DoM Faculty Appointments and Promotions – March 2025
Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion!
Associate Professor
Gene Kwan, MD, MPH, Medicine/Cardiovascular Medicine, is a global health clinical scientist who studies health services to identify and treat cardiovascular disease in rural low-income countries. He uses implementation science to test strategies for heart failure and hypertension care particularly in Haiti, Rwanda and other countries in Africa. He studies how to improve access to echocardiography by training nurses and mid-level providers to diagnose and treat cardiac disease. Dr. Kwan is a health policy advisor to the governments of Haiti and Rwanda and an advisor to the Lancet Commission on Reframing Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries for the Poorest Billion. He was invited to the NHLBI-sponsored workshop on Sustaining Global Capacity on Implementing Research for Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, and Fogarty International Center’s Non-Communicable Disease networking meetings. Dr. Kwan is a sought-after research mentor for local and international trainees and has been repeatedly recognized for his clinical acumen, teaching and mentoring accomplishments.
Ivan Luptak, MD, PhD, Medicine/Cardiovascular Medicine, is a physician-scientist specializing in cardiac metabolism. His research focuses on the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiovascular disease, utilizing advanced multinuclear magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy techniques. By measuring the contribution of fuel sources–such as glucose and fatty acids–to mitochondrial energy production and assessing the turnover of energy-carrying molecules like ATP in beating hearts, Dr. Luptak has made significant contributions to the field. His work has advanced the understanding of cardiovascular pathophysiology and yielded important translational insights with potential therapeutic impact.
Clinical Associate Professor
Shivda Pandey, MBBS, Medicine/Cardiovascular Medicine, is an imaging specialist with advanced training in nuclear cardiology. A staff cardiologist at Boston Medical Center (BMC), she provides clinical services in the outpatient and inpatient settings, and in the echocardiography and nuclear medicine laboratories. Her advanced training in nuclear cardiology has been critical to the development and growth of this sub-section, which she has directed since 2016. She has played a central role in the advancement of Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Cardiac Amyloidosis Radionuclide Imaging at BMC and is the primary cardiologist performing and interpreting nuclear stress tests.