Christopher Adams, M.D., a cardiology fellow with the department of cardiology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, recently received the James Willerson Clinical Award Competition for Residents and Fellows from the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences (IACS).  The award was established to promote, encourage and recognize young talents in cardiovascular science, medicine and surgery. 

Health First is pleased to announce Sharon Cochran, RN, MSN has been named Administrative Director of Cardiovascular Services for Health First Holmes Regional Medical Center. Cochran will provide leadership to nursing units, Cardiology Services and Respiratory Services. She will also work with Cardiovascular Surgical Services.

The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) has recently released an online education program for physicians and technologists involved in the practice of nuclear cardiology. This program offers continuing education credits and provides valuable quality control procedures and radiation safety information.

The Greater Tucson Firefighters Foundation in Arizona and WellAmerica teamed up to study two methods to detect coronary artery disease in firefighters. Their project, described in Fire Chief, compared a Carotid Intima-Media Thickness test using high-resolution ultrasound with an electron beam CT scan of the chest.

Providing hospitals with resources to expand or create education and patient care initiatives, AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management announces the sixth year of its Putting Patients First Program. Putting Patients First grants enable healthcare facilities to fund programs, training or seminars aimed at improving patient care and safety in CT, MR, Ultrasound, X-ray and Vascular imaging. The grants are funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.

The Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) announced this week that updated standards for cardiac intervention procedures have been published and are now available for download on the ACE website. ACE updated its Cath/PCI standards to align with the recently published clinical competency document for PCI which includes information on physician training, clinical competency criteria and the updated expert consensus document published in 2012.

Partho P. Sengupta, MBBS, MD, DM, director of cardiac ultrasound research at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, took high-tech to a new level by using holograms July 1 at the American Society of Echocardiography's 2013 annual scientific sessions in Minneapolis. Dazzle aside, the presentation demonstrated the possibilities of cutting-edge echocardiography.

The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) has honored Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Director of Mount Sinai Heart at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, with the 2013 SCCT Arthur S. Agatston Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Award at its SCCT Annual Scientific Meeting in Montréal, Canada, on July 12.