Advisors

Patient Advisory Group

The PAG or Patient Advisory Group members, help guide the conduct of the LIVEBETTER trial. This group of individuals, all over the age of 75 and reflecting the diversity of the trial population, advise the study team to ensure that the participant centered experience is front and center for all that enroll in LIVEBETTER. The PAG are key members of the study team and their involvement has been critical in developing a trial that is culturally sensitive, inclusive, understandable and relevant. Bringing their rich backgrounds to work hand-in-hand with trial leadership, they enhance understanding of the participant journey, identify barriers to participating in LIVEBETTER as well as provide insights on benefits, risks and burdens. The PAG members have been closely involved with development of all participant processes and educational materials including the informed consent and recruitment documents to improve the LIVEBETTER trial experience for older adults.

Renee Leverty, BSN, MA and Brian Goings, MBA, MPH
Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) Research Together

Yale Program Pepper Older Americans Independence Center:
Community Advisory Board

YCCI Cultural Ambassadors

Patient Stakeholders

Investigators

Michael Nanna MD, MHS

Yale University
Principal Investigator (PI)

Dr. Nanna is an Assistant Professor and Interventional Cardiologist at Yale School of Medicine, specializing in coronary interventions, with a focus on the care of older adults living with coronary artery disease and multiple chronic conditions. His research interests center around improving risk prediction, evidence generation for existing therapies, and shared decision- making in older adults at risk for or living with cardiovascular disease. He is the recipient of several research awards including a GEMSSTAR (Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists’ Transition to Aging Research) award from the National Institute on Aging to address the medical needs of older adult patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease and dementia, as well as a geriatric cardiology professional development award from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Foundation supported by the George F. and Ann Harris Bellows Foundation and a Pepper Center REC Small Grant Award. In collaboration with the Yale Pepper Center, he is the national PI for the LIVEBETTER trial, a PCORI randomized trial of anti-anginal therapies in older adults with stable ischemic heart disease and multiple chronic conditions.
Mary Geda RN, MSN

Yale University
Project Manager

Mary Geda is the Project Manager of the LIVEBETTER trial. She has over 25 years' experience in the research field with experience that ranges from recruiting participants into drug and device trials to running national coordinating centers. She managed several national cardiology studies including SILVER-AMI, a research study to develop and validate risk stratification tools for older adults admitted to the hospital with an Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and VIRGO, the largest prospective observational study of young and middle-aged women and men with AMI designed to examine sex differences in the presentation, treatment, and outcomes of young and middle-aged patients with AMI. Ms. Geda is currently the Associate Program Director for the Yale Program on Aging and is excited to have an opportunity to contribute to this important clinical trial.
Jeptha Curtis, MD

Yale University
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Jeptha P. Curtis, MD, is a Professor in the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons before training in internal medicine at the Duke University Medical Center and completing his fellowships in clinical and interventional cardiology at Yale. Dr. Curtis directs the American College of Cardiology Analytic Center at CORE. He has also led the development of registry-based outcome measures for CMS examining 30-day mortality following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and ICD and currently oversees the maintenance of the registry measures, contributes to the development of new measures, and assists in the development of approaches to cardiovascular surveillance. In addition to his role on the LIVEBETTER study, he is currently conducting a mixed methods research study of hospitals that perform PCI (TOP PCI). Through critically examining the practice of interventional cardiology, Dr. Curtis hopes to improve the quality of care delivered to patients with coronary artery disease and those undergoing PCI.
Ajar Kochar, MD, MHS

Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Dr. Ajar Kochar is an interventional cardiologist with a deep passion for the intersection of interventional cardiology and critical care. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and subsequently pursued a fellowship in cardiology at Duke University. As part of his cardiology fellowship at Duke, he pursued a research fellowship at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) focused on learning clinical research skills in outcomes investigations and randomized clinical trials. While engaged in his DCRI fellowship, he obtained formal research training through a master’s in health sciences from Duke University. He joined the faculty of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in October 2019 and currently serves as the program director for the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship. He has also developed an interest in Geriatric Cardiology, especially where it intersects with critically ill patients, and is currently leading several analyses examining the role of frailty in cardiogenic shock.
Michelle Kelsey, MD

Duke University
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Dr. Michelle Kelsey is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Duke University. She practices as a general cardiologist at Duke University in the Cardiometabolic Clinic and at the Durham VA Medical Center. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Massachusetts) and subsequently pursued a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Duke University. She specializes in cardiovascular prevention, with a focus on hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and lifestyle changes that can help improve quality of life over the long-term. Her research interests include the full spectrum of cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions, with a particular focus on lipid management, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular risk assessment. She also works as an investigator at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, where she has been involved in several clinical trials on evaluation for stable angina, use of metformin in pre-diabetes, and implementation of type 2 diabetes care.
Schuyler Jones, MD

Duke University
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Dr. Schuyler Jones is an interventional cardiologist, and his clinical interests include peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, and percutaneous coronary intervention. He currently serves as the Director of the Duke University Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. Dr. Jones is also the medical director of the Duke Heart Center Clinical Research Unit (that oversees site-based research within the Heart Center) and director of site-based research in the Duke Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Duke. Dr. Jones works as an investigator at the Duke Clinical Research Institute where he has been part of the leadership team for several clinical trials across a broad spectrum of cardiovascular care, including CAD, PAD, PCI, and CABG. In addition to his role on the LIVEBETTER study, he is a co-principal investigator of the PCORI-funded demonstration project called Aspirin Dosing: A Patient-Centric Trial Assessing Benefits and Long-Term Effectiveness (ADAPTABLE) study. He is also the chair of the Recruitment and Retention Core for the PREVENTABLE study which will enroll 20,000 patients over 75 years of age without established cardiovascular disease at PCORnet and Veterans Affairs centers.
Eric Velazquez, MD

