Sunil V. Rao, MD, Named 2022-2023 President of SCAI

May 24, 2022—Sunil V. Rao, MD, FSCAI was recently named the 2022-2023 President of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI). His appointment was announced at SCAI’s 2022 Scientific Sessions held May 19-22 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Rao is currently Professor of Medicine at Duke University Health System and the Chief of Cardiology at Durham Veterans Affairs Health System, in Durham, North Carolina. In September, Dr. Rao will begin a new role as Director of Interventional Cardiology for the NYU Langone Health System in New York, New York.

In SCAI’s announcement, Dr. Rao commented, “It is a tremendous honor to lead SCAI during the next year as we continue to make meaningful progress toward the organization’s priorities outlined in our strategic plan, as well as empower and educate our members who are the leaders of interventional cardiology. I look forward to working with our members in the year ahead to improve patient outcomes.”

According to the SCAI announcement, Dr. Rao’s main research interests are pharmacological and interventional therapies for acute coronary syndromes, as well as bleeding and blood transfusion complications among patients with ischemic heart disease. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions and is a former chair of the SCAI Quality Improvement Committee and was the Program Chair for the SCAI 2019 Scientific Sessions.

SCAI reported the other incoming 2022-2023 Executive Committee members as follows:

• George D. Dangas, MD, President-Elect
• James B. Hermiller, MD, Vice President
• Arnold H. Seto, MD, Treasurer
• Srihari S. Naidu, MD, Secretary
• Timothy D. Henry, MD, Immediate Past President

Elsewhere, SCAI recently announced the establishment of the SCAI Early Career Research Grants. According to SCAI, the Early Career Research Grants will be offered by SCAI as a member service to foster and stimulate new research ideas in any area of investigation related to interventional cardiology.

The program targets junior-level investigators (ie, within 10 years of completing an interventional cardiology fellowship) by funding proposals that demonstrate a high likelihood of resulting in new and innovative approaches in any area of interventional research.

“As leaders in interventional cardiology, SCAI is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of researchers,” commented Dr. Rao in SCAI’s announcement. “Not only will these grants address the critical gap in research funding, but they will also help early-career individuals launch their research careers and set them up to be clinician-investigators and innovators in our specialty.”

SCAI noted that proposals will be due in early Fall 2022. Awardees will present the results of their research at a dedicated session during the SCAI 2023 Scientific Sessions and will be invited to publish the resulting manuscripts in the Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (JSCAI).