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Atherosclerosis, stent repair important areas of study to Renu Virmani, MD
Outside of her professional work, Virmani enjoys travel, including a recent trip to the Arctic.
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When she is not traveling to different parts of the world, Renu Virmani, MD, is focused on advancing the early detection and diagnosis of atherosclerosis.
Virmani received her doctorate from Lady Hardinge Medical College at Delhi University in New Delhi, India, in 1973. She completed her residency at George Washington University Medical Center in 1977 and a fellowship at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 1979.
Virmani became medical director of CVPath of the International Registry of Pathology in 2005. Virmani is also a clinical professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, the Uniform University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and George Washington University. She is a clinical research professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Virmani has served on the editorial boards and review boards of numerous publications including Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, American Journal of Cardiology, Human Pathology and Modern Pathology. Her work has been published in New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, Journal of Vascular Surgery, Journal of the American Medical Association and many other scholarly publications.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not practicing medicine?
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Medical Director of CVPath of the International Registry of Pathology. |
I like traveling and seeing the most parts of the world that I can. I do not want to visit the same places, and in fact I rarely do. For example, we just got back from a trip to the Arctic on an icebreaker.
If you had not gone into cardiology or medicine, what would you have done?
I’m a cardiac pathologist. I would probably have gone into architecture. I wanted to do something innovative and something that you have to create. That is why I like research, because I am on my own doing it.
What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?
My biggest success is in the field of atherosclerosis. We came up with a classification and described an entity called thin-cap fibroatheroma, which is like the vulnerable plaque. We characterized it better. That is why there is some excitement in the field of atherosclerosis — perhaps we can diagnose it before people have MIs. The second area in which I feel I have made the greatest contribution is the understanding of stent repair and drug-eluting stents. One of the drawbacks of these that I predicted early on was that there would be late thrombosis with drug-eluting stents.
What is the last book you read, art collection you saw or CD you bought?
I like the paintings by contemporary artists. I particularly like the Impressionists, because rather than painting what they saw, they painted what they felt. I love Impressionist paintings. The last one I saw was in an exhibit in Chicago. The last book I read was a collection of short stories about India. I also enjoy historical accounts and prefer nonfiction to fiction. I am not much of a music enthusiast.
Who do you most admire, and what would you ask that person if you had five minutes with him or her?
A man I admired in many ways was Mahatma Gandhi, but he had his own problems as well. What made him such a great man? I would like to learn how he thought more broadly than most of us ever could. How did nonviolence come into his being? That is something I have admired, and would like to ask him how he came up with it. How did he conceive of the concept of nonviolence? I would also like to know how and why he expected to achieve something with the British, which he thought he would and ultimately did.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Always tell the truth and never lie. The other [piece of advice] is to stand by your convictions.
Who do you consider a mentor?
William C. Roberts, MD, a cardiac pathologist. He runs the American Journal of Cardiology. I learned how to do research under him. I did not know much about research at the time and he put me in the right position to learn about how to do a paper and how to present. He had a lot of patience with me. During my first presentation after I first came to this country from India, I spoke with a much thicker accent than I do today. He would say, “No, you have to get rid of this and speak in this manner.” He listened to me 60 times to make sure I gave a good talk. He had patience to teach me how to write a paper, which has been very useful to me in my career. He taught me how to analyze data, how to think outside of the box, and he has really helped me in my career.
What kind of diet and exercise regime do you have?
I eat sensibly – no fast food, high-fat foods or fried food. Sticking to a Mediterranean diet is also smart. I keep it simple and healthy. I also enjoy a little yoga and walking.
What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?
Within the next 10 years, we should be able to identify the vulnerable plaque and most likely do this noninvasively. That will have a huge impact on cardiology as a whole. We will be able to diagnose patients with coronary disease. The Framingham has done some work in this, but we have to take new steps to make it better. Whether that is through noninvasive testing, through imaging like multi-slice CT or through biomarkers, something will come up that will allow us to pick those things out beforehand.
What is your favorite travel destination?
I like going and visiting my grandchildren in Manhattan. If I could go every few months to Patagonia, I would love it. I also enjoy European cities, and I particularly like the Tuscany region of Italy.
What is your favorite restaurant?
I like ethnic foods and, obviously, Indian foods. I do not cook much, so I like to go to Indian restaurants if I can. – by Eric Raible