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Q. |
How would you best describe your current practice settings and responsibilities within your institutions?
Response by
Glenn N. Levine, MD |
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A. |
For the past decade, I have been first codirector and then director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at the Michael E. DeBakey Medical Center. In addition, I served as Chief of Cardiac Critical Care. More recently, I have been appointed as Director of the CCU and have taken a more active role in other inpatient and outpatient activities. We are also currently working to bring coronary CTA and cardiovascular MRI/MRA to the Institution.
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What is your primary research and clinical focus, and how do you balance your many clinical, research, and teaching responsibilities?
Response by
Glenn N. Levine, MD |
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A. |
My primary research interests and clinical foci are on pharmacotherapies for acute coronary syndromes and during and after PCI. I am also involved in many trials of novel devices and strategies in the cath lab, including FilterwireTM, devices for PercuSurge, stents, Rotablator®, laser percutaneous coronary revascularization (PMR), and Intracoronary gene therapy for advanced ischemic heart disease. Being in an academic setting such as Baylor and at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center allows for easy balancing of the many clinical, teaching, and research activities we engage in because of the enlightened approaches of the institutes.
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Q. |
What is your primary area of research interest as it relates to cardiac stenting and antiplatelet therapy?
Response by
Glenn N. Levine, MD |
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We have been involved in many of the earlier and more recent trials of antiplatelet therapy before, during, and after PCI, as well as trials comparing intravenous antiplatelet therapy against treatment with direct thrombin agents.
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Q. |
How is clinical research conducted in your institutions (i.e., what procedures do you follow, and what timeline does your group work under)?
Response by
Glenn N. Levine, MD |
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All clinical research we conduct must be approved by both the Baylor IRB and by an oversight committee of the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. In most cases, the time from application submission to study approval is on the order of weeks to a month or so at the maximum. Baylor has made great strides in streamlining the process by making it completely online, while maintaining careful quality control.
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Q. |
Which of the trials in which you are an investigator do you view as most interesting?
Response by
Glenn N. Levine, MD |
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A. |
While trials of novel revascularization strategies have thus far produced very mixed results, these clearly have a great potential to improve patient quality of life and other similar parameters. Observing the evolution of antiplatelet strategy over the years has also proved quite interesting.
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