Congratulations to this year's recipients of the George L. Bakris Scholarship!
Zainali Chunawala, MD
Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern
About Zain
Zain is a PGY-3 Internal Medicine Resident at UT Southwestern with a strong background in cardiometabolic research. He has played a pivotal role in clinical trials focusing on improving outcomes for patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy (DbCM), including his recent work demonstrating the effectiveness of a diabetic-specific risk score for early detection of DbCM using accessible clinical parameters. His prior research has also uncovered critical links between peripheral artery disease, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure readmissions. Currently Zain’s work focuses on identifying high-risk individuals with type 2 diabetes and obesity who could benefit from lifestyle interventions to reduce their heart failure risk. He has received multiple honors, including the Paul Dudley International Scholar’s Award and is a finalist for the 2024 Quest Diagnostics Early Career Investigator Award at AHA. His accomplishments combined with his unwavering dedication to research, underscore his potential as a future leader in cardiorenal metabolic medicine.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming 2024 meeting?
The CMHC scholarship will enhance my understanding of intricate relationships between cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases. Participating in the foundations of CMHC course will expand my research horizons and allow me to push the boundaries of cardiometabolic medicine. I am particularly excited about the opportunity to connect with leaders in this field and learn directly from their expertise.
Alex Gyftopoulos, MD
Chief Fellow, Cardiovascular Disease
University of Maryland
About Alex
I was born and raised in Maryland and honored to train and care for the people of my home state. I am passionate about preventive cardiology, lipidology and medical education.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming 2024 meeting?
I am most excited for the opportunity to learn from experts in cardiometabolic health. I hope to take what I learn back to my community to improve the care of our patients.
Ellis Kim, MD, PhD
Cardiology Fellow, Northwestern Medicine
About Ellis
I am originally from Korea and moved to the US when I was in middle school. I received my MD/PhD from University of Chicago. During this time, I fell in love with the city of Chicago and decided to stay for post-graduate training. Currently, I am a 3rd year general cardiology fellow at Northwestern Medicine through Physician Scientist Training Program. During my research years, I will be working on role of inflammation in cardiometabolic HFpEF.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming 2024 meeting?
I am excited to learn about cardiometabolics from experts in the field, especially on topics outside of cardiology that I usually don’t have an opportunity to see. I am also looking forward to meeting and being inspired by others in the field.
Errol Moras, MBBS
Preventive Cardiology Fellow
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System
About Errol
Dr. Errol Moras is originally from India, where he obtained his MBBS degree from Manipal University. He completed his residency training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside/West in New York and is currently pursuing a clinical fellowship in Preventive Cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/VA Boston. His research interests focus on the intersection of prevention and intervention in cardiovascular disease, with a strong commitment to advancing strategies for cardiometabolic health.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming 2024 meeting?
I am excited about the opportunity to engage with leading experts and innovators in cardiometabolic health at the CMHC 2024 meeting. I look forward to gaining insights into the latest research and clinical advancements while exploring new strategies to enhance patient outcomes in this field.
Seyedmohammad (Mohammad) Saadatagah, MD
Resident in Physician–Scientist (MeRIT) Track
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX
About Mohammad
Dr. Seyedmohammad Saadatagah currently serves as a Medicine Resident at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, participating in the Medical Resident Investigator (MeRIT) Track. He will begin his cardiology training at Baylor next year.
Dr. Saadatagah received his Medical Doctorate from Tehran University of Medical Sciences and worked for four years at the Tehran Heart Center. Seeking to broaden his horizons, he transitioned to the United States, joining the Atherosclerosis and Lipid Genomics lab at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, where he gained computational and genomics skills. He then moved to Houston to commence his internal medicine residency and continued his research in the Atherosclerosis Clinical Research Laboratory.
As he looks toward the future, he is poised to continue his trajectory in the cardiometabolic field using genomics and precision medicine.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming 2024 meeting?
I’m most excited about the opportunity to learn from leading experts at the Cardiometabolic Health Congress in Boston, specifically as they discuss the latest advancements in the field. It’s a unique opportunity to network with peers who share a passion for improving cardiometabolic health outcomes and get advice from experts.
