This week, Dr. Ankur Kalra’s guest is Dr. Sameer Bansilal, Executive Director of U.S Medical Affairs of Cardiovascular and Renal at Bayer Pharmaceutical.

Dr. Bansilal was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai when he decided to seek an alternative pathway to make an impact on patients’ lives.

Early in his career, Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt was considering becoming a basic science researcher. After an exchange with one of his mentors about doing science for the science’s sake, he had a self-realisation: He wanted his work to have a direct impact on patient care.

In the 50th episode of Parallax, Dr. Ankur Kalra’s guest is Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt leading physician, researcher, lecturer, and educator who has authored or co-authored over 1650 publications and was recipient of the ACC’s Distinguished Mentor Award in 2018 and AHA’s Distinguished Scientist Award in 2019.

Dr Ankur Kalra’s guest this week is Dr Garima Sharma, Director of CardioObstetrics and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University as well as an investigator of the “Global Prevalence and Impact of Hostility, Discrimination, and Harassment in the Cardiology Workplace”.
The American College of Cardiology surveyed cardiologists across the globe to have a more detailed understanding on the impact of hostility, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace. Of almost 6000 cardiologists who took part in the survey 44% reported hostile work environment.

"A failure to finish is a failure to start"

In this week's latest podcast episode, host, Ankur Kalra, MD, meets guest Prof Madhav Swaminathan (Duke University Health System, NC, US) to discuss how he has orchestrated a major humanitarian effort, in association with Duke University Health and The American Society of Echocardiography, to supply ventilation equipment and PPE to hospitals and NGOs during the current COVID-19 crisis in New Delhi, India.

Hear them discuss the challenges and learnings associated with the supply chain, inventory, logistics and cost to deliver this humanitarian effort; which most recently resulted in $140,000 of life-changing equipment being delivered to four key hospitals in New Delhi. A most inspirational episode.

Over the past two years, Parallax listeners have gotten to know Dr Ankur Kalra through his conversations with our guests. In this episode, we turned the tables and invited CardioNerds co-founder Dr Amit Goyal to reintroduce Dr Ankur Kalra interventional cardiologist, researcher, writer, and the host of this podcast.
In this candid and spiritual conversation Amit and Ankur take a journey through former episodes of Parallax and Ankur’s writings to explore what it takes to strive for a deeper knowledge of ourselves; or, as Ankur puts it, dharma, the inherent order of reality.

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.

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?

How can we use our power and privilege to serve? How did his experiences shape Dr Kelli to become an ambassador for his community? What is his message to our listeners?
Just after 9/11, Heval, the 18-year-old Syrian Kurdish refugee found a job as a dishwasher. At this point, he was the sole provider of his family. The pressure that comes from being poor did not leave him for many years. Today, he is firm believer in giving back to underserved communities by spreading awareness within the medical community. As he says, well-meaning people of privilege are sometimes afraid to act. What we need is more people to bridge the gap and find ways to help each other.

Dr Sodhi remembers the first time she stepped into a Cath lab and found her passion. Years later she was preparing to do a complex TAVR procedure with her colleagues when suddenly they all recognised the significance of four women coming together in the lab. The photo of the four of them was shared widely on social media. For Dr Sodhi it became a symbol of what great mentorship can achieve, and for many others it is a beacon of hope.
What drives Dr Nishtha Sodhi? What were the formative moments of Dr Sodhi’s career? What are the new frontiers of cardiology?

In one of her many posts on Instagram, we can see Dr Hafiza Khan holding a table summarising her reactogenicity after her second COVID shot. In the frame next to her is her son listing his own reactions. In this episode, Ankur asks Hafiza to talk about Instagram and reaching millennial and gen Z audiences, as well as the importance of developing and maintaining trust between different communities at a time of information overload.