Nikhil Ahluwalia

Proud to announce Dr. David S. Park’s appointment as the new section chief of electrophysiology in the UCLA Division of Cardiology. Dr. Park brings exceptional leadership and research expertise as well vision for advancing arrhythmia care. Learn more: uclahs.fyi/4dXfG3A

Should we continue anticoagulation indefinitely after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation? jwat.ch/442bpq3 @NEJM #CardioTwitter

“If there was only one university in the world I could hire from, it would be the IITs.” -@BillGates With 1.3 million kids applying for one of 18,160 seats, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the toughest undergrad engineering program to get admitted to. The admit rate is just 1.4% versus 4.7% for @MIT . This year 489 @DakshanaIndia Scholars took the IIT entrance exam and 329 were accepted as IITians, a success rate of 67%! 5% of all IIT seats are reserved for kids with physical disabilities. At @DakshanaIndia, we have had a special focus on disabled kids almost since inception. This year we prepared 33 severely disabled kids for the IIT entrance exam and 26 of them were accepted by the IITs – a 79% success rate! @DakshanaIndia's topper was Lakhan Mahali who ranked 2nd in the country among tribals with disabilities admitted to the IITs. He will be studying Computer Science at IIT Delhi! Congrats Lakhan! Lakhan has extreme locomotor disability in both hands with an irregular bone structure. He cannot lift heavy objects. He can hold a pen and write only for a few minutes. After that unbearable pain radiates from his fingers to his wrist and then on to his elbow, forcing him to drop his pen. The pain subsides after a few minutes; he can resume writing and the cycle repeats. It is a genetic condition. His younger brother has a similar locomotor disability affecting his back which makes it hard for him to walk even for short distances. Lakhan’s family lives in Rapcha village in a remote corner of the State of Jharkhand. Lakhan’s mother is illiterate, and his father never finished 10th grade. Both parents are unskilled laborers making under $1.50/day each. They live in extreme poverty in a 250 sq. ft home with no indoor plumbing or regular electric service. Any possible surgery that could have helped him was never explored and not an option. While Lakhan has great difficulty with traditional writing and lifting heavy objects, he faces no issues with using a laptop or tablet. In 2029, when he graduates from IIT Delhi, his family’s financial struggles will finally be over and we at Dakshana are stoked about our small role in his journey. (Pictures: @BillGates at @iitd in 2024; Lakhan and his family)