In this month’s episode, we talk heart health with Dr. Gbenga Ogedegbe, renowned cardiologist and founding director of the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Ogedegbe provides an overview of how exactly the heart works and shares the good news and the not-so-good news about heart disease. He reviews the target numbers we should all aim for and offers simple steps we can take to keep our hearts in good working order. And because stress is a major risk factor for heart disease, Dr. Ogedegbe shares some of his own stress-busting strategies he practices daily. 

The Takeaway 

• Find out where you stand heart-wise by making an appointment with your primary care physician. Don’t have one? Find one at our Provider Directory: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/find-a-provider.   
• Visit the Healthy Living Resource Center for wellness tips, information and resources; www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving. 
• Get to know your numbers at www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyhearts.   
• Join WeightWatchers at a discounted rate of just $8 a month; $0 if you are living with diabetes or prediabetes: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/ww. 
• If you are living with type 2 diabetes, find out more about our partner Virta’s diabetes reversal program: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/news/virta.  
• Get inspired by fellow members through our new Members’ Voices series: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/healthyliving/membervoices.  
• Stop by our Benefits Channel to join webinars on managing stress, building healthy meals and more: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/videos. 
• Visit our  YouTube channel to view a wide collection of healthy living videos: www.youtube.com/@1199SEIUBenefitFunds/playlists. 
• Sample our wellness classes to exercise body and mind: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org/wellnessevents. 

Guest Bio 

Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH is the inaugural and founding director of the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity (IEHE) at NYU Langone Health. He is the Dr. Adolph & Margaret Berger Professor of Medicine and Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is a leading NIH-funded scientist in health equity research. He has led numerous NIH-funded studies for cardiovascular disease risk reduction with a focus on developing and evaluating clinic-community linkage models of care to address inequities in health outcomes.  

Dr. Ogedegbe is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the United States Prevention Services Task Force (USPSTF). He is a Fellow of many scientific organizations including the American Heart Association, American College of Physicians and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine.  

After obtaining his MD degree in Ukraine, Dr. Ogedegbe completed his residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, followed by a fellowship training in Health Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology at Cornell University, during which received his MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Prior to his current position, he was a faculty member at both Cornell Weill Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.