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Research
 

Overview

The faculty and fellows in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology have a wide variety of research interests in clinical, translational, and basic investigation related to childhood heart disease. 

Research Faculty

Name
Areas of Special Interest
Brenda Armstrong, MDMedical education, cardiac catheterization
Piers Barker, MDFetal cardiology, cardiac imaging (echo, MRI)
Cardiac imaging (echo), quality improvement
Cardiac imaging (echo, MRI)
Michael P. Carboni, MDArrhythmias, heart failure/transplantation
Salim F. Idriss MD, PhDArrhythmias
Cardiovascular defects, especially those related to the arterial pole
Ronald J. Kanter, MDArrhythmias, syncope, autonomic dysfunction
Jennifer Li, MD, MHSHypertension, thrombosis, heart failure clinical trials
Angelo Milazzo, MDFetal cardiology, cardiac imaging (echo)
Stephen Miller, MD Fetal cardiology, cardiac imaging (echo)
Sara K. Pasquali, MD Cardiac outcomes, health services research
John F. Rhodes, Jr., MD Cardiac devices, percutaneious interventions
Stephanie B. Wechsler, MDCardiac genetics (Marfan syndrome, muscular dystrophies)


Clinical Research

Participation in trials conducted by the Pediatric Heart Network funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:

  • Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
  • Kawasaki Disease
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Marfan Syndrome
  • Atrioventricular Canal
  • Fontan

Other clinical trials in:

  • RSV vaccines
  • Hypertension
  • Heart failure
  • Thrombosis
  • Supraventricular tachycardia

Cardiac imaging:

  • 3D echo
  • Torsion
  • Strain-rate
  • MRI

Assessment of various devices to repair congenital cardiac lesions

  • Atrial septal defect/patent foramen ovale (device occluder)
  • Ventricularr septal defect (device occluder)
  • Coarctation of the aorta (stents)
  • Cutting balloon for relief of pulmonary artery obstruction
  • Percutaneous pulmonary valve

Outcomes assessment following:

  • Congenital heart surgery
  • Radiofrequency ablation
  • Heart transplantation
  • Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)


Translational/Basic Research

  • Stability of Cardiac Response to Pacing
    Study of the complex and nonlinear response of the cardiac electrical system to rapid pacing in order to understand and potentially prevent the transition from a stable to an unstable cardiac rhythm utilizing multifaceted experimental and theoretical methods to drive the development of computer models.

Fellow Research

Current and recent fellows have worked on the following projects:

  • Glycogen Storage Disease/Pompe Disease clinical trials
  • Outcomes of children undergoing surgery in the Society of Thoracic Surgery Congenital Heart Database
  • Pediatric hypertension clinical trials
  • Endothelial signaling pathways that regulate angiogenesis and vascular remodeling
  • Doppler assessment of mesenteric artery flow in Sano vs. BT shunts in HLHS

Clinical Trials

Duke University Medical Center is one of the seven international sites that is part of the NHLBI-funded Pediatric Heart Network.  Jennifer Li, MD, Chief of Pediatric Cardiology Research, is the institutional Principal Investigator for the Pediatric Heart Network. In addition, Dr. Li has several research interests including pediatric hypertension and hyperlipidemia, heart failure in patients with congenital heart disease, thrombosis in patients with congenital heart disease, and enzyme replacement in Pompe disease.
 
John Rhodes, MD, Chief of Clinical Cardiology, is an interventional cardiologist who is investigating a number of devices to repair congenital and acquired cardiac lesions.