UC Honors Vijay Sanghvi, MD, for 'Visionary Gift'

The UC community honored Vijay Sanghvi, MD, during a Nov. 25 reception for establishing the Drs. Vijay and Khushman Sanghvi Endowed Chair in Cardiac Imaging.

The endowed chair was created with a $2 million gift from Sanghvi to support the recruitment of an internationally recognized academic leader in the field of cardiac imaging, a program that will assume a role of increasing importance in the division of cardiovascular health and disease and at the UC Heart, Lung and Vascular Institute.

Sanghvi is the first American of Asian Indian origin to endow a chair position at the University of Cincinnati. Currently an adjunct professor of clinical medicine at UC, he has been active in the Cincinnati medical community for more than 40 years.

"I take great pride as an immigrant and naturalized citizen of the United States,” said Sanghvi, who greeted family, close friends and well-wishers who gathered for the reception in the CARE/Crawley Building’s Kaplan Reception Hall. "Cincinnati has been an incredible place, a real home that has enabled me to thrive, build a family, a career, a community and ultimately has given me the gift of belonging.”

Investing in education is fundamental to fostering leadership and long-term progress, said Sanghvi, who expressed gratitude to the many mentors and institutions, including UC, for supporting his own education and career advancement.

Sanghvi said he has witnessed dramatic growth in the field of cardiology during his tenure, but predicts those advances will be dwarfed by progress in the next 20 years.

"Cardiac imaging will play a central role in the diagnosis to decrease cardiac mortality,” said Sanghvi, who added he hopes the endowed chair in cardiac imaging will position UC to be a national leader in cardiology. "I am very pleased to fund this endowment.”

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

Richard Becker, MD, physician-in-chief and director of the UC Heart, Lung and Vascular Institute, offered a few words about the importance of an "endowment” for reception guests.

"When one looks at Webster’s for a definition, she or he will find  a 15th-century noun, but in actuality it is both a noun, because of its foundation and lasting importance, and a verb for the following reason,” said Becker, who is also Mable Stearns Stonehill Endowed Chair and chief of the division of cardiovascular health and disease.

"It’s an act of giving and showing ultimate trust in and for a worthy cause,” said Becker. "It is very much action in its origin and intent.  An endowment in medicine and science is a time-honored, deeply personal and inherently selfless way to secure one’s innermost principles and affirm one’s commitment to a greater good by entrusting another to in essence be the keeper of the flame.”

Gregory Rouan, MD, Gordon and Helen Hughes Taylor Endowed Chair and chair of the department of internal medicine, said the Vijay and Khusman Sanghvi Endowed Chair will increase the number of endowed chairs in internal medicine to 20.  He offered praise for Sanghvi’s support for the department.

"I have personally known Dr. Sanghvi since the early 1990s,” said Rouan. "His passion for teaching fellows, residents and students is an example for us all. His commitment to the Academic Health Center and our broader Cincinnati community is emblematic of what we all aspire to attain.”

Rodney Grabowski, president of the UC Foundation and UC vice president for development and alumni relations, said Sanghvi’s generosity is an investment in the university’s future and will benefit students, patients and the larger community for years to come.

"Dr. Sanghvi, on behalf of the University of Cincinnati Foundation, I want to say thank you for this visionary gift,” said Grabowski. "It is going to keep on giving for eternity, as long as this university is standing.”

Sanghvi is a former medical director for the division of cardiology at Jewish Hospital, serving from 1971 to 1990, and was responsible for introducing what now represent the core techniques used in the cardiology field. 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, Sanghvi endowed the University of Cincinnati’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.  He completed his residency training and board certification in internal medicine in 1964 and his American board in cardiovascular disease in 1975.

Sanghvi holds fellowships from the American College of Cardiology, the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada and the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention.