About

Carolyn L. Connor is a Professor Emeritus of Byzantine Studies at the Department of Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in middle-Byzantine church decoration, monasticism, and architecture. Her research employs an interdisciplinary approach that extends to her teaching of all periods of Byzantine Civilization, which encompasses the eastern Christian empire centered in Constantinople, incorporating heritages of ancient Greece and Rome, and flourishing into the middle ages. Professor Connor regularly combines and synthesizes perspectives based on artistic and archaeological evidence, historical accounts, literary works, and religious beliefs.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Cardiology
• Physical therapy
• Nursing
• Pediatrics

Selected publications

• Two-year outcomes in the direct oral anticoagulant apixaban in left ventricular assist devices (DOAC LVAD) study

  The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation · 2025-08-15 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Social Drivers of Health in Heart Failure Trials

  JACC Heart Failure · 2025-07-17

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Impact of Standardized Team-Based Care on Cardiogenic Shock Outcomes Over Time

  ESC Heart Failure · 2025-11-04 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Limited data exist regarding the impact of standardized care on cardiogenic shock (CS) outcomes over time. We aimed to investigate the influence of multidisciplinary management on CS outcomes following implementation of team-based protocols in 2017. METHODS: A total of 1453 consecutive patients enrolled into a single-centre CS registry were divided into two time periods, 2017-2019 versus 2020-2022. Baseline characteristics, management and outcomes were compared. The primary endpoint was adjusted in-hospital mortality. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to evaluate change in outcomes over time. RESULTS: Compared with 2017-2019, more patients with CS were treated in 2020-2022 (930 vs. 523; P < 0.01). They more often presented to the Level 1 centre (52% vs. 45%; P = 0.01), with a higher proportion of heart failure-related CS (72% vs. 58%; P < 0.01) and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions B and C CS (64% vs. 49%; P < 0.01). They were less likely to be managed with percutaneous ventricular assist devices (11% vs. 24%; P < 0.01) but more likely to receive veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (14% vs. 4%; P < 0.01) and heart transplantation (9% vs. 4%; P < 0.04). No differences were noted in in-hospital mortality [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.56-1.16; P = 0.25], major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (aOR 1.21; 95% CI: 0.87-1.68; P = 0.26), stroke (aOR 1.11; 95% CI: 0.65-1.91; P = 0.71) or renal replacement therapy (aOR 0.95; 95% CI: 0.66-1.37; P = 0.77). CONCLUSIONS: Standardized care for CS was associated with consistent in-hospital mortality over time despite changes in presentation and management. Further research is needed to identify the optimal care model during the vulnerable post-discharge period.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessing Benefit in Heart Failure Patients with Reduced Ejection Fraction: Analysis of the VICTORIA Trial Using Novel Prognostic Risk Stratification

  medRxiv · 2025-04-04

  preprintOpen access1st author

  Abstract Background Randomized controlled clinical trials remain the gold standard for determining efficacy of new heart failure (HF) therapies; however, failure to account for heterogeneity in risk of the primary endpoint(s) may dilute treatment efficacy. The novel 5-step stratified testing and amalgamation routine (5-STAR) methodology addresses these limitations using risk stratification based on treatment-independent associations between baseline covariates and clinical outcomes. We applied the 5-STAR methodology to the original VICTORIA database enriched by relevant ancillary information. Methods Within the 5-STAR analysis, elastic net Cox regression and a conditional inference tree tool blinded to treatment assignment were used to partition the trial population into risk strata for trial endpoints based on baseline covariates determined to be jointly strongly associated with the risk of the outcome. Core laboratory mechanistic biomarkers and baseline electrocardiographic variables were added to the VICTORIA dataset. After unblinding, treatments were compared for the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization within each risk stratum: stratum-level results were then averaged for overall inference. Results The 5-STAR analysis showed a greater vericiguat treatment effect on the primary composite endpoint than the original prespecified VICTORIA analysis (5-STAR-averaged HR, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.77–0.94 vs 0.90, 0.82–0.98), and on its components (5-STAR-averaged HR, 95% CI: cardiovascular death: 0.79, 0.67–0.93 vs 0.93, 0.81–1.06; HF hospitalization: 0.89, 0.79–1.00 vs 0.90, 0.81–1.00). Five biomarkers (GDF-15, NT-proBNP, albumin, blood urea nitrogen, urate) determined the risk strata across the 3 endpoints. Conclusions By developing treatment-independent risk stratification, the 5-STAR methodology attenuates dilution of treatment effects inherent in conventional prognostic risk heterogeneity. This retrospective analysis of VICTORIA revealed greater efficacy of vericiguat on the primary endpoint and its components. GDF-15 was consistently the strongest prognostic risk factor across the composite endpoint and its components of cardiovascular death and HF hospitalization. Clinical Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02861534 ).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Randomized Controlled Trial of Paroxetine for Noncardiac Chest Pain

  Psychopharmacology Bulletin · 2025-08-12 · 1 citations

  article

  Noncardiac chest pain occurs frequently in medical practice and is often difficult to treat. We conducted a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, 8-week trial of paroxetine in 50 patients with noncardiac chest pain. None of the patients met criteria for panic disorder or major depression. Paroxetine-treated patients showed greater (P &amp;lt; .05) improvements than placebo-treated patients on the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale. Both paroxetine and placebo-treated patients improved to a similar extent on self-rated pain measures, although baseline differences limited the interpretation of this outcome variable. There were no differences on other outcome ratings. Treatment was well tolerated. These preliminary findings extend other data on the potential of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for the acute treatment of noncardiac chest pain. Some recommendations for future studies to definitively test this potential are presented. Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 2006;39(1):15-24. Key Words: depression, SSRI, chest pain, antidepressant, clinical trial.

  PublisherDOI

• Sex Differences in Efficacy of Multidomain Rehabilitation Among Older Adults With Acute HF

  JACC Heart Failure · 2025-09-25 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Derisking Phase II Clinical Trials in Heart Failure

  JACC Basic to Translational Science · 2025-05-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Phase II clinical trials play an important role in drug development, providing key data that guide decision-making for promising therapeutic candidates. An important objective of phase II is to establish proof of concept by demonstrating that the drug produces its intended biological effects in the target population. Phase II trials also evaluate pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and dose-response relationships. Ultimately, the goal is to generate the evidence needed to inform go/no-go decisions for further development. However, as we will discuss, phase II studies have inherent limitations and cannot fully predict phase III outcomes. In this JACC: Basic to Translational Science and Heart Failure Collaboratory position paper, we examine the value and constraints of phase II programs, using prior examples of heart failure trials, with the goal of providing insights that will help investigators and sponsors to derisk go/no-go decisions.

  PublisherDOI

• Vericiguat and mortality in heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: the VICTOR trial

  European Heart Journal · 2025-08-15 · 14 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the VICTOR trial (NCT05093933), vericiguat was neutral for the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure (HF). VICTOR was powered to independently assess cardiovascular death. This study reports detailed analysis on the effects of vericiguat on mortality. METHODS: VICTOR, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, enrolled 6105 ambulatory patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) without recent worsening and randomized them to vericiguat or placebo. The main outcome for this analysis was the pre-specified secondary endpoint of cardiovascular death. All-cause death, sudden cardiac death, and death related to HF were also assessed. RESULTS: Over a median of 19.7 months (inter-quartile range 14.6-25.4), cardiovascular deaths occurred in 292 patients (5.7 deaths per 100 patient-years) and 346 patients (6.8 deaths per 100 patient-years) in the vericiguat and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio [HR] 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.97; P = .020). Risk of death from any cause was lower with vericiguat vs placebo (377 [7.3 deaths per 100 patient-years] vs 440 [8.6 deaths per 100 patient-years]; HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.97; P = .015). Sudden cardiac death and HF-related deaths were lower with vericiguat vs placebo (1.6 vs 2.2 events per 100 patient-years; HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.56-0.99; P = .042 and 1.7 vs 2.4 events per 100 patient-years; HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.54-0.94; P = .016, respectively). Lower mortality rates were consistent across subgroups including baseline therapy. Consistent cardiovascular and all-cause mortality benefit was seen across baseline N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels. CONCLUSIONS: In ambulatory well-treated participants with HFrEF, vericiguat was associated with clinically meaningful reductions in the key secondary outcome of cardiovascular death, as well as all-cause mortality.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Future of Artificial Intelligence–Assisted Event Adjudication

  JACC Heart Failure · 2025-05-01 · 1 citations

  editorialSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Vericiguat in patients with chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (VICTOR): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, phase 3 trial

  The Lancet · 2025-08-30 · 54 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Adrian F. Hernandez

  Clinical Research Institute

  838 shared

• Mona Fiuzat

  822 shared

• Adriaan A. Voors

  University Medical Center Groningen

  800 shared

• John R. Teerlink

  University of California, San Francisco

  745 shared

• G. Michael Felker

  Duke University

  728 shared

• Marco Metra

  University of Brescia

  717 shared

• Robert M. Califf

  United States Food and Drug Administration

  697 shared

• John G.F. Cleland

  University of Glasgow

  680 shared