Section Editors Devoted to Increasing Studies in Areas of Great Interest to VDM Readers

I’m very pleased that with the growth of the readership of Vascular Disease Management, we have now taken on three Special Section Editors of great clinical importance. We have Dr Richard Kovach, who has agreed to be the clinical section editor on Carotid Disease, Dr Pradeep Nair, who will be the Section editor on New Technologies, and Dr Amjad AlMahameed, who will be the section editor on Vascular Medicine and Critical Limb Ischemia. Each of these physicians is very special and accomplished. It is indeed a pleasure to bring them on, and I’m excited about their future role with Vascular Disease Management. Below, you’ll find introductions and resumes from the newest members of the VDM team.

Craig Walker, MD
Clinical Editor
Vascular Disease Management

Watch Dr Walker's Video Welcome Message Here

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to this inaugural section of Vascular Disease Management focusing on the latest in carotid intervention! Multiple objective, well-controlled studies such as CAVATAS (Eur Heart J 2000;18:1537-1546), SAPPHIRE (N Engl J Med 2004;351:1493-1501; Circulation 2005;112:Suppl II-416), SPACE (Cerebrovascular Dis 2004;18:66-8) and more recently CREST (Stroke 2011;42:675-680) have established carotid artery stenting (CAS) as a legitimate and effective interventional procedure for managing symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenotic disease, and with outcomes similar to carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

In this new section, we hope to continue the dialogue with a series of articles focusing on the diagnosis and management of obstructive disease, as well as interesting case reports, tools, tips and tricks useful for both the novice and expert carotid interventionist. Whether you find these articles interesting, useful, not so much so, or even controversial, we invite your feedback and suggestions for future topics in this exciting field of intervention.

Sincerely,
Richard C. Kovach, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FACP 

Dr Richard Kovach is the Division Director of the Department of Interventional Cardiology and Endovascular Medicine at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, NJ. He is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at PCOM in Philadelphia, PA. 

In addition to being a member of several professional societies, Dr Kovach is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Intervention, The American College of Physicians and the American Society of Angiology. He serves on numerous industry Medical Advisory boards, Scientific Advisory boards, and clinical events committees for investigational studies. He also serves on the advisory counsel for the Chinese American Academy of Cardiology.  

Dr Kovach has been an investigator for more than 50 clinical trials, including EXCITE, SYMPLICITY, TRACE, DURABILITY, COMPLETE, SUPERB, and CREST 2. 

Dr Kovach earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Natural Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1977. He then attended Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he received a doctor of medicine degree in 1982.

Dr Kovach completed his internship and residency in internal medicine followed by fellowships in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

In 2005, 2008, and 2014, Dr Kovach was given the Top Doc Award from South Jersey Magazine.

Dr Kovach has co-authored numerous journal articles, abstracts and case reports. He has also written two book chapters on peripheral vascular intervention and currently sits on the editorial board for Vascular Disease Management. 

Dr Kovach has been guest faculty at numerous national and international interventional conferences and chairs his own Northeast Regional meeting for New Cardiovascular Horizons annually. He is also Assistant Interventional Course Director for the Cardiovascular Institute of Philadelphia. Dr Kovach is Chairman Elect for the Horizons International Peripheral Group for 2017-2019. He hosts visiting physicians from China at Deborah Heart and Lung Center, Browns Mills, NJ on a regular basis and also travels to China several times a year to speak and perform hands on training for new interventional devices at hospitals across China. 

“The angiographic catheter can be more than a tool for passive means for diagnostic observation; used with imagination, it can become an important surgical instrument.”
                        – Charles T. Dotter, 1920-1985

Dr Dotter’s prophetic words to the Czechoslovak Radiological Congress on June 19, 1963 is the essence of the New Technology section of Vascular Disease Management. From Dotter to Gruentzig to Simpson and beyond there has been an explosion of technology in the field of endovascular interventions. Some technology is revolutionary and alters the course of our field, while others may spur initial enthusiasm only to become a footnote in history. Nevertheless, even when technology fails, it is usually followed by advancement through valuable lessons learned. 

What drives technology are scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs who take risks, challenge the norms, and improve upon what we already know — all in a concerted effort to advance our field, fight disease, and improve patient outcomes. Through this new section, our mission will be for investigators and inventors to highlight these new technologies that share in this common goal. We look forward to presenting these innovative technologies to you in upcoming issues of Vascular Disease Management.  

Sincerely,
Pradeep K. Nair, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Interventional Cardiologist, Cardiovascular Institute of the South

Dr Pradeep Nair joined Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS) in 2015 as an interventional cardiologist. Prior to joining, he completed a fellowship in advanced peripheral interventions under the tutelage of Craig Walker. During his tenure at CIS, he has been actively involved in numerous clinical trials and investigative studies on novel device therapies in peripheral and coronary interventions. 

Dr Nair graduated with University Honors from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a minor in Psychology. He earned his doctorate at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. He went on to complete his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr Nair previously served as the director of interventional cardiology at Somerset Hospital in Pennsylvania while also working as an interventional cardiologist for the Heart and Vascular Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Additionally, Dr Nair worked as a course instructor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where he holds the title of clinical instructor of medicine. 

Dr Nair is licensed by the State Board of Medicine in Louisiana and Pennsylvania and is currently board certified in cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, nuclear cardiology and adult echocardiography. 

Dr Nair is a member of the Horizon’s International Peripheral Group and conference co-chairman of New Cardiovascular Horizons. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions, and a member of the American College of Physicians. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and presented his work at national cardiovascular meetings. He was recognized with several awards of distinction at the University of Pittsburgh for his research in cardiovascular disease.

Goals for the Vascular Medicine and CLI Section:

As the Critical Limb Ischemia editor, I hope to build on Vascular Disease Management’s excellent tradition in attracting quality contributions from notable authors. The field of endovascular medicine and CLI is advancing at a fast pace and I look forward to enabling the CLI community to keep up with these advances and to become part of the whole CLI movement. 

Sincerely,
Amjad Almahameed, MD, MPH
Interventional Cardiologist, Vascular Medicine and Endovascular Specialist,
Cardiovascular Institute of the South

Dr AlMahameed received his doctorate from Damascus University School of Medicine in Syria and completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in vascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. He then accepted faculty appointment at the Cleveland Clinic and served as a vascular medicine consultant and director of the vascular medicine research program. Dr AlMahameed also received a master’s degree in public health from the Cleveland Clinic – Cleveland State University joint program.

Dr AlMahameed received his general cardiology and interventional coronary and peripheral training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He then accepted faculty appointment at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Harvard Medical School and served as an interventional cardiologist and endovascular specialist. During this tenure, he was named director of the vascular medicine program, founding director of the vascular laboratory and founding director of the vascular disease management program, as well as co-director of the peripheral interventional program. 

In 2015, Dr AlMahameed joined Dr Craig Walker and his colleagues at the Cardiovascular Institute of the South as an interventional cardiologist and endovascular specialist. He has been working very closely with Dr Craig Walker focusing on advanced endovascular therapies, particularly innovative percutaneous techniques for treating critical limb ischemia and achieving limb salvage.

Dr AlMahameed is board certified in internal medicine, vascular medicine, cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology and endovascular medicine. He is the recipient of several awards including the Cleveland Clinic’s senior resident of the year, Cleveland Clinic’s chief medical resident, and chief cardiovascular fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess – Harvard Medical School.

Dr AlMahameed enjoys hiking and swimming with his two young children and is a frequent volunteer at community-based programs.