Prateeti Khazanie

Research Description

An Assistant Professor in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Dr. Khazanie specializes in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology. As a Ludeman Family Center for Women's Health Research seed grantee, Dr. Khazanie worked in collaboration with Dr. Knoepke and Ms. Ingle to investigate why women make up only 15-20% of patients in the US who receive ventricular assist devices (VADs), which often improve survival and quality of life, and whether this disparity could be due in part to bias implicit in the social assessment for VAD candidacy. Using a novel combination of existing data, qualitative research methods, and a national survey of social workers who conduct VAD evaluations, we will describe social support differences between male and female VAD candidates and social workers’ perceptions of gender bias in VAD evaluations. By understanding social factors which disadvantage women, as well as bias in the evaluation itself, we will be able to develop a more standardized and equitable system for evaluating women and men for advanced heart failure therapies, like VADs, across the country.