EP 45: The Journey of Dr Alin Gragossian, Physician, Heart Transplant Recipient & Advocate
EP 45: The Journey of Dr Alin Gragossian, Physician, Heart Transplant Recipient & Advocate

Average (ratings)
No ratings
 
  Your rating

Two and a half weeks before her urgent orthotopic transplantation, Alin led the life of a busy emergency medicine resident. The warning signs of her dilated cardiomyopathy were drowned out by the demands of a 24-hour shift at her critical care unit. She recalls being confused while she was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and was signed up for the organ transplant list. 
After the heart transplant, while coming to terms with her condition, she decided not to let this “inconvenient life event” bring her down and take over her thoughts, and wrote the first post on her blog “a change of heart”. The blog is a space for raising awareness of organ donation, research and charities.

Dr Ankur Kalra’s guest is Dr Alin Gragossian, a critical care fellow, heart transplant recipient and advocate. In this episode, Alin talks about her journey as a patient, the psychological aspects of her recovery and her advocacy work. Ankur asks Alin about the mindset behind her sense of purpose and her dedication to help raise awareness of organ donation and young heart failure patients.

How did Dr Gragossian receive her diagnosis? How does she feel about her new reality? What drives her? What is her message to our listeners?

Read more about Dr Alin Gragossian's journey here: www.achangeofhe.art/blog

Questions and comments can be sent to “podcast@radciffe-group.com” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode. Guest @AG_EM33, hosted by @AnkurKalraMD. Produced by @RadcliffeCARDIO.


Read MoreRead Less
Share
Brought to you by Edwards: www.edwardstavr.com

Brought to you by Edwards: www.edwardstavr.com

Read MoreRead Less
Up Next
EP 46 Dr Eric Adler on Mission, Mentorship & Synergy Between Research & Patient Care
EP46 • Apr 19, 2021 • 1h 6s
According to Dr Eric Adler, at the core of all impactful research is a powerful narrative that makes us reflect on the human condition. In 2006, when the ground-breaking discovery was made that specialized cells can be turned into stem cells, Dr Eric Adler was thinking about how he could create a synergy between his passion for clinical work and his determination to ask compelling questions in research.

Parallax’s guest this week is Dr Eric David Adler, Medical director of heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San Diego Health.
Read More
All Episodes
Ep 81: @Medlife Crisis and Authenticity with YouTuber & Interventionalist, Dr Rohin Francis
EP81 • Dec 05, 2022 • 44m 41s
Rohin believes that authenticity is one of the keys of his videos’ success. When asked about his journey to medicine he summarises: “I was being rebellious and ended up doing the most cliché job for an Indian possible.” He turns the table and asks Ankur what he think is behind the stereotype of the Indian cardiologist.
Rohin shares an advice that he received at the beginning of his career: “If you can deal with an average day, the exciting day will take care of itself.”
Ankur asks Rohin about Medlife Crisis and the work that goes into producing a show followed by 500K people. Rohin reiterates his passion for research and science communication. Ankur and Rohin discuss what it means to be yourself on social media and what is Rohin’s advice to our early-career listeners.
Read More
EP 80: AHA’s Scientific Sessions: Science, Innovation and Community With Dr Manesh Patel
EP80 • Nov 21, 2022 • 39m 43s
Year on year, the organisers of the Scientific Sessions aim to give platform to cardiovascular science at its best: innovative, impactful, and collaborative.
In this information-packed episode, Dr Patel takes us behind the scenes and talks about the work that goes into the curation of the programme and the considerations that shape the event. Dr Kalra asks Dr Patel about his highlights over the years and the movement and changes that he observed as vice chair and chair of the event. Dr Patel elaborates on the key late-breaking science trials in 2022. Dr Kalra and Dr Patel discuss the grading system of the award applications and share some useful information with our listeners.
Read More
Guest Episode: Exploring Art & Advancement Within Medicine
EP79 • Oct 31, 2022 • 33m
This week's Parallax is hosting a guest episode recorded for Internal Medicine & Beyond. Tune in to this new podcast from Dr Varun Aitharaju.

Exploring Art & Advancement Within Medicine - A Conversation with an Interventional Cardiologist.
Read More
EP 78: Your Guide to Lipoprotein(a) with Dr. Salim S Virani
EP78 • Oct 10, 2022 • 46m 28s
This week’s Parallax episode is focusing on the latest science and questions surrounding one of the conundrums of cardiovascular science: Lipoprotein(a).
Dr. Ankur Kalra invites Dr Salim S Virani to help simplify the concept of Lp(a) with answering key questions about its measurement and its place in practice and prevention.
Read More
ESC 22 in Review With Dr P Parwani: 5 Trials That Will Change Your Practice
EP77 • Sep 26, 2022 • 1h 7m 31s
Back by popular demand, Dr Ankur Kalra's guest is Dr Purvi Parwani, Director of Women’s Cardiovascular Disease Clinic and Assistant Professor at Loma Linda University Medical Center, US. In this ESC 2022 edition of Parallax, Ankur asks Purvi to review her highlights of the congress. Purvi details the study design and key findings of each trial and provides her insights after attending the event in Barcelona. Ankur and Purvi discuss how each trial will inform their practice.
Read More
EP 76: Mission, Pakistan & Facing Heart Disease in an Underserved Community
EP76 • Sep 05, 2022 • 45m 52s
In this inspiring episode, Dr Ankur Kalra’s guest is Dr Sohail Khan, Chief Operating Officer at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Karāchi.

