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Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Center of Excellence

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THE STORY

In June of 2009, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute awarded Moi University of Eldoret, Kenya, in collaboration with its lead "Developed Country Partner," Duke University, a contract to establish the AMPATH Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease (CVPD) Center of Excellence. One of eleven funded programs, the award was made in response to the need for more innovative approaches to combating non-communicable disease in the developing world. These diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and pulmonary diseases, account for the leading causes of death in many developing countries, and are expected to account for 80% of the global disease burden by the year 2020 (Boutayeb, 2005).

Duke University, under the scientific and operational leadership of Eric Velazquez, MD and Cynthia Binanay, BSN, MA, is ultimately responsible for providing guidance and support to Moi University for administration of the program and for the development of the cardiovascular clinical and research training program.  Other collaborating partners include Indiana University for informatics, and Brown University for statistics and pulmonary.
 

THE MISSION

The mission of the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Center of Excellence is to establish a unique and sustainable continuous quality improvement environment in Western Kenya to cyclically evaluate how to diagnose, characterize, treat, and ultimately prevent chronic cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. The objectives by which we will achieve our mission include the following:

  • Organize an administrative core for CVPD clinical care, training, and research;
  • Develop and implement a competency-based clinical training curriculum;
  • Establish a clinical research training program;
  • Adopt and enhance existing data management and laboratory infrastructure for CVPD;
  • Implement research programs to address prevalence, prevention, and treatment.
 

THE FUTURE

When compared with other NHLBI funded Centers, the AMPATH COE is the only program establishing CVPD clinical services and research training programs in a new therapeutic area. Unlike the AMPATH COE which is building upon an extensive care and research platform for HIV treatment, other NHLBI sites already have local CVPD expertise.  New equipment has been sent to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, including portable echo cardiography equipment and a PAX digital archiving system, to begin improving cardiac imaging capabilities.

Research and care projects currently underway include an indoor air pollution from cook stoves and the impact on heart/lung function study, rheumatic heart disease prevalence and acute rheumatic fever prevention campaigns, as well as opportunities to combine blood pressure screening with other exisiting health programs. CVPD training for nurses, respiratory, echo, and EKG technicians is also planned, as are improvements to the technology infrastructure and laboratory facilities.


Providing the best in professional support is also a key priority. One of Duke’s Global Health Fellows in Cardiology, Dr Jerry Bloomfield,  lived in Eldoret  for a one-year assignment (to read more about his experiences, visit his profile page). Presently a senior Duke cardiologist, Dr. John Lawrence and his wife are spending eight months of the year in Eldoret to help develop the cardiovascular services and CV training curriculum.