On October 5, Jennifer Mieres, MD, senior vice president of Northwell Health’s Center for Equity of Care and expert in nuclear cardiology and cardiovascular disease in women, shared heart smart tips to improving health at the 2021 Annual Community Event. The event is the signature community outreach program for the Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research. Every year, hundreds of people gather to learn more about women’s health and sex differences research. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event was hosted via livestream.

Dr. Mieres’ talk centered on six strategies to improve cardiovascular health and the disparities facing women today. “The disturbing factor is that we are on the verge of reversing all the progress made,” said Dr. Mieres. “There is still a need to customize the message and raise awareness among our black women, our Latina women and south Asian women because they have a higher burden of cardiovascular disease.”

“A 2021 landmark publication published in the Lancet from a group of cardiovascular disease experts around the world highlighted the state of women’s cardiovascular health,” said Dr. Mieres. “The headline says it all ‘all of women’s health needs are worthy of attention’. They highlighted that 35% of deaths in women worldwide are caused by cardiovascular disease.” It demonstrates that more research and community outreach is necessary to better prevent and treat cardiovascular disease in women around the world. “The publication issued a call to action calling cardiovascular disease among women understudied, under-recognized, underdiagnosed and undertreated,” said Dr. Mieres.  

New Seed Grants

The event also showcased the latest recipients of the Early-Career Faculty Research Development Awards from the Ludeman Center. “Highlighting our seed grant recipients is more than just announcing names,” said Jane Reusch, MD, associate director at the Ludeman Center. “It demonstrates new ideas that are being invested in. It represents early career investigators who now have the resources to take chances and pursue innovative research. These $25,000 grants allow researchers to gather preliminary data to enable them to apply for subsequent larger grants.

Highlighting the successes of the Early-Career Faculty Research Development Awards was Prateeti Khazanie, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Khazanie focused her talk on the disparities between women and men in receiving life-altering care when experiencing cardiovascular disease. “Most women are told they are short of breath for anxiety or other reasons,” said Dr. Khazanie. Women are less likely to receive specialized cardiovascular care and are also less likely to receive heart transplants and left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). Dr. Khazanie noted, “Women are grossly undertreated for receiving heart failure treatment, so it became my life’s passion to reduce some of those disparities.”

Continued Investments in Women’s Health and Sex Differences Research

“Encouraging women and underrepresented communities to engage in health will improve the health of our communities,” said Donald Elliman, chancellor of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. “We all know heart health is important but understanding risk factors and simple strategies to improve cardiovascular health can help us improve outcomes.” In total, the Annual Community Event raised over $475,000 for the operations and critical programming provided by the Ludeman Family Center for Women’s Health Research.  “The seeds we plant are growing into larger projects and changing prevention strategies, diagnosis, treatment and care to improve the health and wellbeing of women and men across the lifespan,” said Judy Regensteiner, PhD, Ludeman Center director and co-founder.

 Click here to view the event recording.