dr. Seyedmohammad Saadatagah, PGY-4 MeRIT Resident
We are proud to share that Dr. Saadatagah has been recognized with the Academic Excellence Award in Clinical Research (Resident/Fellow category) for his publication, Atrial Fibrillation and Clonal Hematopoiesis in TET2 and ASXL1, and his outstanding contributions to scholarly research.
The Academic Excellence Awards underscore the critical role of scientific discovery in advancing patient care and improving health outcomes in the communities we serve. Dr. Saadatagah’s achievement is a testament to the impact of rigorous research and innovation in cardiovascular medicine.
Congratulations to Brittany Rhoades and Gilda Martinez on their research manuscript, “Surgical Intervention Among Heritable Thoracic Aortic Disease Parent-Child Dyads.”
This milestone marks the first time an APP is the first author of an original research manuscript from our Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery – published in the prestigious journal – The Annals of Thoracic Surgery! The study offers signficant new insights into Heritable thoracic aortic disease parent-child dyads and reflects a growing shift toward patient-centered care. Our CTS APP team is proud to be at the forefront, advancing both research and clinical excellence.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOrOCyuCbca/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
After careful consideration and discussion, The Texas Heart Institute Journal has ceased publication. This decision was not made lightly and reflects The Texas Heart Institute’s broader commitment to strategic realignment with Baylor College of Medicine to strengthen our academic and research efforts.
We deeply appreciate the dedication and contributions of so many that have been instrumental in The Journal’s success for more than 50 years. We also express our deepest gratitude for the decades of service from our editorial teams, authors, peer reviewers, and staff. Their dedication helped uphold the Journal’s scientific integrity and mentoring mission, particularly supporting early-career authors through their first publications.
The Journal staff will ensure a smooth transition, including archiving all published content for long-term access. If you have any questions about the closure process, please feel free to reach out.
Living Legends and Luminaries in the Field of Endovascular Medicine is hosted by Dr. Zvonimir Krajcer. The series is dedicated to exploring the groundbreaking contributions of key figures in endovascular medicine. Each episode features in-depth interviews with luminaries who have stood on the shoulders of giants and pioneered techniques, devices, and therapies that have transformed vascular surgery and interventional cardiology today.
Watch on Texas Heart TV
The program explored the future of regenerative medicine, focusing on strategies to streamline regulatory processes, accelerate the approval of clinical protocols, and expand funding opportunities for research.
ARTICLES
Aficamten or Metoprolol Monotherapy for Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Pablo Garcia-Pavia,Martin S. Maron, Ahmad Masri, Bela Merkely, Michael E. Nassif, Maria Luisa Peña-Peña, Roberto Barriales-Villa, Ozlem Bilen, Melissa Burroughs, Brian Claggett, Juan Pablo Costabel, Edileide de Barros Correia, Anne M. Dybro, Perry Elliott, Sheila M. Hegde, Neal K. Lakdawala, Gregory D. Lewis, Amy Mann, Zi Michael Miao, Ajith Nair, Steen H. Poulsen, Patricia Reant, P. Christian Schulze, Scott D. Solomon, Andrew Wang, Regina Sohn, Indrias Berhane, Stephen B. Heitner, Daniel L. Jacoby, Stuart Kupfer, Fady I. Malik, Amy Wohltman, and Michael A. Fifer, for the MAPLE-HCM Investigators. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2504654
Nicholls SJ, Nelson AJ, Ditmarsch M, Kastelein JJP, Ballantyne CM, Ray KK, Navar AM, Nissen SE, Harada-Shiba M, Curcio DL, Neild A, Kling D, Hsieh A, Butters J, Ference BA, Laufs U, Banach M, Mehran R, Catapano AL, Huo Y, Szarek M, Balinskaite V, Davidson MH; BROADWAY Investigators. Safety and Efficacy of Obicetrapib in Patients at High Cardiovascular Risk. N Engl J Med, 2025;393:51-61.
Segar MW, Badjatiya A, Gales J, Lambeth K, Razavi M, Saeed M.J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Jul;14(13):e042203. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.125.042203. Epub 2025 Jun 23.
Miles TJ, Guinn MT, Tan X, Qi H, Orozco-Sevilla V, Moon MR, Coselli JS, Rosengart TK, Li M, Chatterjee S, Ghanta RK.J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2025 Jul 16:S0022-5223(25)00565-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2025.07.009. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40680825
Iatrogenic aortic dissection: Insights from the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection.
Harris KM, Parikh NB, Nienaber CA, Woznicki EM, Evangelista A, Schermerhorn M, Ouzounian M, Coselli JS, Pai CW, Ehrlich MP, Kaiser CA, Di Eusanio M, Gleason TG, Sultan I, Eagle KA, Patel HJ.J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2025 May 23:S0022-5223(25)00396-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2025.05.011. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40414525
Therapeutic left-to-right shunting in heart failure.
Fioretti F, Nair AP, Anker SD, Borlaug BA, Kereiakes DJ, Lindenfeld J, Stone GW, Butler J.Eur Heart J. 2025 May 14;46(19):1787-1802. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf120.PMID: 39943738
Garcia-Pavia P, Bilen O, Burroughs M, Costabel JP, de Barros Correia E, Dybro AM, Elliott P, Lakdawala NK, Mann A, Nair A, Nassif ME, Poulsen SH, Reant P, Schulze PC, Wang A, Berhane I, Heitner SB, Jacoby DL, Kupfer S, Malik FI, Meng L, Sohn R, Wohltman A, Fifer MA; MAPLE-HCM Study Investigators.JACC Heart Fail. 2025 Feb;13(2):346-357. doi: 10.1016/j.jchf.2024.11.011.PMID: 39909646
A Novel Clinical Risk Score to Predict Vasoplegia After Adult Cardiac Surgery.