Dr Khan talks about education in the US and his decision to move back to Pakistan. Ankur asks Sohail about his new professional home: NICVD, a free clinic providing primary heartcare for Pakistanis. They discuss some of the innovations Dr Khan works on to improve patient care that utilise simple but effective interventions. We learn more about free screening clinics and about Dr Khan’s work on the largest ever study in Pakistan on association of Lpa and CV disease in South Asians.
Read More
EP 75: Leadership, Innovation & Professional Home with Dr Dipti Itchhaporia, ACC Immediate-Past President
EP75 • Aug 15, 2022 • 46m 20s
In this personal interview, Dr Itchhaporia recalls her early years and the influences and decisions that led her to medicine and cardiology. She talks about her connection to ACC and the importance of choosing a professional home where one can find their purpose under the mentorship of their community. Ankur asks Dr Itchhaporia about the most memorable moments of her presidency. They talk about South Asian identity and curbing CVD in this population.
Read More
EP 74: Modern Medicine & Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita with Dr Kavitha Chinnaiyan
EP74 • Jul 18, 2022 • 47m 59s
This nurturing episode focuses on questions that touch on what it is that we seek as human beings and how can we cultivate awareness and authenticity while practicing modern medicine. Ankur asks Kavitha about what it means to be spiritual as a cardiologist. Kavitha talks about the experiences made possible by mindfulness. They discuss the difference between conditioning and growth. Kavitha talks about burn out and how we could make changes by embracing medicine not only as a measurable science but as an art.
Read More
EP 73: Passion, Faith & Entrepreneurship with Prof Carolyn Lam, Clinician Scientist
EP73 • Jul 04, 2022 • 47m 56s
In this refreshing and spiritual episode Carolyn reflects on her journey and the decisions and mentors that shaped her career as a heart failure specialist, trialist and as a public speaker. Ankur and Carolyn dive into the question whether being balanced is what we should be all aiming for. Ankur asks Carolyn about her work as a co-founder of Us2.ai, a start-up dedicated to the automation of the fight against heart disease by applying AI to echocardiography.
Read More
Burnout, Clinician Wellbeing & Reforming Medicine with Dr Fisher
EP72 • Jun 20, 2022 • 45m 51s
This week’s guest on Parallax is Dr Jonathan Fisher Cardiologist and Organizational Well-Being and Resiliency Leader at Novant Health.
Read More
Lisa Rosenbaum's journey to medical journalism at NEJM
EP26 • Apr 23, 2020 • 44m 54s
Lisa Rosenbaum has been writing extensively about the human face of medicine. Her articles have been widely circulated by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker and The New England Journal of Medicine.

In this edition of Parallax Dr Kalra asked Dr Rosenbaum about the influences that shaped her choices as a writer and as a healthcare professional. Dr Rosenbaum opens up about her childhood and how she connected to her grandfather through writing and medicine. We learn about Lisa’s first day at medical school and her latest writing project.
Read More
Clinician-Scientist During The COVID-19 Pandemic
EP25 • Apr 23, 2020 • 43m 40s
A week after Jag Singh had tested positive for 2019-nCoV, he became a patient in his hospital’s intensive care unit. This week he joins Ankur Kalra, MD to tell us about his journey as a clinician-scientist.

Jagmeet P Singh, associate chief of the cardiology division at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School joins Ankur Kalra for a deep conversation about his journey across three continents. Dr Singh talks about the importance of choosing fulfilment over success. We gain more insights on the recent late-breaking trial, MADIT-CHIC focusing on cardiac resynchronization therapy. Ankur asks Jag about his experience of being on the other side of the healthcare system and his enrolment in the since halted remdesivir trial.
Read More
COVID-19 Lessons Learnings From Italy
EP24 • Apr 23, 2020 • 35m 4s
“It’s a tsunami not just a wave. The worst tsunami you can imagine”


Prof Michele Senni is Director of Cardiology at Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Bergamo Italy. He contracted COVID-19 himself and in this latest podcast he meets with Ankur Kalra, MD to discuss his personal experience in dealing with patients and COVID-19 in Europe’s outbreak epicentre.


Hear them discuss the burden on healthcare, patient selection, the importance of testing and PPE and how COVID has resulted in a reduction of acute myocardial infarction and heart failure in patients.
Read More
23: COVID-19 And Cardiovascular Disease
EP23 • Apr 23, 2020 • 49m 22s
“We are at war with a pandemic and the enemy is not each other, it’s the virus.”


In this latest episode, Ankur Kalra, MD meets with Andrew Sauer, MD, co-author of an upcoming paper in US Cardiology Review on COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Disease that provides a concise and current summary of cardiovascular complications from COVID-19.


Hear them discuss the latest issues surrounding the pandemic, the known cardiac implications and the rapidly emerging data.
Read More
22: COVID-19 Lessons and Learnings From South East Asia
EP22 • Apr 23, 2020 • 32m 18s
In these unprecedented times, we provide an early release episode to gain insight on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic from Deputy Editor in Chief of US Cardiology Review, a BDG interventional cardiologist, Bill Gogas, MD, PhD practising in East Asia.



Hear Bill’s take on how East Asia responded to and successfully managed the pandemic and how they are now seeing a significant reduction in cases outside the epicentre. Hear how the strategy resulted in only 93 patients in Bill’s city of Nanjing, testing positive for coronavirus with a city population of 8 million.



Learn about effective responses, the importance of early control and how as a cardiovascular physician, your life and practice may be impacted by the virus.

Submit your question to Ankur via: podcast@radciffe-group.com.


Hosted by @AnkurKalraMD. Produced by @RadcliffeCARDIO.
Read More