CardioNerds Academy

CardioNerds Academy

CardioNerds Academy 2023
Click to enlarge

Welcome to the Cardionerds Academy! 

The CardioNerds Academy is a year-long digital media and medical education fellowship focused on training medical educators for the modern age. We strive to equip our fellows with skills in online content creation grounded in adult learning theory and digital media best practices. Moreover, we aim to create a community of educators united in the mission of elevating traditionally under-represented voices within cardiology and cultivating a culture of equity, compassion, and humanism within our field. 

Through the Academy curriculum, Cardionerds Academy Fellows create “digital educational products” (or “DEPs”) such as infographics or Twitter “tweetorials”. These DEPs leverage the unique advantages of digital media to effectively teach cardiovascular medicine topics to the vast and heterogenous online medical education audience. As part of our annual Academy graduation ceremony we are privileged to honor fellows who have distinguished themselves as educators in this space with a DEP Award.

CardioNerds Fellows are an exceptional group of individuals dedicated to medical education who were selected through a competitive application process. CardioNerds academy fellows are divided into 4 equal “Houses of Cards” that are named after cardiology legends, Vivien Thomas, Helen Taussig, Edith Jones, and Willem Einthoven.

During the fellowship year, CardioNerds Academy Fellows

✔️Create high-quality asynchronous digital medical education content including podcasts, #tweetorials, infographics, blogs, and more! 
✔️Have access to the larger CardioNerds network including Ambassadors from Honor Roll programs, guests, collaborators, and more!

CardioNerds Chief Fellows lead The Academy:

✔️Mentor and oversee content creation & capstone projects of CardioNerds Fellows 
✔️Learn and teach best practices for digital medical education for asynchronous learning   
✔️Have access to the larger CardioNerds network including Ambassadors from Honor Roll programs, guests, collaborators, and more!

CardioNerds Interns span in training level from pre-medical students to medical students to pre-residency trainees. During the intern year, CardioNerds Academy Interns:

✔️Serve on the podcast production team with the role of audio editing podcast episodes
✔️Receive mentorship within their House to create asynchronous digital medical education content 
✔️Have access to the larger CardioNerds network including Ambassadors from Honor Roll programs, guests, collaborators, and more!
✔️Receive invitations to participate in various CardioNerds opportunities (ex. contributing to podcasts, attending conferences, etc).
✔️Are offered the option of remaining in the Academy as a fellow during residency

Click HERE to view CardioNerds Academy Recorded Talks and Lectures

CardioNerds Academy Class of 2023

Academy Leadership
Dr. Tommy Das – Academy Program Director
Dr. Gurleen Kaur – Director of the Internship
Dr. Saman Nematollahi – Director of Research
Dr. Devesh Rai – Director of #CardsJC Journal Club 

CardioNerds Academy 2023
Click to enlarge
Emory Katz

Emory Katz - CardioNerds Educational Design Intern​

Emory Katz is a high school senior with a background in digital design, from graphics to websites. She holds certifications in Visual Design and Video Design in various Adobe programs, as well as Responsive Web Design. In recent years, Emory has developed an interest in the medical field, focusing on cardiology, as well as general physiology, including acceptance to the 2023-24 ACC Young Scholars Program. In addition to the maintenance of school-related social media accounts and infographics, Emory worked on the creation of a website focused on ECG teaching with the CardioNerds, and is very excited to continue to work with and learn from everybody involved with CardioNerds and USC!

Class of 2022

Dr. Tommy Das – Academy Program Director 
Dr. Gurleen Kaur – Director of the Internship 
Dr. Saman Nematollahi – Director of Research
Dr. Rick Ferraro – Director of Journal Club 
Dr. Devesh Rai – #CardsJC Deputy Director

Chief

Dr. Teodora Donisan

Fellows

Dr. Karla Asturias
Dr. Justin Brilliant
Dr. Sukriti Banthiya
Dr. Saahil Jumkhawala

