EP 45: Dr Alin Gragossian's Journey, Physician, Heart Transplant Recipient

EP 45: The Journey of Dr Alin Gragossian, Physician, Heart Transplant Recipient & Advocate

Average (ratings)

No ratings

•

Your rating

Two and a half weeks before her urgent orthotopic transplantation, Alin led the life of a busy emergency medicine resident. The warning signs of her dilated cardiomyopathy were drowned out by the demands of a 24-hour shift at her critical care unit. She recalls being confused while she was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and was signed up for the organ transplant list.
After the heart transplant, while coming to terms with her condition, she decided not to let this “inconvenient life event” bring her down and take over her thoughts, and wrote the first post on her blog “a change of heart”. The blog is a space for raising awareness of organ donation, research and charities.

Dr Ankur Kalra’s guest is Dr Alin Gragossian, a critical care fellow, heart transplant recipient and advocate. In this episode, Alin talks about her journey as a patient, the psychological aspects of her recovery and her advocacy work. Ankur asks Alin about the mindset behind her sense of purpose and her dedication to help raise awareness of organ donation and young heart failure patients.

How did Dr Gragossian receive her diagnosis? How does she feel about her new reality? What drives her? What is her message to our listeners?

Read more about Dr Alin Gragossian's journey here: www.achangeofhe.art/blog

Questions and comments can be sent to “podcast@radciffe-group.com” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode. Guest @AG_EM33, hosted by @AnkurKalraMD. Produced by @RadcliffeCARDIO.

Read MoreRead Less

Episodes

Up Next

EP 46 Dr Eric Adler on Mission, Mentorship & Synergy Between Research & Patient Care

EP46 • Apr 19, 2021 • 1h 2m 29s

According to Dr Eric Adler, at the core of all impactful research is a powerful narrative that makes us reflect on the human condition. In 2006, when the ground-breaking discovery was made that specialized cells can be turned into stem cells, Dr Eric Adler was thinking about how he could create a synergy between his passion for clinical work and his determination to ask compelling questions in research.

Parallax’s guest this week is Dr Eric David Adler, Medical director of heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San Diego Health.

All Episodes

Ep 158: Leading the Structural Heart Revolution: Innovation, Data, and the Future of Valve Therapy

EP158 • May 05, 2026 • 47m 4s

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra speaks with Dr Kendra Grubb (Medtronic) about her journey from cardiac surgery to industry leadership—and how scaling impact is reshaping structural heart care. From Evolut low-risk insights to sex disparities and the future of AI-driven valve therapy, this is a forward-looking conversation you won’t want to miss.

Ep 157: From HFpEF to AF: Dissecting the ACC 2026 Trials That Matter

EP157 • Apr 20, 2026 • 46m 37s

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra is joined by Dr Michelle Kittleson, Professor of Medicine and Advanced Heart Failure Cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, for a clinically rich breakdown of her standout trial picks from the 2026 ACC Annual Scientific Sessions.

Ep 156: Gravity, the Heart, and POTS: Space Cardiology's Discoveries

Ep 156: Gravity, the Heart, and POTS: Space Cardiology's Unexpected Discoveries

EP156 • Mar 30, 2026 • 39m 47s

In this fascinating episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra is joined by Dr Benjamin Levine, Director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine and a pioneering figure in the field of space cardiology. Together, they explore the remarkable cardiovascular adaptations that occur in microgravity, and what they are teaching clinicians about treating patients on Earth.

Ep 155: Making Every Procedure Safer, Every Patient Count: Bleeding Risk, Sex Differences, and the Future of Structural Heart

EP155 • Mar 16, 2026 • 54m 6s

In this special TIO Congress edition of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra is joined by two of interventional cardiology's most influential voices: Professor Roxana Mehran and Professor Nicholas Van Mieghem. The conversation spans the evolution of online medical education, sex-specific differences in cardiovascular disease, and the challenge of translating clinical evidence into everyday practice.

Ep 154: Climate Change and CV Health: From Heat Waves to Heart Risk

Ep 154: Climate Change and Cardiovascular Health: From Heat Waves to Heart Risk

EP154 • Mar 02, 2026 • 29m 37s

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra speaks with Dr Sameed Khatana, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and clinical cardiologist at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. Their conversation examines the growing connection between environmental factors and cardiovascular health.

Ep 153: The 60-Minute Window: Solutions for Faster STEMI Diagnosis

Ep 153: The 60-Minute Window: Engineering Solutions for Faster STEMI Diagnosis

EP153 • Feb 17, 2026 • 36m 31s

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Dr Rakesh Shah, a former interventional cardiologist, Oxford MBA graduate, and founder of DRS.LINQ.

Ep 152: From Risk Factor to Treatment Target: The New Era of Cardiometabolic Medicine

EP152 • Feb 02, 2026 • 38m 33s

In this key episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra sits down with Prof Naveed Sattar to explore how recent therapeutic breakthroughs are fundamentally reshaping the cardiologist's approach to diabetes management.

Ep 151: Cardiology's 2025 Year in Review with Dr Sukh Nijjer

EP151 • Jan 16, 2026 • 1h 40m 44s

In this highly anticipated annual year-end episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes back Dr Sukh Nijjer, an interventional cardiologist in London, for their seventh consecutive year reviewing cardiology's most significant developments.

Ep 150: Building a Legacy in Cardiology: From the NIH to JAMA Cardiology with Robert Bonow

EP150 • Jan 05, 2026 • 50m 44s

In this landmark 150th episode of Parallax marking the start of Season 8, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Professor Robert Bonow, Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at Northwestern University and Editor-in-Chief of JAMA Cardiology. This milestone conversation explores the career of one of cardiology's most influential academic leaders and examines how strategic vision, mentorship, and institutional leadership have shaped modern cardiovascular medicine.

Ep 149: The Placebo-Controlled Revolution: Redefining Evidence in Device Trials

EP149 • Dec 19, 2025 • 33m 7s

In this week's episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Prof Rasha Al-Lamee, interventional cardiology consultant and professor of medicine/cardiology at Imperial College London, and deputy editor of JACC. Prof Al-Lamee has transformed interventional cardiology through her pioneering work on the ORBITA trial series and coronary sinus reducer device studies, introducing the paradigm-shifting concept of sham-controlled device trials to the field.