Yale University
Steering Committee
Eric J. Velazquez, MD, the Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine, is an internationally recognized authority in heart failure, cardiovascular clinical trials, and cardiac imaging. Dr. Velazquez serves as the section chief for Cardiovascular Medicine for Yale School of Medicine and the Physician-in-Chief of the Heart and Vascular Center for Yale New Haven Health. Additionally, he is the Deputy Director, Clinical Trials Innovation at the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. Velazquez chose to pursue a career in cardiovascular medicine twenty years ago and has facilitated multicenter clinical research programs and quality initiatives with substantive focus and impact on vulnerable and underserved populations at high medical risk. As a clinical investigator, he has made major contributions in the design, development, and implementation of landmark clinical trials that have altered international guidelines and the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. Today, much of his research and clinical work focuses on the intersection between heart failure and coronary heart disease.
Jennifer Frampton, DO, MPH

Yale University
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Jennifer Frampton, DO, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Yale School of Medicine. She completed her medical training, inclusive of residency, fellowship, and interventional cardiology training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Frampton practices as an interventional cardiologist at Yale New Haven Hospital, and her clinical interests include coronary artery disease and performing procedures including coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention. In her clinic, she focuses on long term management of cardiovascular disease, with an emphasis on longevity and maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle. Her research interests include the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and diagnosis of STEMI, and the applications of percutaneous coronary interventions. She is enthusiastic about joining the LIVEBETTER team, as the goal of the study is to further understand how to best manage our aging population with coronary artery disease.
Thomas Gill, MD

Yale University
Steering Committee
As a board-certified geriatrician and epidemiologist, Dr. Gill has performed ground-breaking research on the epidemiology and prevention of disability, a challenging and complex problem of immense importance to older persons, their families, and society. He directs the Yale Center on Disability and Disabling Disorders, which conducts longitudinal studies and clinical trials to enhance the scientific knowledge base of the disablement process and to rigorously evaluate promising intervention strategies. Dr. Gill has had a leadership role in the Yale Program on Aging and National Institute on Aging (NIA)-sponsored Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for the past 20 years and has served as its director since 2010. He Is a prior recipient of an NIA MERIT Award and has authored more than 370 original reports. During the past 25 years, Dr. Gill has acquired considerable experience and expertise in the design and implementation of high-quality single site and multi-center clinical trials among vulnerable older persons.
Abdulla Damluji, MD, PhD

Inova Center of Outcomes Research and
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Abdulla A. Damluji, MD, PhD is the Director of The Inova Center of Outcomes Research in Falls Church, VA. He is a practicing interventional cardiologist and structural heart disease specialist at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute. Dr. Damluji is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He obtained a Master of Public Health (MPH '07) and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD '20) in Clinical Investigation from the Johns Hopkins University, where he served as a Pepper Scholar at the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. His NIH-funded study, Frailty and Resiliency in Older Adults with Acute Myocardial Infarction, examines health outcomes, geriatric syndromes, and multisystem dysregulation in older adults undergoing cardiovascular interventions. He is a Dean's Scholar in the Executive MBA Programs (Stern DC '23; Concentration Finance and Business Analytics) at NYU Stern School of Business. Dr. Damluji is dedicated to the study of cardiovascular aging and improving the quality of life for older adults living with cardiovascular disease.
Andrew Ambrosy, MD

Kaiser Permanente
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Dr. Andrew P. Ambrosy is a practicing non-invasive cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center (San Francisco, CA) and a clinician-investigator at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) – Division of Research (DOR) (Oakland, CA). He is also the KPNC Regional Assistant Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Program and supports site-based research for all therapeutic areas across twenty-one medical centers and more than 260 freestanding clinics. His research interests include the full spectrum of cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions, with a focus on ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and heart failure. He has extensive experience in health services, implementation science, and traditional and pragmatic clinical trials. He is currently the Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI, or Co-Investigator (Co-I) on several competitive grants and his research is supported through diverse funding sources including the NHLBI, The Permanente Medical Group, and industry sponsors. He is an Associate Editor for the American Heart Journal and serves on the editorial boards for European Journal of Heart Failure and Journal of Cardiac Failure. Dr. Ambrosy has presented his research at national and international scientific meetings and authored >175 peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Alan S. Go, MD

Kaiser Permanente
Site Investigator, Steering Committee
Alan S. Go, MD, is Regional Medical Director of Kaiser Permanente Northern California Clinical Trials Program and Associate Director, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Conditions Research at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Dr. Go is also a Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Medicine at University of California, San Francisco; and Consulting Professor of Medicine, Health Research and Policy at Stanford University. His research interests include improving large-scale clinical trials within health care delivery systems, cardiovascular epidemiology and outcomes research, improving risk prediction, evaluating the role of wearable and mobile devices, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, acute and chronic kidney disease, and optimizing prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and renal disease and associated risk factors. Dr. Go was recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher representing top 1% of researchers by citations for Clinical Medicine by Thomson-Reuters/Web of Science in 2020.