A tribute to David E. Bush, MD

ByRoger S. Blumenthal, MD

by Roger S. Blumenthal, MD; Edward P. Shapiro, MD; and Nisha Chandra-Strobos, MD

The cardiology community lost an outstanding clinician, mentor, clinical researcher and pioneer with the passing of David E. Bush, MD, at age 63 years on Sept. 3. Dr. Bush was a widely respected and internationally recognized educator, and an expert in cardiac CT and coronary angiography.

David E. Bush

He earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, and moved to Baltimore in 1977 to join the prestigious Osler Medical Residency, where he became one of the very few African American house officers. He was selected by Myron “Mike” Weisfeldt, MD, to do his cardiology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins. There, he worked under the guidance of Bernadine Healy, MD, with whom he published a seminal paper in Circulation in 1988 describing the cellular mechanisms of myocardial infarct expansion. He was recruited to the faculty in cardiology and became the first African American cardiology faculty member at Johns Hopkins in 1983.

Roger S. Blumenthal

During the next decade, Dr. Bush became an expert in cardiac catheterization and was named director of the cardiac catheterization lab at The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He studied endothelial function and brachial artery vasoreactivity with his colleague Pamela Ouyang, MD, and demonstrated that endothelial function in some postmenopausal women could be improved with estrogen therapy. More recently, he worked closely with Roy Ziegelstein, MD; his basic interest in the pathophysiology of disease shifted to the problem of post-MI depression and the negative prognosis that it imparts. Together, they wrote several state-of-the-art papers on this topic. Dr. Bush was also the lead author for an invited comprehensive review on this topic for the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) through its Evidence-based Practice Centers.

A decade ago, Dr. Bush and Edward P. Shapiro, MD, an expert in noninvasive imaging, developed a highly acclaimed, multidisciplinary Cardiac CT Angiography CME course that continues monthly. They have taught hundreds of cardiologists and radiologists worldwide about the intricacies of this exciting technology. Dr. Bush was a dynamic teacher and mentor, and he displayed great enthusiasm for finding new ways to better diagnose and manage atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Nisha Chandra-Strobos

In his own quiet and persuasive way, he also helped address issues of diversity and racial equality on the national front in academic medicine. He was an active member of the Association of Black Cardiologists, was named that organization’s member of the year in 1999 and later served on its governing board. He served on multiple NIH study selections and important committees for the American Heart Association over the years.

From a young age, Dr. Bush loved electronics and photography. He excelled at everything he did, whether it was gourmet cooking, skiing, fishing or scuba diving. His smile would light up a room and be able to defuse many a tense situation.

In his departing address when he left University of Pennsylvania to come to Johns Hopkins in 1889, Sir William Osler used the term “Aequanimitas.” This word describes Dr. Bush’s demeanor perfectly. Aequanimitas means imperturbability, and was regarded by Osler as the most important quality of a good physician. It means “coolness and presence of mind under all circumstances, calmness amid storm, clearness of judgment in moments of grave peril. In full development, it has the nature of a divine gift, a blessing to the possessor, a comfort to all who come in contact with him.”* Whether Dr. Bush was dealing with a hypotensive patient with chest pain in the CCU or in the catheterization lab, a waiting room full of urgent patients, challenges in the clinical research realm or administrative quagmires, Dr. Bush was unflappable.

We will all miss his collegiality, advice, friendship and radiance. He was a great problem-solver, and for the past 32 years he was a shining example of what a faculty member at Johns Hopkins should be. He had the unique ability to balance research with clinical relevance and bring the bench to the bedside. He redefined patient commitment; he was seeing patients up to 3 weeks prior to his death. He was a highly sought-after clinician and his patients adored him.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Leslie Grant, DDS, and son, Evan, who had just started his freshman year of college; his brother, Ronald Bush, MD; and his father, Ebenezer Bush, DDS.

Reference:

Osler W. Aequanimitas: With other Addresses to Medical Students, Nurses, and Practitioners of Medicine. Philadelphia: Blakiston; 1904.

For more information:

Roger S. Blumenthal, MD, is director of the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease and is the CHD and Prevention Section Editor of Cardiology Today. Blumenthal can be reached at rblument@jhmi.edu. Edward P. Shapiro, MD, is director of noninvasive cardiac imaging at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Nisha Chandra-Strobos, MD, is chief of the Bayview Division of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Note from the authors: Contributions in Dr. Bush’s name can made to the David Bush Research Fund at Johns Hopkins, which can be sent to the Development Office; 600 N. Wolfe St.; Blalock 536, Baltimore, MD 21287.

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.