Kathy Whitney

The initial results of a landmark clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicate lowering systolic blood pressure below a commonly recommended target significantly reduces rates of cardiovascular events and lowers risk of death in a group of adults 50 years and older. Read More

In April 1986 Bonnie Davis of Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee, became the first female patient to receive a heart transplant at Vanderbilt University Hospital. On Oct. 3, she will return to campus to participate in the Greater Nashville Heart Walk. Read More

Joshua Beckman, M.D., MSc., previously a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has been named director of Vanderbilt’s newly formed Section of Vascular Medicine within the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Read More

For patients with heart failure, changes in pulmonary artery (PA) pressures are an early indication that their condition is worsening, even before they notice symptoms such as shortness of breath or weight gain. Read More

A team of Vanderbilt and Nashville VA researchers, led by Adriana Hung, M.D., MPH, has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to use the Million Veteran Program (MVP) data to conduct diabetes research. Read More

The American College of Cardiology has recognized Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for its commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. Read More

Robert F. Heimburger, M.D., a member of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine class of 1943, died June 9. He was 97. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute now offers patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) an alternative treatment to reduce their risk of stroke, potentially avoiding the long-term use of blood thinners such as warfarin. Read More

With support from a three-year, $2 million research grant from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the American Heart Association are teaming up to study heart failure care in the Emergency Department. Read More

The keys to longevity have been a source of curiosity and the basis of many research studies for years, yet the mechanisms underlying a person’s ability to live a long life are still not fully understood. Read More

When atherosclerosis develops in the coronary arteries over a period of time, complete blockage of that artery can result in chest pain, shortness of breath and decreased quality of life. Read More

For more than 40 years, a group of dedicated volunteers known as the Friends of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has worked to turn scary hospital visits into happier memories. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Department of Cardiac Surgery has developed an Advanced Heart Failure Clinical and Translational Research Group that serves as a central research resource for advanced heart failure surgeons and cardiologists. Read More

If you’re looking for a simple way to lower your risk of dying from a heart attack, consider going nuts. Read More

Gary Gibbons, M.D. Gary Gibbons, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), will deliver a special cardiology grand rounds on Wednesday, Feb. 25. His lecture, entitled “Charting Our Future Together: Setting an Agenda for the NHLBI,” begins at noon in 208 Light Hall. Read More

Despite prior epidemiologic and experimental data to the contrary, new research shows that vitamin D supplementation does not reduce blood pressure in individuals with prehypertension or stage I hypertension and vitamin D deficiency. Read More

Nine steps to a healthier heart. Read More

Vanderbilt is embarking on an observational study to define and understand how a promising treatment for multiple myeloma affects the heart. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have found that bathing critically ill patients with disposable chlorhexidine cloths did not decrease the incidence of health care-associated infections when compared to less expensive nonantimicrobial cloths, according to a study appearing online in JAMA this week. Read More

The Vanderbilt Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Center played a key role in testing the first two drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Read More