Visiting Graduate Student; unpaid

Overview of Department & Mentor

Dr. Raj Makkar is an internationally renowned interventional cardiologist leading a heart valve and structural heart research program known for innovative studies and for publishing in prestigious journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Lancet.

This appointment will provide guidelines and knowledge to the scholar about obtaining the relevant data that will later be used as a base for new ideas and contributions to retrospective or prospective studies and publications. It will require obtaining Good Clinical Practice accreditation and IRB approval for the research studies assigned to the scholar. The scholar will also learn how to perform data mining, manage and analyze data from our specific structural heart registry studies.

The work may serve as a subject for future abstracts and manuscripts.

The visiting scholar will be assigned to a specific research project or registry. He will complete all necessary modules to obtain IRB approvals, collect data, and participate in the completion of the project as well as potential publication(s). His activity will be strictly research. He will not be allowed to shadow in the clinic or observe duties in the cath lab.

The scholar will understand how we subtract data, manage, and analyze data on our retrospective registry studies. The proposed study is the Align Study (IRB 44753) comparing outcomes in patients with severe aortic insufficiency treated with an off‑label commercially approved valve to a registry study. Patient baseline characteristics, echo cardiographic data, hemodynamics, CT, MRI, and other imaging studies will be reviewed retrospectively.

The scholar will access only data related to the IRB 44753 registry study and will attend bi‑weekly meetings to monitor progress and assess objectives.

• Must be 18 years of age or older.
• Must have a high school diploma or GED.
• Must reside in the greater Los Angeles area or surrounding cities while conducting all activities related to the internship or visitor appointment.
• INTERNS:
  Those participating for academic credit must receive academic credit for the duration of the internship.
• VISITORS:
  Must be receiving funding from an eligible sponsoring institution (employer, educator, funder, etc.).

• Background in medical terminology
• Teamwork ability
• Basic computer skills including Excel and Word