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Disclaimer:
The following information is drawn from materials prepared by
candidates for promotion to associate professor in one of the
scholarship-requiring tracks (RS and CS). It is intended to illustrate activities and materials that
might support promotion. In
using these materials, please note the following: *The
Provost (and, in some cases, the President) are the University officers
authorized to approve promotions.
All levels of review below these officers are advisory. *Only
Departments are empowered to propose promotions, and the Divisional Dean is
charged with transmitting such proposals to the Provost or returning them to
the Department. *The
judgment of the Department, Dean, and Provost will therefore be critical to
assessing qualification for promotion. *Materials
considered by the Department, Dean, and Provost will also (and always)
include confidential evaluations obtained from outside the University. Materials considered by the Provost
will include the confidential evaluations of the Dean and Department, and
those considered by the Dean will include the confidential evaluations of the
Department. *Thus,
the following materials are ONLY PART of a complete proposal for promotion,
whereas promotion is based on the ENTIRE proposal. Therefore, it should not be assumed that a record
comparable to that below will necessarily result in promotion, or that a
record not comparable to that below will fail to result in promotion. The Departmental Chair is likely to
be the best source of advice as to whether promotion is feasible and, when it
is not, what additional activity may result in qualification for promotion. *This
document has been prepared as a tool for use by assistant professors in the
Division of the Biological Sciences.
Other individuals who may find it informative are Department Chairmen,
Section Heads, Committee Chairmen, senior faculty and potential
recruits. Its intent is to help
guide individuals and their departments as they think about promotion to
Professor. This document is not
intended to list the elements that every promotion proposal will be expected
to address. The following
information is presented for information purposes only and is not intended to
create any contract or agreement, and its contents are subject to addition,
deletion, and change without prior notice. |
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Name: |
Jeanne M. DeCara, M.D. |
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Department of Primary Appointment: |
Medicine |
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Secondary appointments: |
Radiology |
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Proposed rank: |
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR |
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Proposed track: |
CLINICAL SCHOLAR |
LAY SUMMARY:
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Dr. Jeanne DeCara's research falls
into three primary areas. The
first has concerned global and regional ventricular function and/or contrast
echocardiography for the assessment of perfusion. This line of research is particularly applicable to
coronary artery disease. Briefly, coronary artery results in a decrease in
blood flow, or perfusion, to an area of the heart, which, as a result,
contracts or moves abnormally.
Dr. DeCaraÕs work involves the application of parametric imaging to
make analysis of wall motion or myocardial perfusion, an otherwise subjective
visual process more objective.
As discussed in Section 35, parametric imaging refers to the use of some
parameter, such as color or a shade of gray, as a surrogate for wall motion,
perfusion or some other physiologic function. She has found that the addition of parametric images
improved the detection of abnormal wall motion compared to standard visual
interpretation and specifically improved the accuracy of wall motion
interpretation. She has applied this approach to other types of heart disease
as well. The second area concerns the use
of hand-carried ultrasound devices for clinical practice and education. The standard echocardiogram is a
large device that weights several hundred pounds and is rolled about on a
mobile cart by a technician. The
hand-carried ultrasound devices are about the size of a laptop computer and
afford portability while providing excellent images of the heart. Dr. DeCaraÕs studies have contributed
to the body of knowledge about the use of such devices by internists and
suggest that certain types of cardiac triage can be done quite effectively by
internists, which, in turn, could lead to an early detection and triage of
heart disease. The use of such
devices by persons other than cardiologists may be a boon to the recognition
of several types of cardiac abnormalities such as abnormal motion of the
large pumping chambers, the ventricles, and of fluid in the sac that
surrounds the heart, a pericardial effusion. She has also been among the first to use the hand-carried
ultrasound to supplement the instruction of the cardiac examination for
medical students, and has found that echocardiographic reinforcement of
learning almost doubled the diagnostic accuracy of the studentsÕ physical
examinations. Some predict that
the hand-carried ultrasound will replace the stethoscope in practice. The third area, which is just
beginning to develop, is to assess the use of the measurement of carotid
intima-media thickness as an early marker for atherosclerosis and
cardiovascular events. Atherosclerosis
is a dynamic process characterized by the deposition of atheromatous plaques
in the walls of large and medium sized arteries. The plaque consists of a core of cholesterol, lipids and
other products that are covered by a fibrous cap. Plaques must be some 90% occlusive to decrease blood flow,
and these old plaques are what is translated as a deficit in blood flow to
areas of the heart muscle on stress testing. These are Òold-timersÓ and have very tough, calcified
fibrous caps. Young plaques have
thin fragile fibrous caps, which are quite vulnerable to rupture. Rupture of these ÒadolescentÓ
plaques is responsible for up to 90% of myocardial infarctions. Unstable plaques also are supplied by
tiny blood vessels, the vasa vasorum.