Interns

Hirsh Elhence
Akiva Rosenzveig

House Faculty 

Dr. Tommy Das

Chief

Dr. Ahmed Ghoneem

Fellows

Dr. Rawan Amir
Dr. Martin Campbell
Dr. Bhavya Varma
Dr. Kate Wilcox

Interns

Dr. Maryam Barkhordarian
Shivani Reddy

House Faculty Leader
Dr. Rick Ferraro

Chief

Dr. Patrick Zakka

Fellows

Dr. Alaa Diab
Dr. Breanna Hansen
Dr. Aravind Kalluri
Dr. Zaid Safiullah

Interns

Pace Wetstein
Christian Faaborg-Andersen

House Faculty

Dr. Colin Blumenthal
Dr. Dinu Balanescu

Chief

Dr. Jessie Holtzman

Fellows

Dr. Anjali Agarwalla
Dr. Kahtan Fadah
Dr. Gurleen Kaur
Dr. Ty Sweeney

Intern

Adriana Mares

House Faculty

Dr. Evelyn Song
Dr. Devesh Rai

CardioNerds Academy 2022

Class of 2021

Dr. Tommy Das – Academy Program Director 
Dr. Gurleen Kaur – Director of the Internship 
Dr. Karan Desai – Editor in Chief 
Dr. Saman Nematollahi – Director of Research 
Dr. Rick Ferraro – Director of Journal Club 

House Chief
Dr. Tommy Das 

Fellows

Dr. Hussain Khalid
Dr. Jessie Holtzman
Dr. Devesh Rai

Interns

Dr. Leticia Pimenta
Hirsh Elhence

Chiefs

Dr. Eunice Dugan
Dr. Rick Ferraro 

Fellows

Dr. Madiha Khan
Dr. Teodora Donisan
Dr. Devesh Rai
Dr. Patrick Zakka
Dr. Luis Calderon

Interns

Dr. Maryam Barkhordarian
Shivani Reddy

Chief

Dr. Colin Blumenthal

Fellows

Dr. Juliette Power
Dr. Isadora Mathias
Dr. Ahmed Ghoneem

Interns

Pace Wetstein
Christian Faaborg-Andersen

Chief
Dr. Evelyn Song 

Fellows
Dr. Najah Khan
Dr. Omid Amidi
Dr. Dinu Balanescu

Interns

Dr. Gurleen Kaur
Adriana Mares

Cardionerds Academy 2020-2021

Learn about our CardioNerd HeroEs

Vivien Thomas (1910-1985)

The Vivien Thomas Fund at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Vivien Theodore Thomas (1910-1985) was an African-American laboratory technician and instructor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He was born as the grandson of a slave in Lousiana, working as a carpenter and subsequently as a laboratory technician after the great depression and the loss of his savings derailed his plans to become a doctor. In his role as a laboratory technician, he overcame challenging personal circumstances to become an innovator in paediatric cardiac surgery, despite having no formal college education. He played an important role in assisting Alfred Blalock and Helen Taussig in the development of the ‘Blalock-Taussig’ shunt, a procedure used to improve the survival of children with cyanotic congenital heart defects. He also contributed to major breakthroughs in research covering a spectrum of disorders such as traumatic shock, coarctation of the aorta and transposition of the great arteries. He acted as a teacher and mentor to a generation of surgical residents and technicians who went on to become leaders in their field across the USA. A television film based on his life was premiered by HBO in 2004 titled ‘Something the Lord made’.

(Soylu et al., 2017)

Soylu E, Athanasiou T, Jarral OA. Vivien Theodore Thomas (1910–1985): An African-American laboratory technician who went on to become an innovator in cardiac surgery. J Med Biogr. 2017;25(2):106-113. doi:10.1177/0967772015601566

Kennedy DM. In search of Vivien Thomas. Texas Hear Inst J. 2005;32(4):477-478.

Ng CT in. J. Vivien Thomas (1910-1985): the backstage pioneer and educator. J Invest Surg. 2014;27(3):131-138. doi:10.3109/08941939.2013.865817

Helen Taussig (1898-1986)

Helen B. Taussig - Wikipedia

Taussig, a pioneering pediatric cardiologist, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She earned an A.B. from the University of California in 1921 and an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1927. Following graduation, Taussig served as an Archibald Fellow in Medicine at Johns Hopkins and worked at the hospital’s heart station until 1928.

She then interned in pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1930, Edwards Park appointed Taussig physician-in-charge of the Harriet Lane Cardiac Clinic.  In 1959, she became the second woman at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to be appointed full professor.  In 1963, Taussig stepped down as physician-in-charge and became professor emeritus of pediatrics.

