| Circulatory News
Recent Editions
Directors Message
As we enter a new year, I want to pause and say thank you to all our physicians, scientists, nurses, trainees, staff, supporters, and partners who make this amazing work possible every day.
Last year marked an important milestone with the integration of The Texas Heart Institute and Baylor College of Medicine, creating The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine. Together, we strengthened our ability to turn discovery into care for patients facing some of the most complex heart and vascular conditions.
Over the past year, we witnessed accomplishments that remind us why this work matters. From the first fully robotic heart transplant in the United States, to unprecedented progress in artificial heart technology and gene-based therapies, and cutting-edge endovascular procedures to treat diseases of the aorta, our teams have continued to push the boundaries of what is possible — always with patients at the center. These achievements reflect not just innovation, but collaboration, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
As we look ahead to 2026, we do so with momentum and confidence. The challenges in cardiovascular health remain significant, but so does our capacity to meet them. Together, we are building on a proud legacy while shaping a future defined by discovery, care, and impact.
Thank you for being part of this remarkable journey. I am deeply grateful for all that you do, and I look forward to what we will accomplish together in the year ahead.
Respectfully,
Joseph G. Rogers, MD
Director, The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
Recent Highlights:
Dr. Christie M. Ballantyne Honored for his 2025 Distinguished Scientist Awad
Dr. Ballantyne, Director of the Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention at Baylor College of Medicine, surrounded by family and colleagues, was honored at a reception this month for being named a 2025 Distinguished Scientist by AHA. Since the awards inception, there have only been 160 individuals recognized, 14 of which have won the Nobel prize.
The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine Leads First-in-Human Gene Therapy Trial to Regenerate Damaged Heart Tissue
The first cohort of patients announced in a landmark clinical trial investigating a gene therapy designed to regenerate damaged heart muscle has been successfully dosed at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.
The Phase 1 SALVADOR-HF trial, sponsored by Medley Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly YAP Therapeutics), marks the first clinical investigation of a genetic medicine intended to induce endogenous cardiac regeneration.
The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine proudly celebrated the graduation of its December 2025 Perfusion School class.
This distinguished cohort marks another milestone in THI’s long tradition of preparing highly skilled cardiovascular perfusionists who go on to serve patients and surgical teams across the country.
- Mahboob Alam, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Christie M. Ballantyne, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- BiykemBozkurt, MD- Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
- Stephanie A. Coulter, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- John A. Farmer, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- R. David Fish, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Eduardo A. Hernandez, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Zvonimir Krajcer, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- D. Richard Leachman, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Ajith Nair – The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Emerson C. Perin, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Christina Paruthi – Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (Rising Star)
- Alexander Postalian, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Mehdi Razavi, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Joseph G. Rogers, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Raymond F. Stainback III, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Neil E. Strickman, MD — The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Joseph S. Coselli – The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Gabriel Loor, MD – The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
- Todd Rosengart, MD – The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
Notice on Closure of The Texas Heart Institute Journal
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.
Saying Goodbye
After more than 14 years of dedicated service, Jennifer Chambers will be departing The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine. Jennifer served as Director of the Office of Research Administration and Administrative Director of the Center for Clinical Research, playing a key role in advancing THI’s clinical and research operations.
We thank her for her many contributions and wish her continued success in the next chapter of her career.
Speaking Engagements
Dr. Mihail Chelu, Professor of Medicine, and Dr. Ajith Nair, Associate Professor of Medicine, lectured at the Living Heart Conference at Long Island University (Brooklyn, NY) on December 15, 2025.
Dr. Chelu’s talk was titled “Addressing Arrhythmias: Electrophysiology, Resynchronization, and Opportunities for Innovation with Digital Tools”
Dr. Nair’s talk was titled “Unmet Needs in Heart Failure Management and the role of New Devices and Trials”
Dr. Josephs G. Rogers was the visiting professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond
Dr. Rogers gave three talks on:
Heart Failure Grand Rounds “The Promise of the Total Artificial Heart”
Cardiology Grand Rounds “Innovations in Advanced Heart Failure”
Medicine Grand Rounds “From the Bedside to the Boardroom: The Journey of a Medical Forrest Gump”
Submit speaking engagements to Jon Myers at jon.myers@bcm.edu
Selected Publications
ARTICLES
Sheila M Hegde, Xiaowen Wang, Pablo Garcia-Pavia, Stoyan Getchevski, 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, Neal K Lakdawala, Amy Mann, Martin S Maron, Ajith Nair, Steen H Poulsen, Patricia Reant, P Christian Schulze, Andrew Wang, Regina Sohn, Indrias Berhane, Stephen B Heitner, Daniel L Jacoby, Stuart Kupfer, Fady I Malik, Amy Wohltman, Michael A Fifer, Scott D Solomon
