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Fixing Cardiac Academia, Repatha’s Regulatory Expansion, and RNA for HCM
By Viktor Zarev, Virginia Hunt
August 3, 2026
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Together with
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“Spoke to a patient about their next steps managing an advanced lung disease. Even with limited options, I wanted to make sure they understood that I’ll be there every step of the way. This profession may not have all the answers, but it should never keep us from caring and comforting.”
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Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, MHS
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Today’s top story goes out to the scientists among us who do it for the love of the game. It certainly isn’t getting easier to be an academic in medicine.
Cheers,
Vik
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Cardiology is one of the most data-driven medical specialties a physician can pursue. So why is the source of that data – cardiac academia – declining in both workforce and prestige?
A new JACC State-of-the-Art Review aims to tackle that question while offering some ways to turn the tide on the rising troubles with academic cardiology.
- JACC State-of-the-art reviews are comprehensive, peer-reviewed overview articles that combine medical knowledge, data, and best practices.
- Oftentimes, these reviews work to either educate or clarify the best way to approach a cardiovascular condition or systemic challenge.
So how can a JACC article tackle a problem as massive as the degradation of academic cardiovascular medicine? It starts with defining the problem.
- The combined academic cardiologist identity of “clinician, educator, investigator” has eroded under RVU-driven compensation and expansive credentialing requirements.
- Meanwhile, academic medical centers are forced to prioritize short-term financial goals and high-volume activity due to economics, consolidations, and PE-ownership.
None of this is news, but that’s where the authors introduce a roadmap for how to revitalize cardiac academia, and it focuses on the early-career stage, with four pillars of change:
- Balancing the financial model for academic cardiologists by focusing on competitive research funding.
- Reimagining career paths by setting expectations for clinical and scholarly work that can help retain productive clinicians who also drive research.
- Rethinking physician training by defining competency via duration and emerging technologies with formal institutional support.
- Building supportive academic environments that address burnout, well-being, leadership, and diversity.
It’s all well and good to talk about this, but why should cardiologists care? After all, an academic career in cardiology will never match private practice in salary.
- It’s because failure to act risks not only the academic workforce, but also America’s capacity for cardiovascular innovation, prevention, and equity.
The Takeaway
So often in American medicine, the drive for financial metrics of success has sidelined what made us the best in the world in the first place – academic innovation. This state-of-the-art review is a sobering reminder that we’re on track to lose that edge altogether if we don’t change.
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Change Healthcare and Optum Unite
Change Healthcare and Optum merged five years ago to advance a more modern, information and technology-enabled health care platform. Read more about how, and why, Change Healthcare became Optum.
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Heart Failure Hospitalization Doubles Risk of Cardiovascular Death
21% of patients with symptomatic heart failure escalate to hospitalization for heart failure or cardiovascular death, and 25% of those who experience hospitalization are readmitted due to heart failure within one year of discharge. Watch Bayer’s Dr. Alanna Morris-Simon discuss heart failure hospitalizations and when to assess care plans.
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Staying ALERT with Tempus
Undertreatment and time to treatment of valvular heart disease are among the biggest challenges health systems face today, but Tempus’ AI-driven EHR notifications can change that. Read the results of Medtronic and Tempus’ ALERT trial which found that delivering data directly to providers resulted in a 40% relative increase in life-saving valve procedures.
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- Repatha’s EU Regulatory Win: The EMA announced its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use now supports Amgen’s Repatha (evolocumab) for reducing the risk of heart attacks. Repatha was initially approved in the EU in 2015 for treating adults with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed dyslipidemia, and this new opinion supports its use for reducing cardiovascular risk by lowering LDL-C in ASCVD patients. The regulatory nod is also a sign that governments are starting to see the value of population level CVD management like LDL-C lowering.
- An RNA-Targeting HCM Drug: Speaking to the lack of therapies for nonobstructive HCM, the FDA granted Fast Track designation to Haya Therapeutics’ drug HTX-001. The therapy is unique in that it takes a genetic approach to nHCM by using a long non-coding RNA strand to down-regulate the WISPER RNA strand that is overexpressed in HCM. By targeting WISPER in cardiac myofibroblasts, HTX-001 aims to reprogram fibrotic cells toward a healthier state, which would be a disease-modifying approach rather than symptom management. The drug is currently in a Phase 1a/b trial.
- A Nuclear Imaging Agent Returns: Curium decided it will reintroduce Thallous Chloride TI 201 Injections to the U.S., restoring access to the nuclear cardiology radiopharmaceutical after production ceased in 2022. The company frames the return as a way to diversify diagnostic pathways for select patients undergoing myocardial perfusion evaluation, offering an option for scenarios like viability testing where PET or MRI may be unavailable or impractical. The agent will be produced at a Missouri facility with cyclotron upgrades, infrastructure, staffing, and expanded quality control.
- Could a Wristband Detect Cardiac Arrest? A small study in The Lancet showed the answer might be yes for Corsano’s CardioWatch. Data from 44 dying patients demonstrated that the blood-volume-tracking wristbands had 100% sensitivity (23 cases) in detecting non-shockable cardiac arrest. All patients had undergone withdrawal of life-sustaining care prior to the study, showing the CardioWatch’s efficacy for high-risk patients. Only one false-positive alert was detected, but the authors note the data could support an affordable and effective way to detect cardiac emergencies early.
- Cybersecurity Concerns on Trial in IL: Heart Care Centers of Illinois is in legal trouble after a phishing attack led to unauthorized system access from August to November of 2024. In a July 18 notice HCCI said the issue was fixed with no known misuse of accessed data. Still, they noted personal information like Social Security numbers and banking info could be at risk. That was enough for a class action lawsuit to be brought against them, with the first court date scheduled for September.