Taussig was a leader in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. In 1944, along with surgeon Alfred Blalock and surgical technician Vivien Thomas, she developed the surgical procedure commonly known as the “blue baby” operation to correct a debilitating and life-threatening congenital heart defect that exhibited blue skin pigmentation, or cyanosis, in children. In addition to saving thousands of lives, the procedure was a major contribution toward the establishment of open heart surgery. Taussig also helped to avert a thalidomide birth defect crisis in the United States, testifying to the Food and Drug Administration on the terrible effects the drug had caused in Europe.

In 1954, she received the prestigious Lasker Award for her work on the “blue baby” operation. In 1964, Taussig received the Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon Johnson. She was elected president of the American Heart Association in 1965.

Dunn PM. Dr Helen Taussig (1898-1986): Pioneering American paediatric cardiologist. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2008;93(1):2006-2009. doi:10.1136/adc.2006.095398

Taegtmeyer H. Helen taussig. Texas Hear Inst J. 2010;37(2):254.

Robays J Van. Helen B . Taussig (1898-1986 ). Facts, Views Vis OBGYN. 2016;8(3):183-187.

Edith Irby Jones (1927-2019)

Edith Irby Jones - Wikipedia

Edith Irby entered the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in September 1948, becoming the first African American to desegregate a Southern medical school. Seventy years later, she has become a hidden figure in the history of medical education.The author provides a brief biography of Irby (later Jones) and analyzes the factors that led the University of Arkansas to admit Irby, most notably her scholastic excellence and an innovative legal strategy launched by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to eliminate racial inequalities in graduate and professional education. Irby’s admission prompted intensified efforts by medical civil rights activists to desegregate all U.S. medical schools.The author concludes that the 70th anniversary of Irby’s groundbreaking accomplishment provides an opportunity to acknowledge her significant contribution to the history of medical education and to recognize the continued need to erase persistent racial inequalities in the physician workforce.

Gamble, VN (2013)

Gamble VN. No struggle, no fight, no court battle: The 1948 desegregation of the university of arkansas school of medicine. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 2013;68(3):377-415. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrs025

Gamble VN. Edith Irby: A Hidden Figure in the History of Medical Education. Acad Med. 2019;94(11):1670-1674. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000002772

Willem Einthoven (1860-1927)

Willem Einthoven - Biographical - NobelPrize.org

Willem Einthoven (1860–1927), known as the creator of the electrocardiograph, won a Nobel Prize in 1924 for his contributions to the field of electrocardiography. He was dedicated to research and learning. In developing the electrocardiograph, Einthoven built on the work of earlier physiologists who had studied the electrical mechanisms of the heart.

(Rivera-Ruiz et al., 2008)

Ershler I. Willem Einthoven \ p = m- \ TheMan The String Galvanometer Electrocardiograph. 2015:6-8.

Rivera-Ruiz M, Cajavilca C, Varon J. Einthoven’s String Galvanometer: The first electrocardiograph. Texas Hear Inst J. 2008;35(2):174-178.

Cajavilca C, Varon J. Willem Einthoven: The development of the human electrocardiogram. Resuscitation. 2008;76(3):325-328. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2007.10.014

Barold SS. Willem Einthoven and the birth of clinical electrocardiography a hundred years ago. Card Electrophysiol Rev. 2003;7(1):99-104. doi:10.1023/A:1023667812925

Bernadine Healy (1944-2011)

Bernadine Healy, M.D. | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Dr. Bernadine Healy was a cardiologist with a diverse career spanning the government, nonprofit organizations, and academia. Dr. Healy was the first female Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving from April 1991 to June 1993. She also served as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy appointed by Ronald Reagan. She was President of both the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. Dr. Healy was a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Chair of the Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Professor of Medicine at Ohio State University.  – https://www.womenofhopkins.com/healy

Shalala DE. Retrospective. Bernadine Healy (1944-2011). Science. 2011;333(6051):1836. doi:10.1126/science.1213786

Healy B. Bernadine Healy, M.D. August 4, 1944 – August 6, 2011. 2012;(1):2012.

CardioNerds Houses 2022