Engagement 365: Member Spotlight

The American Heart Association has been imperative to my training and early career years as a cardiologist and physician-scientist. I would encourage all trainees and early career physicians to engage in the many opportunities AHA has made available to us. Some of my most meaningful engagements were through:

Fellows-In-Training Committee- being among the leadership for the FIT committee, I was able to collaborator alongside many ambitious cardiology and neurology fellows across the country to create FIT directed content through newsletter writing and webinars. We also had the great privilege to devise and execute all of the FIT lounge sessions during the AHA annual scientific sessions. This was a tremendous opportunity to practice moderating, to network with the top leaders in cardiovascular medicine, and to hear stories from a diverse set of voices on a range of topics in a smaller group, interactive setting.

Career Development Award- as an early career scientist, the AHA’s career development award has invested in both protecting my time for scientific development as well as funding and administrative support as a principal investigator of a multi-site cardiac MRI study examining hypertensive phenotypes in peripartum cardiomyopathy. As this is an uncommon but highly morbid disease impacting pregnant and postpartum individuals, I was honored that the AHA recognized the importance of investing in research toward improved care for this condition.

Grant Peer Reviewer- the AHA has a fantastic opportunity for physician-scientists to serve as a grant peer review volunteers. This has been a wonderful way to both learn about interesting projects being developed and to better understand how to critically appraise project proposals. This learning process has further been extended into reviewing manuscripts for AHA affiliated journals.

Go Red Women’s Committee- as a women physician-scientist, I am honored to serve on a committee which both recognizes and seeks to address challenges that may arise among women physicians. This committee has brought together a fantastic group of healthcare professionals who are all committed to AHA’s mission in: “Advancing health and hope for everyone, everywhere.”

I encourage all young cardiologists to explore the many ways that the AHA can help to achieve your career aspirations as a physician and/or physician scientist! I am incredibly grateful for their volunteer opportunities and support.