Miles TJ, Guinn MT, Suero OR, Rosengart TK, Moon MR, Coselli JS, Ghanta RK, Chatterjee S.Ann Thorac Surg. 2025 Mar 20:S0003-4975(25)00211-5. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2025.02.022. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40120788
Nichols A, Blackburn KW, Glover VA, Nguyen LH, Etheridge GM, Green SY, Barron LK, Xue AH, Chatterjee S, Orozco-Sevilla V, Moon MR, Coselli JS.J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2025 Mar 18:S0022-5223(25)00207-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2025.03.009. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40112948
Sweet MP, Azizzadeh A, Oderich GS, Brinkman W, Matsumura JS, Ohki T, Zettervall S, Miyamoto S, Patel HJ, Dake MD.J Vasc Surg. 2025 Jul 30:S0741-5214(25)01555-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2025.07.040. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40749959
Sörelius K, Verhoek R, Berard X, Lyons OTA, Puges M, Wyss TR; International Expert Panel on Vascular Graft and Endograft Infections; European Society for Vascular Surgery Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Vascular Graft and Endograft Infections Writing Committee.Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2025 Jul 29:S1078-5884(25)00707-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2025.07.044. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40744353
Elias A, Tung R, Gerstenfeld EP, Hue TF, Lin F, Cheng J, Weiss JP, Tzou WS, Hsia H, Ehdaie A, Cooper DH, Bunch TJ, Arkles J, Nazer B, Lee A, Hadjis A, Nguyen DT, Chelu MG, Moss JD, Hsu JC, Valderrábano M, Bhave PD, Montenegro G, Kim AS, Dillon WP, Marcus GM.Heart Rhythm. 2025 Jul 7:S1547-5271(25)02614-1. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2025.06.035. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40633895
Morcos R, Vijayaraman P, Cano Ó, Zanon F, Ponnusamy SS, Herweg B, Sharma PS, Jastrzebski M, Molina-Lerma M, Whinnett ZI, Vernooy K, Zou J, Nair GM, Pathak RK, Tung R, Upadhyay GA, Curila K, Chelu MG, Ellenbogen KA.Heart Rhythm. 2025 Aug;22(8):2028-2037. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2025.04.005. Epub 2025 Apr 25.PMID: 40288475
Nonstructural Roles of Junctophilin-2 in the Heart.
Hutchison DF, Lahiri SK, Prins KW, Wehrens XHT.JACC Basic Transl Sci. 2025 Jun 4:101272. doi: 10.1016/j.jacbts.2025.03.004. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40742358
Atrial cardiomyocyte-restricted cleavage of gasdermin D promotes atrial arrhythmogenesis
Yue Yuan, Pascal Martsch, Xiaohui Chen, Enrique Martinez, Luge Li, Jia Song, Theresa Poppenborg, Florian Bruns, Jong Hwan Kim, Markus Kamler, James F Martin, Issam Abu-Taha, Dobromir Dobrev, Na Li, European Heart Journal
Evolving concepts of low-density lipoprotein: From structure to function
Chu-Huang Chen, Tatsuya Sawamura, Alexander Akhmedov, Ming-Hsien Tsai, Omer Akyol, Akemi Kakino, Huan-Hsing Chiang, Simon Kraler, Thomas F. Lüscher; European Journal of Clinical Investigation
Epidemiology and longitudinal course of chylomicronemia: Insights from NHANES and a large health care system
Seyedmohammad Saadatagah MD, Mohammadreza Naderian MDMPHc, Miriam Larouche MScd, Daniel Gaudet MDPhDd, Iftikhar J. Kullo MDc, Christie M. Ballantyne MD; Journal of Clinical Lipidology
Previous Years Cardiology Ground Rounds
Upcoming Symposia
MONDAY 5/12
12:00 pm —1:00 pm
TBD
Daniella Concha, MD
Cath Lab Admin
(O609C)
TUESDAY 5/13
12:00 pm —1:00 pm
Business in Cardiology
Wilson Lam, MD
Cath Lab Admin
(O601C)
WEDNESDAY 5/14
12:00 pm —1:00 pm
HF Conference
HFpEF and
Clinical Trials
Ajith P. Nair, MD
Cath Lab Admin
(O609C)
THURSDAY 5/15
12:00 pm —1:00 pm
STEMI Conference
Saad Rehman, MD
Cath Lab Admin
(O609C)
FRIDAY 5/16
7:30 am —8:30 am
EP Weekly Conference
SICD
Hamid Afshar, MD
Cath Lab Admin
(O609C)
Calendar subject to change.
For the latest schedule, see the
Cardiology Education calendar.
Richard Wainford, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Matthew DeBerge, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anesthesiology
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Maria Kontaridis, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Gordon K. Moe Professor and Chair
Biomedical Research and Translational Medicine
Director of Research
Masonic Medical Research Institute
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Renita Horton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering Laboratory (CTEL) Director
Biomedical Engineering Department
University of Houston
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Dr. Christie Ballantyne Talks Number for September is National Cholesterol Education Month
The article discusses what cholesterol numbers mean and why they matter.
The Gene Editing Lab has been awarded a highly competitive NIH R01 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Engineered with heart: Student-designed device could streamline imaging for cardiac procedures
Dr. Mehdi Razavi featured in Rice University News for his role in the development of the Anchor Cat.
Clinical Trials
Learn more at THI Trials page or BCM Trials page.
Baylor College of Medicine offers a collection of live activities (several of which are eligible for CME credit) as part of its commitment to furthering the education of physicians and other medical professionals on cardiovascular health and patient care.
Visit our website for more information.
