As Dr. Jaya Kanduri treats patients experiencing a heart attack, she doesn't just focus on the medical emergency. She also takes a moment to reassure them that they're not alone. "You see people at their worst when they are in pain and terrified," says Dr. Kanduri, an interventional cardiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. "I assure them that I am there for them, and we're going to take good care of them." Dr. Kanduri's father, a chemistry professor, and her mother, an obstetrician and gynecologist in India before moving to the U.S., were concerned about medicine as a career path. "They knew it was hard and with long hours," she says. Still, she was drawn to it. As a high school student in New Jersey, she enrolled in The Academy for Health & Medical Sciences and earned an associate's college degree when she was 17. "I volunteered in hospitals and clinics during that time, and I could see myself pursuing a career in that environment," she says. After medical school, she completed training in internal medicine and cardiology, where she discovered her passion for the subspecialty of interventional cardiology. Interventional cardiologists diagnose and treat cardiac conditions and perform procedures. They use various minimally invasive techniques with catheters to clear blocked blood vessels with stents and balloons. With few women in the field and lengthy, rigorous training involved, Dr. Kanduri was unsure if this was the right field for her. But with the help of strong role models, she ultimately embraced the field. Now, Dr. Kanduri is committed to taking the field to the next level by building a program to better understand coronary physiology disorders such as microvascular dysfunction and coronary vasospasm, abnormalities of the small vessels of the heart that tend to affect women. After getting patients through difficult moments, Dr. Kanduri relishes seeing them return with smiles. "Being able to do an intervention and have people come back and say, 'I made the right changes in life, and I feel better,' that's the most rewarding." (fb)

Here's what we know: clinical trials often provide access to treatments that are not yet widely available, offering hope to individuals with limited options. Some of these trials are funded by government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, and help researchers assess if new drugs, devices or treatments are safe and effective. Clinical trials also contribute to advancing medical knowledge and improving healthcare for everyone. Clinical trials play a crucial role in evaluating the safety and effectiveness of new medications, devices, vaccines and other treatments. The primary aim is to understand how these interventions impact health. “There are several situations where the only way for a patient to receive a brand-new intervention, drug or device is participation in a clinical trial,” says Dr. Mario Gaudino, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, is the director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Participants have said, 'I want to participate in these trials so that my daughter can have better care," he said. Click the link to learn more about clinical trials and how to determine if one is right for you: https://bit.ly/4k2IpUR (fb)