ADVANCE Grand Rounds: Q&A With Dr. Colleen Harrington
In This Article
- Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death in U.S. women, claiming nearly 500,000 lives each year
- Many women—and even many clinicians—don't fully appreciate the dangers of cardiovascular disease
- The ADVANCE Grand Rounds series aims to educate healthcare professionals about women's cardiovascular health with the goal of improving cardiovascular outcomes for all women
For years, the Corrigan Women's Heart Health Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Corrigan Minehan Heart Center has hosted an internal grand rounds. After being named the program's director of education, Colleen Harrington, MD, began exploring converting grand rounds for a national audience.
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The result of these discussions is ADVANCE Grand Rounds, a series focused on advancing women's cardiovascular health. Dr. Harrington and her colleagues did a soft launch of the series in January and will do a formal launch in September. The free virtual sessions will take place monthly from September 2025 to June 2026.
Q: What is your vision for ADVANCE Grand Rounds?
Dr. Harrington: Our vision is twofold. First, we want to educate healthcare professionals on the latest research and evidence-based clinical practices and guidelines with the goal of improving outcomes for women with cardiovascular conditions. Second, we want to offer networking opportunities to create a supportive network of professionals dedicated to women's cardiovascular health—that is, facilitating connections that lead to mentorship, collaboration, and sharing of best practices.
Q: Who is the target audience?
Dr. Harrington: We're aiming to provide high-quality education to healthcare professionals across all disciplines, not just cardiology. It's open to physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, medical students, and others.
Q: What work is going into the formal launch of the series in September?
Dr. Harrington: We're assembling a board of experts in women's cardiovascular health from around the country. The board will regularly convene to discuss how the series is going, how to increase engagement, how to broaden our audience, who is doing interesting work in this area, and what topics would be of interest to our audience. I've been talking about the series and the board at national meetings, and people have been overwhelmingly responsive and excited about getting engaged.
Q: What kinds of speakers will the series feature?
Dr. Harrington: We are hosting expert speakers from centers across the country. In the future, we hope to incorporate international experts as well. While the board hasn't chosen any speakers yet, we plan to spotlight junior faculty who are doing cutting-edge work. Giving junior faculty a national platform like this can have a huge impact on their careers.
Q: What types of topics do you expect to cover?
Dr. Harrington: Whether it's basic science, translational research, or clinical practice and innovation, we're open to all topics that will educate attendees about women's cardiovascular health and help improve outcomes. I imagine artificial intelligence will be one point of focus, given its transformative role in the field today. Another is increasing the representation of women in clinical research and device trials.
Q: Could you talk about the urgency of cardiovascular disease in women?
Dr. Harrington: Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death in women. But many women—and even many clinicians—don't fully appreciate the dangers of cardiovascular disease. We want to raise awareness of this issue. We're also educating about cardiovascular risk factors that are unique to women, such as those associated with pregnancy and menopause.
Finally, there's ample data showing that women tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated for heart disease. When women come into the emergency department (ED) with a heart attack or heart failure, they're less likely to receive the interventions or medications they need. With this series, we're aiming to highlight the disparities that women face when they arrive at the ED with chest pain so that healthcare professionals respond appropriately.
We need to educate about cardiovascular disease in women, globally. But we can start with educating our patients and clinicians, and then we can make a real difference with outcomes. We're lucky to be at a place like Mass General Brigham, which offers such amazing educational experiences. We want to share those experiences with others with the mission of improving cardiovascular outcomes for all women.
To join the ADVANCE Grand Rounds mailing list, send an email to mgbwomenshearthealthprogram@mgb.org.