USF cardiology resident Christopher Reynolds, MD, won the Young Investigator Award at the annual meeting of the Florida Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

The Florida Chapter of ACC held its annual meeting the weekend of Aug. 22 and, as part of the meeting, internal medicine residents and cardiology fellows from throughout Florida were invited to submit their research to compete for the group’s Young Investigator Award.

Of the 20 abstracts submitted from around the state (five of which were from USF) three were chosen to make oral presentations. Of those select three (two of which were from USF), one went on to be the overall winner and earn the Young Investigator Award: USF’s Dr. Reynolds.

Third-year cardiology resident Christopher Reynolds wins at ACC meeting.

Dr. Reynolds, a third-year USF internal medicine resident who will be starting a cardiology fellowship at USF next July, earned the award for his research work titled “Can Heart Failure Medications Prevent Trastuzumab-Induced Cardiotoxicity?” The win also earned him a plaque and $500 cash, recognition at the American College of Cardiology’s president’s banquet Aug. 22, and reimbursement for his travel costs and registration fees for the meeting paid.

Also earning an invitation to make an oral presentation was Swathy Kolli, a USF cardiology fellow. Dr. Kolli’s work was titled “Determinants of Pulmonary Hypertension in Young Adults.”

The oral presentations were given before the full conference assembly and judged by a panel of cardiologists.

Mentoring both Drs. Kolli and Reynolds was Maya Guglin, MD, PhD, associate professor and director of the USF Heart Failure program.

“We competed with all Florida medical schools, including the traditionally leading University of Florida and University of Miami,” Dr. Guglin said.

“But when I came to Orlando it was USF all over. Three out of six posters were from us, and two out of three oral presentations were ours as well. Just one year ago only one fellow, Rias Ali, participated in this competition. I am very pleased to say that almost all studies we brought to Orlando are going to be presented at national and international levels. Dr. Swathy Kolli is presenting our findings on pulmonary hypertension in young adults at the American Heart Association scientific sessions – this is one of the two largest cardiology annual meetings in the world. Drs. Christopher Reynolds, Catherine Law, and Charles Glover are going to Boston in September to Heart Failure Society of America meeting. This is an achievement. This means that our findings are recognized as important well beyond regional level.”

In addition to Drs. Kolli and Reynolds, four other USF residents and fellows had their abstracts accepted for the ACC competition. The other four were: Drs. Rias Ali, Charles Glover, Catherine Law, and Hammad Khan.

“We are thrilled,” said Anne B. Curtis, MD, professor and director of the USF Division of Cardiology.  “USF dominated in both oral and poster sessions at the meeting. Thank you to all the fellows who participated and thank you to all the faculty mentors for the research projects. Finally, thank you to Dr. Maya Guglin for coordinating the research efforts of our fellows. We are very pleased to see the increasing participation by all the fellows in scholarly activity. It will enhance their cardiology fellowship experience immensely, and it will increase the recognition of our program regionally and nationally.”

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications