Dr. Rachel M. Bond, MD, FACC

10/04/2026

A weekend of purpose, partnership, and personal gratitude. ❤️

There is nothing quite like returning to my hometown of NYC for the Association of Black Cardiologists Policy Summit and Spirit of the Heart Gala.

The Policy Summit reinforced the importance of turning advocacy into action and advancing policies that address persistent cardiovascular health disparities.

One of the weekend’s highlights was connecting with our incredible partners at Merck for Mothers, whose support is helping ABC advance our Closing Maternal-Cardio Deserts initiative. Together, we are working to transform maternal cardiovascular care through clinician education, community engagement, and sustainable strategies that extend care beyond the traditional six-week postpartum visit.

Our discussions this weekend reaffirmed our shared commitment to translating education into measurable improvements in care and outcomes for mothers and families.

But what made this weekend truly unforgettable was having my dad by my side.

Bringing him to the Spirit of the Heart Gala and introducing him to the colleagues and partners who share my passion for this work was incredibly meaningful.

Even more special, after navigating his own health scare, my dad received wonderful news from his physicians just days before the gala. We suddenly had so much more to celebrate!

While we missed my mom, who was holding things down in Arizona, being able to dance with my dad again was undoubtedly the greatest gift of the weekend.

I am immensely grateful to our ABC family and Merck for Mothers partners for their commitment to this important work and for making this weekend so memorable.

A reminder that our professional purpose is deeply personal. We advocate for healthier communities so that more families can experience moments like these.

And yes, no trip home would be complete without a visit to Madison Square Garden to pick up my dad’s Knicks championship hat! 🧡💙

10/01/2026

Thank you American Heart Association - Arizona

((SL Advertiser)) For more information about the West Valley Heart Walk, call (602) 414-5353 or go to WestValleyHeartWalk.org.

09/27/2026

Grateful to deliver “The Systemic Architecture of Burnout” virtually at the NJ-ACC Women in Cardiology Executive Leadership Summit, led by Dr. Sheila Sahni early this AM.

I opened with: “When the Dream Meets the System.”

We enter medicine to make a difference. Then the dream meets the EHR, inbox, RVUs, staffing shortages, cognitive overload—and inequities that add another layer of burden.

Now, the cardiology pipeline is warning us. Some of our most demanding advanced subspecialties are struggling to fill training positions.

Instead of only asking, “Why aren’t they choosing cardiology?” we should ask, “What needs to change so they will?”

My biggest takeaway: I still believe deeply in the dream that brought me into medicine. But protecting that dream for the next generation requires more than teaching them resilience—it requires changing the systems that make extraordinary careers unnecessarily difficult to sustain.

I want the next generation to inherit not just our passion for cardiology, but a profession worthy of that passion.

The pipeline is warning us. It’s time to listen—and act. 🫀

09/20/2026

There is something especially meaningful about returning to a room that once celebrated you—and seeing the next generation rising.

In 2023, I had the honor of receiving the ElevateMeD Trailblazer Award. Yesterday, it was incredibly rewarding to return and celebrate the scholars who are now building their own paths in medicine. ElevateMeD’s work extends far beyond scholarships, providing mentorship, leadership development and financial literacy education to help prepare the next generation of physician leaders.

Two messages from yesterday will stay with me.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona, tonight’s Breaking Barriers Award recipient, reminded us that when you make it up the ladder, send the elevator back down.

And Dr. Alyx Porter reminded us of Nelson Mandela’s words: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

As a first-generation physician in my family, both messages resonate deeply. Mentorship has always been central to how I define success. It isn’t simply about how far we climb—it’s about using the access, lessons, relationships and opportunities we gain to make the journey more possible for those coming behind us. I’m grateful for the many mentees I’ve had the privilege of supporting, and for organizations like ElevateMeD that intentionally create those pathways.

And there was one other assignment for the evening: wear sneakers. 👟❤️ Naturally, the cardiologist understood the assignment. If I was trading heels for sneakers, they were going to have hearts on them. ❤️🫀

Congratulations to the honorees and scholars, and thank you to the entire ElevateMeD community for continuing to invest in the future of medicine.

Keep climbing. Send the elevator back down. And remember—even what seems impossible can be done.

If you believe in investing in the next generation of physician leaders, please consider supporting the ElevateMeD Scholars Program🙏🏽

🔗 https://www.elevatemed.org/events/2026/09/19/explosion-of-a-dream-2026

09/19/2026

09/19/2026

Thank you for allowing me to address the updated American Heart Association guidelines and show how updated guidelines can lead to lives saved ❤️🙏🏽

On Sept. 18, we hosted our 2026 Phoenix at Heart Executive Breakfast! It was an inspiring morning of connection, meaningful conversation, and a shared commitment to advancing heart health.

THANK YOU to the 200+ leaders, supporters, and community members who joined us and helped make this event so impactful.

09/14/2026

Congratulations to Breaking the Cycle on their 1st Annual PMOS Walk! 💗

What made this event especially inspiring is that Breaking the Cycle is a youth-led nonprofit. These high school students didn’t just show up—they organized, educated, advocated, and created a space for their community to have conversations about menstrual and reproductive health that are too often overlooked. 👏🏽💕 Major props to these young leaders for the incredible work they are already doing.

I was honored to join their multidisciplinary panel to discuss PMOS and its connection to cardiovascular health.

Why was a cardiologist there? ❤️ Because reproductive health is heart health.

PMOS goes beyond periods and fertility. Its association with insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk gives us an opportunity to talk about prevention early—especially with young people. I loved introducing the American Heart Association Life’s Essential 8 and reminding students that heart health doesn’t begin at 50. It starts now.

One message I hope they remember:

✨ PMOS is information, not destiny. Early recognition creates an opportunity for earlier prevention.

Seeing high school students take the lead in educating and empowering their peers was a reminder that you are never too young to advocate, lead, or make an impact.

Congratulations again to the young leaders behind Breaking the Cycle on an amazing inaugural walk! 💕 Please consider supporting and donating to this youth-led nonprofit so they can continue expanding education, awareness, resources, and community support.

🔗 https://breakingthecyclepcos.org/donate.html?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAdGRleAUTCZxwZG9mAmZkaWQWUOXrHVmCGY2XX75_iKl_xnlSy3pbw2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzEyNDAyNDU3NDI4NzQxNAABp7csAEVsdfDXKqmpw7ZVBQusUEVC8NoGY2dwBKeserN8fc16FXBA5XMf-14m_aem_pZnCELFbW0XSAEKQVbyEsQ

Every cycle matters. Every voice matters. Prevention starts young. ❤️

09/07/2026

Who wants to join me at the Association of Black Cardiologists 16th Spirit of the Heart Awards? ♥️🫀✨

And if you can’t be there in person… who wants to help us continue the work?

The ABC has spent more than 50 years working to improve cardiovascular health through education, advocacy, research, community partnerships, and the development of the next generation of leaders.

This year’s Spirit of the Heart Awards will bring us together at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City under the theme “Honoring Our Legacy, Shaping the Future of Health.”

This mission is especially personal to me. Through ABC, I have the privilege of helping lead our growing work in women’s cardiovascular health and maternal heart health—including efforts to close maternal-cardiovascular care gaps, expand education for clinicians and communities, identify cardiovascular risk earlier across a woman’s life course, and help ensure that where a woman lives does not determine whether she survives pregnancy or cardiovascular disease.

So I have two asks: Come celebrate with us—or invest in the work. ♥️

Your support helps ABC continue advancing cardiovascular education, research, advocacy, scholarships, community engagement, and initiatives like the maternal heart work that I am so proud to help lead.

🎟️ Join us at Spirit of the Heart or make a donation:
🔗 https://secure.qgiv.com/for/associationofblackcardiologists/event/abc16thspiritoftheheartawards/

Every seat filled, every donation made, and every person who shares our mission helps us move closer to a future where everyone has the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life.

Who’s coming with me? 🙋🏽‍♀️♥️🫀

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

09/05/2026

Not the HORIZON result we hoped for—but certainly not the end of the Lp(a) story. 💜🫀

The Phase III Lp(a)HORIZON trial enrolled 8,323 patients with elevated Lp(a) and established cardiovascular disease. Pelacarsen substantially lowered Lp(a), but did not significantly reduce the primary cardiovascular endpoint.

Disappointing? Yes. But this does not mean Lp(a) doesn’t matter. Decades of evidence support Lp(a) as an independent, causal cardiovascular risk factor.

Instead, HORIZON raises important questions: Was the endpoint right? Was follow-up long enough for a lifelong risk factor whose effects accumulate over decades? Should we be intervening earlier—before cardiovascular disease is established?

We need the full data before drawing conclusions. A neutral trial can teach us as much about timing, population and trial design as it does about a therapy.

I’m especially proud to have served as a Principal Investigator for a dedicated study of Black and Hispanic patients within the pelacarsen program—populations historically underrepresented in cardiovascular research. Thank you to Novartis ⁠ for prioritizing inclusive research, and to my Dignity Health research team, our patients, and all who made this work possible. ❤️

A neutral trial is not failed science—it helps us ask the next question better.

The Lp(a) story is far from over. 💜

08/20/2026

I read this with equal parts concern and frustration.

As a cardiologist specializing in women’s heart health and cardio-obstetrics, I fundamentally disagree with the idea that pregnancy—or any other stage of a woman’s life—somehow places her outside the responsibility or comfort zone of clinicians caring for her.

Women do not stop being cardiology patients when they become pregnant.

They do not stop having hypertension, arrhythmias, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, coronary disease, dysautonomia, or cardiovascular risk factors because they are pregnant. And pregnancy itself can uncover cardiovascular disease that may have otherwise remained silent for years.

The same principle applies across the entire life course: adolescence, preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.

We absolutely need specialists. We need cardio-obstetrics teams and multidisciplinary collaboration for complex patients. But specialization cannot become an excuse for the broader healthcare workforce to disengage from women during particular stages of their lives.

That is why the suggestion that clinicians simply should not have to care for pregnant patients is so troubling to me. The answer to discomfort is not avoidance. The answer is education, appropriate risk stratification, collaboration, and knowing when to refer.

Every clinician does not need to become a cardio-obstetrician.

But clinicians who care for women should have a foundational level of competence and comfort caring for women throughout their lives—including during pregnancy and postpartum.

Pregnancy is not a niche condition. Menopause is not a niche condition. Women’s health is not a niche area of medicine.

If our healthcare system requires women to continually find a different clinician every time they enter another stage of life, then the system—not the patient—is the problem.

We have to do better.

🔗 https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/122660

Neither pregnancy nor abortion are siloed