2025 Dec 16;86(24):2452-2467. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2025.08.022. Epub 2025 Aug 27.
Single cell transcriptomic landscape of adult and pediatric non-ischemic cardiomyopathy
Hanna J Tadros, Diwakar Turaga, Kyle Hope, Joseph A Spinner, Iki Adachi, Xiao Li, James F Martin
2025 Dec 4:211:98-108. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2025.12.002.
Cluster-Randomized Trial of an Educational Intervention to Improve Lipid-Lowering Guideline Adherence
Christopher P Cannon, Christie M Ballantyne, Deepak L Bhatt, James A de Lemos, Qi Gao, Naishu Kui, Robert S Rosenson, Katherine E Mues, Jason Exter, Shushama Alam, Mikhail N Kosiborod; GOULD EDU Investigators
2025 Dec 3;5(1):102403. doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102403
Raymond F Stainback, Cynthia C Taub
2025 Dec 1:S0894-7317(25)00674-1. doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2025.11.014.
Cardiac Progenitor Cells in HLHS: Feasibility Now, Efficacy Next?
Emerson C Perin, Laith Alshawabkeh
PMID: 41329107 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchf.2025.102774
Cyclic AMP-dependent regulation of ryanodine receptors in healthy and diseased hearts
Mohit M Hulsurkar, Isabelle Ong, Joshua A Keefe, Issam H Abu-Taha, Dobromir Dobrev, Xander H T Wehrens
PMID: 41297693 DOI: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2025.11.013
Gene therapy CM-YAPon protects the mouse heart from myocardial infarction
Fansen Meng, Jeffrey D Steimle, Elizabeth Straight, Rich G Li, Yuka Morikawa, Zohaib Iqbal, Bing Xie, Jun Wang, Wyatt G Paltzer, Yi Zhao, Chang-Ru Tsai, Lin Liu, Maggie Lim, Rita A Schack, Daniel Ramirez, Katherine Carlson, Vaibhav Deshmukh, Jason M Karch, Robia G Pautler, Xiao Li, James F Martin
PMID: 41233538 DOI: 10.1038/s44161-025-00744-9
Drew Bernard, Luis Hector Victor, Christine Cao, Skylar Buchan, Mathews John, Payam Safavi-Naeini, Allison Post, Deborah Vela, K Jane Grande-Allen, Mehdi Razavi
PMID: 41211643 DOI: 10.1111/pace.70001
Cardiac Biomarkers, Intensive Lifestyle Intervention, and Heart Failure Subtypes in Diabetes: Look AHEAD Cardiac Biomarker Ancillary Study
Zainali Chunawala, Kershaw V Patel, Katelyn R Garcia, Matthew W Segar, Subodh Verma, Antoni Bayes-Genis, Rodica Pop-Busui, Deepak L Bhatt, James L Januzzi Jr, Javed Butler, Carolyn S P Lam, Alain G Bertoni, Mark Espeland, Ambarish Pandey
PMID: 41204924 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchf.2025.102726
Events, CME, Cardiology Grand Rounds
View the 2025-2026 Schedule Here.
Previous Years Cardiology Ground Rounds
- Watch 2023-24 Grand Rounds Recordings
- Watch 2022-23 Grand Rounds Recordings (AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM Available)
- Watch 2021-22 Grand Rounds Recordings
Upcoming Symposia
Conferences and Seminars Schedule
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.
James T. Willerson, M.D. Cardiovascular Sciences Seminar Series
Ketan Ghaghada, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Radiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Texas Children’s Hospital
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Jan. 21, 2026
Mingtao Zhao, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
The Ohio State University
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Wenbo Li, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
McGovern Medical School
UT Health
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
In The News
Dr. Rosengart named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Dr. Rosengart, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Rosengart’s research focuses on gene therapy, primarily for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
Daily pill slashes ‘bad’ cholesterol levels by 60% in yearlong trial.
Experimental medication could offer an at-home alternative to injectable cholesterol drugs.First Clinical Investigation of a Gene Therapy (YAP101) to Induce Cardiac Regeneration to Treat Heart Failure Passes Initial Safety Hurdle
Medley Therapeutics (formerly YAP Therapeutics) has dosed the first cohort (n=3) with YAP101 in the Phase 1 SALVADOR-HF trial at The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in the Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (Houston).
BCM to lead cardiac innovation AI-driven drug safety project
Baylor College of Medicine will be a site for a new multi-institution project aimed at investigating preclinical drug safety assessments. The project, known as DATAMAP, the Digital Acceleration of Toxicity Assessment with Mechanistic and AI-driven Predictions, is focused on accelerating the development of safer therapeutics.
Clinical Trials
Learn more at THI Trials page or BCM Trials page.
If you have questions or would like to submit event, speaking or news activities, please reach out to Jon Myers at jon.myers@bcm.edu.
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.