Mary Cushman, M.D.’89, M.Sc., University Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and co-director of the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was quoted in a Washington Post article about a new study finding that routine mammograms that screen for breast cancer, aided by artificial intelligence, can also flag the risk of heart disease, the leading and often underrecognized cause of death in women. 

“If there is a way to educate women in a place ‘where they are’ anyway, like when getting a mammogram, it could be a game changer,” said Mary Cushman, M.D.’89, M.Sc., University Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and co-director of the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Dr. Cushman, who was not involved in the study, added that one of the most interesting findings was that the method could predict risk in women younger than 50.

“If there is a way to educate women in a place ‘where they are’ anyway, like when getting a mammogram, it could be a game changer.” — Mary Cushman, M.D.’89, M.Sc.

“It is a clarion call that younger women do have risk, that it can be detected, and that detection of risk should lead to interventions to reduce risk, even at young ages,” Cushman said, noting that this does not mean a cancer screening should replace traditional monitoring of cardiovascular risk.

The study was published in the European Heart Journal.