ATLANTA—Sunil V. Rao, MD, FSCAI, Professor of Medicine at Duke University Health System and Section Chief of Cardiology at the Durham VA Health System, assumed the office of president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) today during the SCAI 2022 Scientific Sessions in Atlanta.

Dr. Rao graduated summa cum laude from Miami University in Oxford, OH, and magna cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Medicine where he won the David Saylor Memorial Award for cardiology research. He completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowships in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Duke University Medical Center. He served as Chief Fellow at The Duke Clinical Research Institute and was the Warren and Gloria A. Newman Fellow in Interventional Cardiology. After his training, he joined the faculty at Duke University Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and rose to become Professor of Medicine in 2017. In 2005, he became the Director of the Catheterization Laboratories at the Durham VA Medical Center, and in 2014, he was appointed Chief of Cardiology at the Durham VA. Dr. Rao has won several awards as an attending physician including the W. Proctor Harvey Award from The American College of Cardiology (2011), and the Duke Cardiology Fellows’ Mentoring Award (2013, 2018), and The Duke Clinical Research Institute Robert M. Califf MD Award for Fellow Mentoring (2020). 

As the Chief of Cardiology, Dr. Rao has overseen the expansion of the faculty at the VA to increase patient access, start new clinical programs, and leverage VA research funding. New clinical programs include a structural heart disease service, a same-day discharge after PCI program, and a transradial PCI program. Under his leadership, the Durham VA is the leading transradial PCI center in the VA system nationally. In September, Dr. Rao will begin a new role as Director of Interventional Cardiology for the NYU Langone Health System in New York. 

Dr. Rao has published over 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts. His 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. At the national level, Dr. Rao 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.  

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

Other incoming officers to SCAI’s 2022-2023 Executive Committee include President-Elect George D. Dangas, MD, PhD, MSCAI; Vice President James B. Hermiller, MD, MSCAI; Treasurer Arnold H. Seto, MD, FSCAI, newly appointed Secretary Srihari S. Naidu, MD, FSCAI; and Immediate Past President Timothy D. Henry, MD, MSCAI.