Posts by Ahmed A. Tawakol, MD
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Medical Grand Rounds: Stress and Cardiovascular Disease: New Data and Clinical Implications
In the latest Medical Grand Rounds presentation, Ahmed Tawakol, MD, director of nuclear cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, discussed new data and clinical implications of stress and cardiovascular disease.
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Neural Activity on PET/CT Independently Associates with Subsequent Takotsubo Syndrome
By analyzing 18F-FDG-PET/CT scans, researchers in the Cardiology Division at Massachusetts General Hospital have become the first to demonstrate that heightened stress-associated neurobiological activity precedes the development of Takotsubo syndrome.
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Review: Multi-tissue, Multimodality Imaging Uncovers Pathophysiologic Link Between Chronic Stress and Cardiovascular Disease
A series of 18F-FDG-PET/CT studies at Massachusetts General Hospital have demonstrated a multiorgan neuroimmune pathway that explains how common, chronic stressors increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
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Neurobiologically Resilient Individuals Have Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers are using a new neurobiological definition of resilience to stress—lower amygdalar activity—and have linked it to decreased risk of cardiovascular events.
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Neuroimmune Pathway Linked to Socioeconomic Status and CVD Outcomes
Mass General researchers have uncovered a stress-associated neurobiological mechanism by which lower socioeconomic status increases the risk of adverse CVD outcomes.
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ACC 2019: A Media Roundup
At the 2019 ACC Annual Meeting, cardiologists from Massachusetts General Hospital presented and discussed research findings and advances in clinical care, such as predicting and preventing adverse cardiovascular events and optimizing patient care.
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Leveraging Social Media in Medicine
A group from the Massachusetts General Hospital Corrigan Minehan Heart Center discusses how they leverage social media as both practicing clinicians and active researchers.
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Amygdalar Activity Associated with Increased Risk for Diabetes
Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologists are the first to demonstrate that increased neurobiological activity related to stress is associated with a substantially increased risk of type 2 diabetes—a mechanistic pathway that could lead to novel drug targets.
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#AHA18 on Twitter: New Cholesterol Guidelines, the PIONEER-HF Trial and More
Health care professionals at this year’s American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions discussed late-breaking research, innovative treatment approaches and brand new guidelines. The conversations carried over from the podium and conference halls onto Twitter.
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The Relationship Between Stress and Cardiovascular Disease
Ahmed Tawakol, MD, co-director of the Cardiac MR PET CT Program, discusses the link between stress and atherosclerotic disease, and his team’s work using multimodality imaging to better understand that risk.
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Novel Pathway for Translating Emotional Stress Into Physical Heart Disease
A team of clinicians led by Ahmed A. Tawakol, MD, co-director, Cardiac MR PET CT Program, has found a novel pathway linking psychosocial stress to heart disease. Published in the The Lancet, this study finds that brain activity in the stress-responsive area of the brain (the amygdala) predicts subsequent heart attacks and stroke.
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Amygdalar Activity Can Predict Cardiovascular Disease Risk
A statistical review of imaging and cardiovascular event data at Mass General finds amygdalar activity to be significantly associated with cardiovascular disease risk.
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#AHA17 Video: Scientific Sessions in Summary
Mass General physicians presented on the podium, moderated sessions or showcased posters over 50 times at the American Heart Association 2017 Scientific Sessions. Some of them answered the question: “What was the most interesting topic presented at this year’s Scientific Sessions?"
Biography
Dr. Tawakol graduated from Stanford Medical School and did his Medical Residency and Cardiovascular Diseases Fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He subsequently completed training in Nuclear Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, after which he joined the Cardiology Division staff. His clinical focus is in nuclear cardiology and general cardiology, with a special focus on the identification of patients at highest risk for atherothrombotic event.
Dr. Tawakol's research interest is in imaging of atherosclerosis. His work has focused on developing novel diagnostic approaches and novel treatment strategies for atherosclerosis. To that end, Dr. Tawakol has developed and validated molecular methods to characterize atherosclerotic plaques, and has made seminal observations validating the use of FDG-PET imaging for the measurement of atherosclerotic plaque inflammation. Currently, he is leading several multi-center trials to evaluate interventions targeting plaque inflammation and is evaluating the potential clinical role of vascular PET imaging for improving the identification of patients at highest risk for atherothrombotic events.
Cardiovascular Care at Mass General
At Mass General, our world-class physicians and nurses specialize in specific forms of both heart and vascular disease, and work closely together to offer leading treatments and preventive care for cardiovascular conditions.