Kathy Whitney

As a member of the Tune Town Show Chorus, 20-year-old Kyla Hallums was used to belting out songs and thought it strange when she became short of breath on Sept. 1. Read More

Cardiac surgeons recently performed Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute’s 100th ventricular assist device (VAD) implant. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute is the first in the United States to use a new fully resorbable “envelope” that encloses implantable cardiac devices, such as pacemakers and internal cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and helps prevent surgical site infections. Read More

People with the most common irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation (AF) are at greater risk for stroke due to the formation of clots in the left atrial appendage (LAA), a small pouch which empties blood into the left atrium. Read More

Benjamin Byrd III, M.D., professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, has been named president of the 16,000-member American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) for a one-year term following the society’s 24th Annual Scientific Sessions, which were held earlier this month in Minneapolis. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute physicians are taking advantage of new technology in critical care that allows them to quickly visualize the patient’s heart at the bedside. Read More

Mark Schoenfield, Ph.D., chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of English, and his family were a little behind schedule a few weeks ago as they prepared to drive from their home in Hillsboro Village to the airport. Read More

Individuals who provide annual philanthropic support for key areas at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were recognized at the Canby Robinson Society Reception on May 21. Read More

Peggi Angel, Ph.D., research instructor in Biochemistry, studies congenital aortic valve stenosis in children. It’s a disease where the heart valve, which is normally very thin, becomes bloated with extracellular matrix. This occurs rapidly in some children but not in others. Read More

A Vanderbilt University School of Medicine student is among 13 individuals nationwide to receive a Sarnoff Foundation Medical Student Research Fellowship award for 2013-2014. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute is participating in a clinical study to further evaluate the safety and feasibility of rapidly lowering the body’s temperature to significantly reduce the amount of damage caused by a heart attack. Read More

Thomas Wang, M.D., has joined Vanderbilt as director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the physician-in-chief of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. Read More

The state of Michael Stanbery’s health was shocking. Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Acorda Therapeutics Inc. released findings from a Phase 1 clinical trial of glial growth factor 2 (GGF2) last week at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco. Read More

Life just got a little easier for Vanderbilt patients with structural heart disease. Read More

André Churchwell, M.D., associate dean of Diversity and associate professor of Medicine, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, was named the first president of a newly formed cardiovascular fellows society by his alma mater, Emory University School of Medicine, where he completed his graduate medical education. Read More

Typically, when a person experiences sudden cardiac arrest while asleep, the chance of survival is poor. Read More

Cheryl Laffer, M.D., PhD., professor of Medicine, is the new director of the Hypertension Service within the Division of Clinical Pharmacology. Read More

On Monday, Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute became the first heart program in Tennessee to implant the HeartWare ventricular assist system (VAS) as a bridge to transplantation. Read More

Doug Sawyer, M.D., Ph.D., is stepping down as director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. (Photo by Joe Howell) Doug Sawyer, M.D., Ph.D., Lisa M. Jacobson Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine and Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, will step down as director of the Division of… Read More