Archives for October 2019

ASE Foundation Announces Three E21 Research Grants for Clinician-Scientist and Engineering

The ASE Foundation, the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine’s (AIUM) Endowment for Education and Research are pleased to announce the funding of three, highly innovative research proposals, totaling almost $600,000 in supported research. Additional funding support for these grants was provided by the National Board of Echocardiography, Inc., Bracco, Inc., and Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. Read more here.

ASE’s Involvement with Chagas Disease Expected to be the Catalyst for More Action

Dr. Federico Asch, MedStar Health, recently represented ASE as the only U.S.-based speaker at a congress in Mexico City commemorating the 110-year discovery of Chagas Disease. Dr. Asch’s involvement as co-chair of ASE’s 2018 guideline document on Chagas disease (translated in Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese) and his role as the ASE leader of “Project Chagas,” an ASE Foundation (ASEF) global health initiative that focused on pre-identified patients diagnosed with Chagas disease, made him a logical choice for this speaking engagement.

A collaboration between government and academia, the three-day meeting was organized by Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, one of the largest public universities in Latin America, and CENAPRECE, the preventative disease group within Mexico’s national Department of Health. The overarching goal was to increase awareness of Chagas disease among the community and to understand the status of multiple initiatives being conducted at a regional and national level to improve disease detection and treatment through collaborations between institutions and caregivers at different levels. The meeting focused on three sections – the parasite, the vector, and the disease – and was attended by microbiologists, epidemiologists, and physicians, mostly from within Mexico.  Dr. Asch’s presentation was on the findings of the ASEF Project Chagas activity in Mérida, which were previously presented at ASE Scientific Sessions 2019 in Portland.

The Chagas conference gave representatives from ASE and Mexican government and academia the opportunity to come together. Left to right: Dra. Bertha Espinoza Gutierrez, UNAM, CDMX; Dr. Federico Asch, ASE; Dr. Adolfo Chavez Mendoza, Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia and Secretariat of Health; Yurika Manuel Valencia, CENAPRECE.

The goal of ASEF’s Project Chagas was to investigate the prevalence of Chagas cardiomyopathy, detect those individuals previously undiagnosed, and connect them with local cardiologists who would provide proper cardiac care within the regional public system. ASE physician and sonographer volunteers worked alongside representatives from CENAPRECE and the Yucatan Health Service, volunteers from the National Cardiology Association of Mexico (ANCAM), and industry partners from Philips Mexico Commercial S.A. de C.V.  The event was hosted by the project’s institutional partner, Hospital General Agustin O Horan in Mérida.

When asked about his takeaways from the meeting, Dr. Asch stated, “My main take was how the ASEF/ANCAM experience brings a call for reality, understanding how underdiagnosed the cardiac disease of Chagas is, and how it brings an opportunity for action to detect and treat these people. The wide interest from experts around the country and the Public Services was strong and their intent for expanding Project Chagas into other regions of the country is there. We expect to be the catalyst for that action.”

For more information about cardiac imaging of patients with Chagas disease, read the 2018 ASE guideline document, and also this information about “Project Chagas,” the ASEF global health initiative held in August 2018 in Mérida, Yucatán, México.

 

 

Call for Officers and Board Nominations is Now Open

ASE is seeking the best and brightest members to move forward the mission and goals of the Society and the ASE Foundation. Now is your opportunity to become a leader in ASE/ASEF. If you are an active member and meet the criteria outlined on the Open Positions and Criteria page, ask a friend or colleague who is also a member to submit a nomination on your behalf. Positions are available on the ASE Board of Directors, ASE Foundation Board of Directors, and ASE Council Steering Committees. With ASE’s new governance structure the ASE Foundation Board is now a separate entity from the ASE Board of Directors.  All positions are open to any member regardless of specialty (sonographer, pediatrician, critical care, circulation and vascular ultrasound, anesthesiologist, etc.). ASE is looking for a diverse pool of nominees.

The process is easy. Candidates need to have one letter of nomination, up to three letters of support from active members that outline the candidate’s leadership abilities, a current CV, a one to two page personal vision statement, a completed brief online self-assessment survey, and a completed conflict of interest and disclosure statement. Guidelines for submitting nominations can be found on ASE’s nominations page.

The deadline for submission of nominations is November 29, 2019. Ask an active ASE member TODAY to submit your nomination. Please contact Nominations@ASEcho.org with any questions or to submit nominations.

Feigenbaum Lecturer Sought

Do you have a peer who deserves recognition for the high level of their cardiovascular research? The ASE Nominations Committee is now accepting nominations for the 2020 Feigenbaum Lecturer who will present during the 31st Annual Scientific Sessions in Denver, June 19-22, 2020. The deadline for nominations is November 29, 2019.

Nominated individuals should have these qualifications in order to receive this prestigious honor:

  • Have provided a significant contribution to research in the field of echocardiography, with great potential to continue at a high level of achievement
  • Are a young investigator (under the age of 51 at time of nomination)
  • Are an innovator who has changed the field, has the capacity to present a research topic appropriate to headline a plenary symposium at the Society’s annual meeting

Click here for nomination guidelines. Please Nominations@ASEcho.org with any questions or to submit your nomination.