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About
I am a cardiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Cardiology) at UT Health San Antonio. I specialize in preventive cardiology.
Education
I attended Duke University for my undergraduate education and earned my medical degree from Emory University. I completed both my residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology at UT Southwestern and then completed an additional fellowship in Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging. I also hold a master degree in public health from Emory University.
After completing my training, I joined the UT Health San Antonio faculty in 2022.
Medical Interests
I have special interests in health care disparities and am particularly interested in strategies to prevent heart disease in communities with reduced access to health care.
Research
My current research aims to identify health systems interventions aimed at reducing racial, geographic and socioeconomic disparities in cardiovascular disease by improving screening and quality of care for underserved communities.
I have published numerous peer-reviewed scientific research articles and book chapters and have additionally received multiple institutional and national research awards for my work. I am an active member of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA). I am board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and echocardiography.
Video
Articles & Publications
Book Chapters
Hendren N, Rao S, Mody P..Acute Onset Heart Failure Due to Marfan Syndrome. Case Reports in Internal Medicine. 2016 Oct; 3(4): 78-83..
Rao S, Lambert C, Moanna A, Ali M..Elderly: Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS. Encyclopedia of AIDS. Hope TJ, Stevenson M, Richman D, editors. New York, NY: Springer New York: 2016. P. 1-9. .
Journal Articles
Rao S, Peña Silva RA, Pandey A..Health Systems Interventions for Preventing CVD in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. (In press, Taylor & Francis Jan 2023)..
Rao S, Essien UR, Powell-Wiley TM, Das SR, Halm E, Pandey A, Sumarsono A..Association of US County-Level Eviction Rates and All-Cause Mortality. Journal of General Internal Medicine. Published online 2022 Nov 7. .
Mentias A, Desai MY, Vaughan-Sarrazin MS, Rao S, Morris AA, Hall JL, Menon V, Hockenberry J, Sims M, Fonarow GC, Girotra S, Pandey A. .Community-Level Economic Distress, Race, and and Risk of Adverse Outcomes After Heart Failure Hospitalization Among Medicare Beneficiaries. Circulation. 2022 Jan 11;145(2):110-121..
Rao S, Hughes A, Segar MW, Wilson B, Ayers C, Das S, Halm EA, Pandey A..Longitudinal Trajectories and Predictors of US County-Level Cardiovascular Mortality (1980-2014). JAMA Network Open. 2021 Nov 1;4(11):e2136022..
Parcha V, Heindl B, Kalra R, Rao S, Pandey A, Gower B, Li P, Arora G, Arora P..Genetic European Ancestry and Incident Diabetes in Black Individuals: Insights from the SPRINT Trial. (Accepted, Circ Genomics and Precision Medicine, July 2021)..
Ajufo E, Rao S, Navar AM, Pandey A, Ayers CR, Khera A..U.S. Population at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. American Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2021 Jun; 6:100156..
Rao S*, Segar M* (*co-first author), Bress A, Arora P, Vongpatanasin W, Agusala V, Essien U, Correa A, Morris A, De Lemos J, Pandey A..Genetic African Ancestry, Blood Pressure Response to Therapy, and Cardiovascular Risk among African Americans in the Systolic Blood Pressure Reduction Intervention Trial (SPRINT). JAMA Cardiology. Published online November 13, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.6566.
Rao S*, Segar M* (co-first author), Navar AM, Michos ED, Lewis A, Correa A, Sims M, Khera A, Hughes AE, Pandey A..County-level Phenomapping to Identify Disparities in Cardiovascular Outcomes: An Unsupervised Clustering Analysis. American Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2020; 4:e100118..
Rao S, Galaviz K, Gay H, Wei J, Ali M..Factors Associated with Excess Myocardial Infarction Risk in HIV-Infected Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAIDS. 2019 June; 81(2):224-230..
Gay H, Rao S, Vaccarino V, Ali M..Effects of Different Dietary Interventions on Blood Pressure: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Hypertension. 2016 Apr; 67(4):733-9..
Rao, S..Perceptions of Unwanted Pregnancy, Emergency Contraception and Abortion: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Providers and Community Leaders in the Amazon Region of Colombia. Diss. Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, 2011..
Other Publications
Rao S, Jamal T, Khan MS, Michos E, Navar AM, Wang TJ, Greene S, Prabhakaran D, Khera A, Pandey A..Polypill therapy and Risk of Adverse Cardiovascular Events and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 2022 Jan 31..
Sumarsono A, Lalani H, Segar M, Rao S, Vaduganathan M, Wadhera RK, Das S, Navar AM, Fonarow GC, Pandey A..Association of Medicaid Expansion with Rates of Utilization of Cardiovascular Therapies among Medicaid Beneficiaries Between 2011 and 2018. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2021;14(1):e007492..
Segar M, Jaeger B, Patel K, Nambi V, Ndumele C, Correa A, Butler J, Chandra A, Ayers C, Rao S, Lewis A, Raffield L, Rodriguez C, Michos E, Ballantyne C, Hall M, Mentz R, De Lemos J, Pandey A..Development and Validation of Machine Learning-Based Race-Specific Models to Predict 10-year Risk of Heart Failure: A Multi-cohort Analysis. Circulation. 2021..
Rao S, Pandey A, Garg S, Mayo H, Park B, Neeland I..Effect of Exercise and Pharmacologic Interventions on Visceral Adiposity: A systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Long-term Randomized Controlled Trials. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2019 Feb; 94(2):211-224..