The characteristics of these plaques can be well-assessed by
ultrasound, and intima-medial thickness is an early marker of plaque
formation. The use of
microbubbles can also indicate the presence of vasa vasorum. Clinical studies have shown a good
correlation between carotid and coronary atherosclerosis, so carotid imaging
gives us a window into the pathology in coronary arteries. It is hoped that the regression of
plaques in the carotids with therapeutic interventions will also regress
plaques in the coronary arteries.
In addition to this individual research, she is the primary
investigator or co-investigator on a number of pharmacologic and
technological studies that involve other institutions. Her research goals are not only in
these areas and are fully described in her statement elsewhere in this form,
but will include new directions in Doppler echocardiography and in magnetic
resonance imaging. She has received national and
international recognition by being asked to serve as a member of the
Committee on Guidelines and Standards of the American Society of
Echocardiography, as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the
International Academy of Cardiology and the Third world Congress on Heart
Disease (2002-3). As a member of the Steering Committee on the Office
Practice Assessment of Carotid Atherosclerosis using Handheld Ultrasound
(OPACA) Study (2005-2006) and as the Co-Chair for the Meet the Experts
Session on the Quantification of Valve Regurgitation as well as the session
on Valvular Heart Disease at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the American
College of Cardiology (2006).
She was just invited to be a member of the Scientific Session Program
Committee of the American Society of Echocardiography (2006-present), which
is most unusual for an Assitant Professor. Last year, she was invited to become a member of the
editorial board of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. She is a frequently invited speaker
nationally and was invited to Barcelona to discuss the incorporation of
hand-carried ultrasound devices into the medical school curriculum. Dr. Jeanne DeCara is within the
Section of Cardiology. She sees
adult patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings. She also in the rotation of
attendings who are responsible for the service reading of
echocardiograms. She is also the
liaison to Pediatric Cardiology for patients with adult congenital heart
disease. She is a good citizen,
and she spent much time in 2005-6 training in the new field of cardiac
magnetic resonance imaging. This
was in response to the establishment of a Cardiac Imaging Center, which will
offer advanced cardiac imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging
and multi-slice computed tomography, but limited her research time. Dr. DeCara teaches medical
students, residents, fellows, and staff both in the area of noninvasive
imaging and, as will be discussed shortly, in physical examination using
echocardiographic reinforcement.
She received a Faculty Teaching Award and a course development grant
for the course entitled ÒThe anatomic and physiologic basis of the clinical
cardiac examination.Ó She also is sought after extramurally as a teacher,
both on the techniques that she has helped to developed and on the use of
ultrasound in the education of medical students. |
CURRICULUM VITAE
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Professional Societies: American
Society of Internal Medicine/American College of Physicians, 1995-1999 Massachusetts
Medical Society, 1996-2000 American
College of Cardiology, 1997-2000, 2001-present, F.A.C.C. 3/2002 American
Society of Echocardiography 2000-present American
Heart Association 2001-present Society
of Cardiovascular MR 2005-present Organizations
and Committees: Boston
University Alumni Representative, 1990-present Governor,
Medical College of Pennsylvania Class of 1994, 1993-1997
Massachusetts
Council of Associates of the American College of Physicians, 1995-1997
Member,
Council of Clinical Cardiology, American Heart Association, 2001-present
Member
of the Committee on Guidelines and Standards, American Society of
Echocardiography 2002-2006 Member
of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Academy of Cardiology
and the 3rd World Congress on Heart Disease 2002-2003 Member
of the Carotid Intima-Media Thickness advisory panel 2004-2005 Cardiology
Fellowship Selection Committee 2005 Member of the
Steering Committee: Office Practice Assessment of Carotid Atherosclerosis
Using Handheld Ultrasound (OPACA) Study 2005-2006. American
College of Cardiology 55th Annual Scientific Sessions: Co-Chair:
Meet the Experts, Quantification of Valve Regurgitation, March 13, 2006 American
College of Cardiology 55th Annual Scientific Sessions: Co-Chair:
Valvular Heart Disease: Maximizing the power of echocardiography. Atlanta,
GA, March 14, 2006 American
Society of Echocardiography 17th Annual Scientific Sessions:
Co-Chair: Valvular Heart Disease- Best Cases from Around the World.
Baltimore, MD June 5, 2006. Member of the
American Society of Echocardiography Scientific Sessions Planning Committee
2006 Book,
Manuscript, and Abstract Review Consultant: Book
reviewer: New England Journal of Medicine 2004 Manuscript
Reviewer: Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography since 2003 Manuscript
Reviewer: European Heart Journal since 2003
Manuscript Reviewer: Circulation
since 2004
Manuscript
Reviewer: Journal of Cardiac Rehabilitation since 2004 Manuscript
Reviewer: American Journal of Medicine since 2005 Manuscript
Reviewer: Echocardiography since 2006 Abstract
Reviewer: Third World Congress on Heart Disease 2002-2005 Abstract
Reviewer: American Society of Echocardiography since 2005 Editorial
Board: Member:
Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography 6/2005- present |
PRESENTATIONS
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Invited Lectures/CME:
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