Sunil Rao (Duke University Health System, Durham, USA) has assumed the office of president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI). His term as president began during the 2022 Scientific Sessions (SCAI 2022; 19 – 22 May, Atlanta, USA).
In a press release, SCAI detailed that Rao graduated summa cum laude from Miami University (Oxford, USA), and magna cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Medicine (Columbus, USA) where he won the David Saylor Memorial Award for cardiology research. He completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowships in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, USA).
He then served as chief fellow at The Duke Clinical Research Institute and was the Warren and Gloria A Newman Fellow in Interventional Cardiology. After his training, he joined the faculty at Duke University Medical Center as an assistant professor of medicine and rose to become professor of medicine in 2017. In 2005, he became the director of the Catheterization Laboratories at the Durham VA Medical Center (Durham, USA) and in 2014, he was appointed chief of cardiology at the same institution.
As the chief of cardiology, SCAI’s press release adds, Rao has overseen the expansion of the faculty at the VA to increase patient access, start new clinical programs, and leverage VA research funding. New clinical programmes include a structural heart disease service, a same-day discharge after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) programme, and a transradial PCI programme.
In September, Rao begins a new role as director of interventional cardiology for the NYU Langone Health System (New York, USA).
Rao has published over 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts. His main research interests are pharmacological and interventional therapies for acute coronary syndromes, as well as bleeding and blood transfusion complications among patients with ischemic heart disease. At the national level, Rao serves as editor-in-chief of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions and is a former chair of the SCAI Quality Improvement Committee. He served as programme chair for SCAI’s 2019 Scientific Sessions.
“It is a tremendous honour to lead SCAI during the next year as we continue to make meaningful progress towards the organisation’s priorities outlined in our strategic plan, as well as empower and educate our members who are the leaders of interventional cardiology,” Rao stated. “I look forward to working with our members in the year ahead to improve patient outcomes.”
