Recent Editions
Dear Colleagues,
As The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine continues to take shape and evolve, I encourage each of you to take advantage and engage in the many opportunities to connect, collaborate, and exchange clinical and scholarly interests. The strength of our Center is incredible depth and talent of our physicians, scientists, and trainees. Our expertise is expansive, extending from fundamental discovery to implementation science and from preclinical research to the most advanced and innovative therapies available in the U.S.
Grand Rounds takes place every Friday at Noon in the Denton A. Cooley Auditorium. This clinically focused series showcases the unique expertise of our faculty while also featuring leading voices from institutions across the country who are shaping the future of cardiovascular medicine. The Grand Rounds calendar is included in The Circulation. All are welcome to attend, and CME credit and lunch are provided. For those unable to join in person, the conference is available via live stream at texasheart.org/groundrounds.
The James T. Willerson Cardiovascular Sciences Seminar, our flagship research lectureship, is held every other Wednesday at Noon in the McMillan Auditorium at the main Baylor building (near the DeBakey Museum). This series highlights distinguished cardiovascular scientists from across the U.S., presenting cutting-edge research on a wide range of timely topics. CME credit and lunch are also provided. More details here.
We hope these outstanding conferences inspire new ideas and foster both intra- and inter-institutional collaborations.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Joseph G. Rogers, MD
Director, The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
Oderich Hosts an International Vascular Surgery Case Conference
On Friday, Gustavo Oderich hosted a vascular surgery case conference that was webcast nationally and internationally. The cases exemplified the incredible expertise The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine has in both open and endovascular aortic procedures. Drs. Joseph Coselli and Marc Moon joined in a remarkable dialogue about surgical decision-making and technical aspects of thoracic and thoraco-abdominal aortic disease. They were joined by nearly 50 colleagues from across the globe who presented their approach to these complex conditions.
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.
Rogers Presents at the Tianjin Chest Hospital Conference
Dr. Joseph Rogers presented a lecture entitled “The Total Artificial Heart: Moving Toward a Meaningful Solution” at the 9th annual academic conference of the Tianjin Chest Hospital in Tianjin China. 
The conference was impressively well-attended with over 500 participants from Centers across Asia. As an example of the reach of our program, one of Neil Strickman’s mentees who now practices in Hong Kong recounted for Rogers the transformative experience he had training here.
Chelu speaks at Electrophysiology Symposium
Dr. Chelu delivered an invited talk on “Conduction System Pacing/Left vs. Left Trial” at the Electrophysiology Symposium in Cincinnati on September 19, 2025.
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
Latest Texas Heart Institute Journal:
Let’s show Houston what it means to have heart and hit our giving goal. Join us as we come together for the 2025 Houston Heart Walk. This will be our first occasion as the newly integrated Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine.
The Heart Walk has long been a tradition in the Texas Medical Center, uniting thousands of Houstonians to celebrate progress in cardiovascular care and to support the lifesaving mission of the American Heart Association. This year, it takes on even greater meaning as our combined teams walk side by side—physicians, scientists, trainees, and staff—representing a new era in cardiovascular medicine.
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.
Your Team Co-Captains,
Joseph G. Rogers, MD
Christie M. Ballantyne, MD
Xander Wehrens, MD, PhD
Cardiology Grand Rounds
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.
Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit will be available to eligible attendees for all seminars. For further details, visit the CME website.
Seminars are open to all who are interested in cardiovascular sciences and are held on select Wednesdays at noon.
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
Steven Marx, M.D.
Professor
Director, Cardiology Fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center/NY-Presbyterian Hospital
Director, Cardiology Component of a NIH Training Grant for Cardiology Fellows and Surgery Residents
Seminar Location: McMillian Auditorium
Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) announced the planned retirement of Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO and executive dean, after 15 years of outstanding leadership. The announcement followed the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees and is effective June 30, 2026. The Board also announced the launch of a national search for his replacement.
A recent study led by Dr. Ramiro Fernandez and Dr. Gabriel Loor highlights a promising technique to manage pain following lung transplantation: intercostal nerve cryoablation (INC).
Dr. Kenneth Liao, chief of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Circulatory Support and director of the Robotic Center for Cardiothoracic Surgery, led the robotic team at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center to successfully complete more than 800 robotic heart surgeries, a remarkable milestone that was reached last month.
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.