- Creating a Carotid Twin: Cloning the carotid artery is now (sort of) possible, and it may be a breakthrough in treating CA atherosclerosis. A new Cell Biomaterials study looked at the efficacy of an “artery-on-a-chip” platform that creates a patient-specific carotid replica to understand unique physiology and therapeutic responses. The physical twin model beats out its digital counterparts because it enables manipulation and preservation of endothelial anatomy, making the results more applicable to patient treatment.
- What’s Driving CV Disparities? A new JAMA analysis aimed to understand the unequal burden of CVD, and the cause may come far before the clinic. Data from 121k American, English, and South Korean adults showed that U.S. populations had a higher risk of hypertension and high cholesterol (~10 percentage points) but often faced better outcomes than international ones. That means that, although we often lambast the U.S. health system, our CVD management and outcomes technically outperform countries like England and Korea, which have healthier patients than us at baseline.
- AED Application Delays for Kids: For every minute without intervention, a child’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest drops significantly. Yet, a JAMA study found pads were applied prior to EMS arrival in only 5.5% of out-of-hospital CA cases among 3.4k pediatric patients. These odds were even lower if the incident happened at night (48% less likely) or at home (94% less likely). AED application wasn’t just lifesaving, it was also associated with 3x more favorable neurological outcomes.
- Cleerly Goes Genetic: Going beyond scanning for risk, Cleerly and Allelica announced a partnership to launch the Cleerly Polygenic Cardiovascular Risk Score Test. The test uses a saliva sample to analyze genetic variants across an individual’s genome and estimate their inherited risk of developing coronary artery disease. It’s built on Allelica’s multi-ancestry PRS, which means it is calibrated for use across diverse and admixed populations, beyond European-ancestry.
- Perilla Oil and CV Health: Could a cooking oil protect the heart in smokers? A study out of Seoul seems to suggest so. Researchers assigned 65 healthy smokers without major illnesses or regular medication use to receive either perilla oil capsules (three capsules twice daily) or a placebo for eight weeks. Post-follow-up analysis showed that perilla oil significantly improved platelet function, and reduced mRNA expression of inflammatory markers TNF-α and TBX21. These types of studies highlight just how much dietary choices, like cooking oil, may impact CV health.
- Britain’s Defibrillator Deserts: New research from the Heart Restart campaign found that more than 16M people in the U.K. live farther than a 1km round trip from the nearest 24/7 defibrillator, greatly increasing risk of dying from a cardiac arrest. The stakes are high given the U.K. sees more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year with fewer than one in 10 surviving. These findings prompted the British Heart Foundation to launch a campaign offering 400 community defibrillators to the areas with the biggest access gaps.
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Fujifilm’s Ultrasound for every Cardiovascular Ultrasound Environment
From academia to clinical diagnostics, versatility in cardiac ultrasound is essential. Discover why clinicians are choosing Fujifilm’s LISENDO 880 for exceptional image quality, comprehensive strain analysis, stress imaging, and innovative Virtual Contrast technology — all while delivering outstanding value.
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Redefining Cardiac Analytics
More data doesn’t equal deeper insight. There’s a fundamental difference between measuring the timing of heart beats and understanding how the heart recovers electrically after each beat. Monebo is using that distinction to define the next frontier of cardiac analytics.
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Making the Leap to Outsource Post-Processing
Interested in how to outsource cardiac image post-processing, but not sure where to start? PIA walks you through how to assess and compare vendors, understand pricing models and payment options, and outline your requirements to identify vendors who meet your clinical needs.
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- Diagnosing Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Echo AI: Catching cardiac amyloidosis early is critical to giving patients the best possible outcome. Read Us2.ai’s latest paper in Circulation to learn how their echocardiography AI solution and new Us2.ca model helped clinicians diagnose cardiac amyloidosis with higher sensitivity and specificity.
- How AI Expands the Role of CMR Experts: If you’re an MRI technologist, AI could be the best thing that ever happened to your career. Read here to learn about the benefits of AI for CMR experts and how it can accelerate both your training and career.
- 9 Merge Cardio Features to Change Your Cardiology Workflows: Having the right tools is essential for efficient cardiology imaging workflows and delivering exceptional patient care. Read this article on how Merge Cardio can make the biggest difference to your imaging workflows, care team user experiences, and patient care delivery.
- The Power of AI in Cardiovascular Imaging: Cardiac labs are under more pressure than ever to deliver more with greater speed and precision. Hear from ACUSON Origin customer, Tony Gallagher about how Siemens Healthineers’ cardiovascular ultrasound system is improving exam efficiency and showing positive impact on ROI.
- ALL‑RISE Trial Results Are In: The CathWorks FFRangio™ system met noninferiority to wire-based physiology for MACE at one year with statistically significant improvement in resource utilization and reduced procedure time. CathWorks FFRangio™ system is the new standard in coronary physiology. See the ALL-RISE data. The information provided by the CathWorks FFRangio™ system is intended to be used by a qualified clinician in conjunction with the patient’s clinical history, symptoms, and other diagnostic tests, as well as the clinician’s professional evaluation. Source: Fearon et al. NEJM 2026. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2600949
- State-of-the-Art Cardiac Monitoring at Scale: Cleared for 13 different heart rhythm interpretations, AccurKardia’s AccurECG 2.0 shortens the time from an arrhythmia incident to clinical intervention. Watch here to find out how AccurKardia and Specialized Medical are teaming up to bring the AccurECG 2.0 technology to clinicians across the U.S.
- Beyond the Calcium Score with Circle CVI: The coronary artery calcium score has been the non-invasive gold standard for a quick look at heart disease risk, but it only tells part of the story. Learn more about how Circle Cardiovascular Imaging is using AI-enabled coronary plaque analysis to redefine heart risk beyond what a CAC score can tell us.
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