This post was authored by KellyAnn Light-McGroary, MD, FACC, assistant professor, Division of Cardiology and Palliative Medicine Department of Internal Medicine University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Cardiomyopathy Treatment Program.

On Wed., March 4, the world lost a great man and a spectacular cardiologist who defined much of what we do today. His scientific contributions are epic and he is personally responsible for a huge body of literature that has impacted modern cardiology. However, for me, what made Kanu Chatterjee stand apart from most was not his discoveries and his writing, it was the person: the colleague, the teacher and the mentor.

Dr. Chatterjee was born and educated in India. He received his medical degree from the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1965. He then moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he served as director of inpatient cardiology until 1975. Dr. Chatterjee was inspired by the work of Dr. Jeremy Swan and Dr. William Ganz whom he viewed as mentors. He did seminal work at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in investigating hemodynamic changes in a large number of patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted to the Myocardial Infarction Research Unit. Dr. Chatterjee worked with Dr. James Forrester on the concept of hemodynamic subsets in myocardial infarction and therapies based on these subsets were introduced. He provided insights into hemodynamically guided drug therapy and was the first to report the beneficial effect of sodium nitroprusside in the medical management of severe mitral regurgitation.

The bulk of Dr. Chatterjee's later career was spent in clinical and scientific discovery at the University of California in San Francisco. In 2009 he and his lovely wife, Docey Edwards Chatterjee, retired back to Mrs. Chatterjee's home state of Iowa.  The result was that the University of Iowa received a most amazing gift as he joined our faculty to continue his clinical work and teaching. I can still recall sitting in the echo lab as a third year fellow when a soft spoken gentleman entered the reading room to review an echocardiogram and ask my opinion. It was clear in that brief exchange that there was something special about him. I remember it was a case of mitral stenosis. When we were done reviewing the images he invited me into the clinic to meet and examine his patient. It was a pleasure to watch his physical exam and his conversation with the patient and the family. This was just one of many experiences where he would selflessly give his time and attention to teach students, residents, fellows and attendings.

Over the next few years, many of the fellows and faculty at the University of Iowa had the honor of contributing to his book "Cardiology-An Illustrated Textbook."  As a graduating fellow and new attending it meant so much to be asked to write a chapter. The focus of my work has been in advanced heart failure and palliative/end of life care, a combination which has sometimes been hard to explain to colleagues; but he understood the connection and invited me to author a chapter about this.  As a young cardiologist with a somewhat unique calling, this gesture gave me such encouragement and validation. He subsequently created several opportunities for me to review or write, often giving up the opportunity himself for another publication or accomplishment. It is that aspect of Dr. Chatterjee that I would like to reflect on.

A few years ago I participated in the ceremony where the University of Iowa Kanu and Docey Edwards Chatterjee Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine was endowed with Dr. Chatterjee as the first recipient. After the ceremony I had gone to congratulate him and we reflected on this event and what it meant. I asked him then what he valued most in his career.  For him some of his greatest rewards came from developing other physicians, in helping others move forward and achieve.  Dr. Chatterjee inspired me that day. I had been so focused on what I needed to do to succeed, to achieve that I had forgotten the many gifts I had been given by some amazing teachers over my life. It inspired me to co-author my chapter and other work with an aspiring cardiologist, a young woman in residency who needed solid mentoring into a cardiology fellowship. I have sought out other students to support and I have since never turned down a request to teach, to mentor or to just have a cup of coffee with a resident or fellow who asked.

Dr. Chatterjee received many other teaching and achievement awards including the Gifted Teacher Award from the ACC, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Heart Failure Society of America. In 2014, he received the James Herrick Award, the highest honor in clinical cardiology available from the American Heart Association. He was scheduled to receive the ACC Presidential Honor for Excellence in Cardiology at the ACC Convocation Ceremony on March 16 at ACC.15. Dr. Chatterjee’s passing will be acknowledged at ACC.15 and his award will be granted posthumously.

To me, Dr. Chatterjee's greatest legacy: his students. They have spanned generations, disciplines, states and countries and of course professional societies including the ACC. As we remember this great man, I would encourage us all to remember and emulate his generosity of spirit, of time, of wisdom and mostly of himself. Let us all honor Dr. Chatterjee by opening up ourselves to colleagues and students in his memory. I have been blessed to know him, even for a short time.

< Back to Listings