News

Dr. Ugonna Nwankwo joined the Department of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division as an Associate Professor in June 2025. He was previously Director of adult congenital heart disease at Saint Louis University and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s hospital. He earned his medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and completed a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at UPMC, followed by a pediatric cardiology fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He then completed a 4th-year advanced fellowship in congenital interventional cardiology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University.

This nine-month program supports division chiefs and section heads in strengthening the medical school’s culture, advancing faculty success, enhancing learner experience, and improving departmental operational effectiveness.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the 24th best hospital for Cardiac Care in the US, according to a data-based ranking published by Newsweek.  The ranking is part of a new America’s Best Hospitals for Specialize Care 2025 report. Newsweek and Statista partnered on the list, naming their Top 200 Hospitals for Cardiac Care. While 45% of each facility’s overall score […]

Angela L. Brown, MD, a professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division at WashU Medicine, was one of 55 faculty honored last month with Dean’s Impact Awards for community partnerships. Since 2013, Brown has encouraged better communication between WashU Medicine researchers and people in the community as the co-director of the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research, a part of the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) and the Institute for Public Health.

Dr. Mengcheng Shen joined the Department of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division as an Assistant Professor in May 2025. He earned his PhD from the University of Alberta, where his research focused on extracellular matrix remodeling in aortic aneurysm and heart failure.

When a young patient under the care of WashU Medicine physicians Amit Pawale, MD, and Joel Schilling, MD, PhD, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital with heart failure, time was of the essence.

Justin Vader, MD, a WashU Medicine cardiologist and heart failure specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, often sees patients with heart failure who are so sick by the time they enter care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, that they require extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Fortunately, the heart failure team is often able to stabilize such patients and transition them to a platform of support with a temporary heart pump, allowing patients to rehabilitate in the intensive care unit with the goal of either recovering cardiac function, undergoing a heart transplant or another procedure that may be appropriate for the patient’s needs.