I'm happy to share some of the work our summer interns have been doing with our STEM program. Four Coolidge High School graduates worked with our research teams investigating COVID-19 health equity. 

The group’s advisor, Raj Ratwani, PhD said the work is not only critical to addressing the inequity in the country’s COVID-19 response, but it also addresses the achievement gap in STEM fields exposing students from underrepresented groups to some of the biggest scientific challenges facing the country.

At the core of the work is determining whether health departments across the country are presenting COVID-19 data in an accurate and understandable way, asking questions like whether the data is scattered or comprehensive, does it offer demographic breakdowns.

Check out the news story on NBC Washington here.  In addition to these high school students, we have several summer interns from Morgan State and Howard University.

Our CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award) we have with Georgetown and Howard Universities is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Maurice Fluitt and Dr. Roxanne Mirabal-Beltran as the newest KL2 Scholars. These new awardees, their research projects, and training plans are emblematic of our program objectives in that they pair a highly-promising scholar-trainee with a mentor team that includes senior colleagues from across disciplines, departments, campuses, and institutions to pursue research that depends upon collaborations and methods from outside the scholars’ discipline, local research environment, or past experiences.

Drs. Fluitt and Mirabal-Beltran will join our continuing KL2 scholars Dr. Haiyan He, Dr. Annie Kruger, and Dr. Katherine Michel. Please join us in congratulating our new and continuing KL2 scholars.

We thank our own Dr Jason Umans for his leadership in overseeing this program. Please visit the GHUCCTS website for the full announcement.

The COVID Community Research Project (CCRP) is an at-home research study to help us better understand the best ways to treat and prevent COVID-19. This extremely important surveillance study launched in November 2020 and with 14,000 MedStar participants, the study is now closed to enrollment. 

Congratulations to Bethel Woldu, MD, MPH, cardiologist and clinician-researcher with the MedStar Health & Vascular Institute at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital for receiving the Innovation in Cardiovascular Ultrasound Research Award on behalf of the ASE Foundation. 

The Innovation in Cardiovascular Ultrasound Research Award is a one-year (12 months), $45,000 scholarship given for meritorious echocardiographic research proposals relevant to innovation in cardiac ultrasound.

Primary consideration was given to the proposals’ scientific excellence, innovative nature, and research team. Of particular interest were proposals that expand the key role of echocardiography or the development of novel technology in clinical diagnosis or management.

Dr. Woldu is one of two recipients to receive this award for her proposal titled, "Non-invasive Assessment of Myocardial Work to Differentiate TTR Cardiac Amyloidosis from Hypertensive Cardiomyopathy".

“Cardiac amyloidosis remains a challenging diagnosis confounded by other disease processes leading to myocardial thickening such as hypertensive remodeling and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. With advent of newer therapies for transthyretin amyloid, early identification of the disease is even more pressing. Using a novel echocardiography technique, our team aims to evaluate echocardiogram markers that could help predict cardiac amyloid in patients admitted with heart failure,” Dr. Woldu says.

Congratulations Bethel! We are MedStar Health Proud!

Dr. Bethel Woldu, MD, MPH

Getting your COVID19 vaccine is one of the best ways to prevent you or your family from getting sick. Many places, from concert halls to vacation events are now mandating participant have proof of vaccination. MedStar Health has made it simple and easy to view and print your MedStar Health COVID-19 vaccination documentation.

If you need proof of your MedStar Health COVID-19 vaccination, you can now obtain it through the MedStar Health patient portal. Below are step-by-step instructions.

1. Go to https://www.mymedstar.org/
   
   
2. On the top right, click “Login to myMedStar” if you have an account, or click “Enroll in myMedStar” to set up an account. To complete self-enrollment you must verify your account using name, date of birth, and either the email address on file for you OR your MedStar Health Patient ID.
   
   
3. Once logged in, on the left toolbar select “Health Record,” then select “COVID Center.” Your COVID-19 immunization record will appear. Click “Print” in the top right corner to print your one-page proof of vaccination.