 Cheney and Reiner book event at National Press Club raises $60,000 for the Institute
Vice President Dick Cheney and his cardiologist and co-author, Dr. Jonathan Reiner discussed their book, Heart: An American Medical Odyssey, with moderator Barbara Cochran at a National Press Club Book Rap, December 3, 2013 to a sold out audience. The discussion was followed by a fundraising dinner with donors of the GW Heart & Vascular Institute. The event co-sponsored by Thoratec Corporation, GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and GW Hospital raised more than $60,000 for the Institute.
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 Former Senator Tom Daschle joins Dr. Katz and mHealth experts to discuss role of technology in improving healthcare
On December 4, 2013, George Washington University and Verizon Wireless co-hosted a telehealth and mHealth forum with keynote speaker former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD). Dr. Richard Katz, Director of GW Heart & Vascular Institute and Bloedorn Professor of Cardiology discussed how 21stCentury mobile technology innovations are improving healthcare access and outcomes for patients. Dr. Katz emphasized that while cell phone communication has great potential to enhance patients management of their chronic disease, a phone message alone often is not enough to impact health behavior. To be most effective a mobile health system needs to be bidirectional connecting both the health care team as well as the patient. "It's one thing to use a cell phone app that has diabetes management to generate data and get some tips back and forth," he said. "But if your health care team is unaware or unresponsive to it, it is like a tree falling in the forest with no one listening." At the end of this program the Verizon Foundation awarded Dr. Katz and the GW Heart & Vascular Institute $15,000 towards mHealth research projects.
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 Institute awarded for promoting sudden cardiac arrest awareness in DC
The Institute was recognized at the DowntownDC Business Improvement District's 2013 Momentum Awards Ceremony for its work in promoting public access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Jessica Johnson, Executive Director of the Institute, accepted the Program-Partnership Award, which is given to an organization that has made a unique, positive contribution to Downtown DC.
The GW Heart & Vascular Institute has donated over 140 AEDs in the Washington, DC region including seven AEDs to the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID). The Institute helped BID promote the safety of Downtown workers, visitors and residents who might experience sudden cardiac arrest by training BID's Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) in CPR and use of AEDs. Training was provided by GW's Department of Emergency Medicine.
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