$2M Gift Establishes the Sanghvi Endowed Chair in Cardiac Imaging

CINCINNATI—With a $2 million gift from Vijay Sanghvi, MD, the Drs. Vijay and Khushman Sanghvi Endowed Chair in Cardiac Imaging (the Sanghvi Chair) has been created to support a faculty member who is dedicated to the advanced cardiac imaging program at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Sanghvi is the first American of Asian Indian origin to endow a chair position at the University of Cincinnati.

The Sanghvi Chair will be given to a faculty member within the division of cardiovascular health and disease to help enhance educational efforts related to the UC cardiology fellowship program, his or her own clinical and research efforts, in particular by adopting the most advanced imaging technologies, and efforts in supervising two imaging labs within the UC Health system.

Since 1966, Sanghvi has been an active member in Cincinnati’s medical community. 

He served as medical director from 1971 to 1990 for the division of cardiology at Jewish Hospital, where he was responsible for introducing what now represents the core techniques used in the cardiology field.

"It has been a thrill to witness the evolution and dramatic growth of what we refer to today as modern cardiology resulting in significant improvements for cardiovascular disease-related outcomes,” says Sanghvi, now an adjunct professor of clinical medicine within the division of cardiovascular health and disease at UC. 

"The next 10 years in cardiology are going to be extremely exciting. Cardiac imaging, in particular, represents tremendous potential for growth and consequent impact on outcomes, including minimizing invasive approaches.”

From 1990 to 2003, Sanghvi was involved in private practice, focusing on diagnostic and interventional cardiology, but he maintained an affiliation with UC.

In early 2012, he endowed UC’s Mind-Body Interface in Health and Healing Lectureship, in order to address what he sees as an unmet need in current medical education and continuing education.

Sanghvi received postgraduate training at McMaster University and Queen’s University, both in Ontario, after receiving a medical degree from Gujarat University, India, and completed his residency training and Board Certification in Internal Medicine in 1964 and his American Board in Cardiovascular Disease in 1975. He holds fellowships from the American College of Cardiology, the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada and the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention.  

"Investments in education are fundamental to fostering leadership and long-term progress,” Sanghvi says. "I am very pleased to fund this endowed chair so that it that can support a UC faculty member to be a leader in the field of cardiology, and simultaneously enhance his or her own education, while shepherding the education and research of future physicians.

"It is my hope that the chair also represents an opportunity for the strategic positioning of the UC College of Medicine, as well as the UC community more broadly, all in the ultimate service of patients. It was important to me that the investment in technology could strengthen access for everyone. UC’s academic stature in the medical field, together with its link to a public hospital, makes this possible.”

Thomas Boat, MD, Christian R. Holmes Professor, dean of the UC College of Medicine and UC vice president for health affairs, says the college, the division of cardiovascular health and disease in the department of internal medicine and UC Medical Center are honored by Sanghvi’s gift and pleased to have an endowed chair in his name at the college.

"Dr. Sanghvi is a distinguished cardiologist not only at UC but also in the community and beyond,” he says. "We are so proud that he is part of our faculty. His generous gift will ensure that the cardiac imaging program at UC will continue to grow and be successful in years to come.”

"I’m delighted to be the first American of Asian Indian origin to endow this position in a city and institution that has been a part of so many historical firsts,” Sanghvi says. "UC was the place where the first heart-lung machine made open heart surgery possible, but Cincinnati also has a long history of being the first to open its doors to those who have been considered ‘outsiders’—immigrants, the disenfranchised and the underserved—from its part in the Underground Railroad to UC being the first university to offer cooperative education.

"As an immigrant and naturalized citizen of the U.S., Cincinnati has been this kind of place: a real home that has enabled me to thrive, build a family, a career, a community and has ultimately given the gift of belonging.”