Aspiring interventional cardiologist Tayyab Shah, MD, has worked with the Yale Cardiovascular Research Group (YCRG) for the past three years. Under the mentorship of the group’s director Alexandra Lansky, MD, Shah has been involved in the design, implementation, and analysis of multiple clinical trials, including RECOVER III. Shah presented the early findings at TCT Connect 2020.
The prospective observational study evaluated 358 patients with acute MI complicated by cardiogenic shock (AMICS) to determine which patients were most likely to benefit from Impella, a percutaneous mechanical circulatory support device designed to maintain cardiac output. Data for this study was collected between 2017-2019 and it supports the early implantation of Impella in AMICS, particularly in females.
“This study suggests that the early use of the Impella device to support patients in cardiogenic shock, before PCI and inotrope/vasopressor usage, may provide a survival benefit particularly to females,” said Shah in a related press release. “This is an interesting result from an observational study with meaningful clinical implications, which need to be further explored in the upcoming RECOVER IV randomized controlled trial.”
Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid and professor of pediatrics Laura Ment, MD, believes mentorship is the key to scholarship.
Yale’s student research program fosters creative self-discipline and critical reasoning under the mentorship of physician scientists such as Dr. Lansky, who has made outstanding contributions to medicine through her discoveries in the clinical domain and in her exceptional mentorship of students.
Sarwat Chaudhry, MD, and Erica Herzog, MD, PhD
Associate Deans for Medical Student Research, Sarwat Chaudhry, MD, and Erica Herzog, MD, PhD, added, “Tayyab’s work with Dr. Lansky exemplifies the Yale system of medical education. Central to this process is the development of research skills, which enables Yale students to ask and answer questions according to the high standards of rigor befitting the physician’s role in patient care. Yale’s student research program fosters creative self-discipline and critical reasoning under the mentorship of physician scientists such as Dr. Lansky, who has made outstanding contributions to medicine through her discoveries in the clinical domain and in her exceptional mentorship of students.”
Shah completed a research internship with Lansky during his third year of medical school. He Lansky and have continued to work together throughout his training. “She has been an amazing mentor and helped me on various research projects including the current RECOVER III study,” said Shah.
Shah is currently a resident at Yale New Haven Hospital and hopes to continue his training as a cardiology fellow. “I really enjoy working in medicine in general but particularly cardiovascular medicine because there is a diverse set of interesting disease pathologies and more importantly a lot of well-studied, evidence based treatments ranging from medications to procedures that can help patients suffering from these diseases. Moreover, being able to further study these treatments to better understand how to apply them to help people is particularly gratifying.”