Beaumont Cardiologist Heals Apes' Hearts

While many visit the zoo to spend a leisurely day strolling through the exotic animal exhibits, Dr. Ilana Kutinsky heads to the apes to listen to their hearts.

Kutinsky, 44, cardiologist at Beaumont Hospital in Troy, helped start the Great Ape Heart Project, which is the first database of its kind on primate hearts, and has been collecting data for 12 years. She is one of the science and technology leaders whom Patch is highlighting in recognition of Women's History Month.

"Now we treat apes for what we think is heart disease," she said. "It translates to them living longer."

Her attraction to hearts has been around since she learned their physiology. There aren't, however, many women in her field.

"There are four female electrophysiologists in the state of Michigan. Nationally, we’re a minority," she said.

Working full-time as an electrophysiologist, a cardiologist who specializes in electrical disorders like rhythm disorders, doesn't give Kutinsky a plethora of time to devote to the Great Ape Heart Project. 

"So I fit this in in my free time," she said. "So late at night, Saturdays, Sundays."

During her medical fellowship, Kutinsky said she met a woman from a zoo in Boston who wrote a paper using research on five gorillas, which was the only data taken to know what was normal and abnormal for their hearts.

"In humans we use at least thousands of patients," Kutinsky said. "Five didn’t seem like a good number to me."

Together, they wrote a grant to have funds for collecting more data and started the Gorilla Cardiac Database. After people learned that Kutinsky studied a lot of gorilla heart echoes, zoos began asking her for help.

Her worked expanded beyond gorillas to include chimpanzees and orangutans, which are all classified as apes. She works with the Detroit Zoo's chimpanzees and gorillas, she said, and consults with the veterinarians there whenever they need her.

Her project partner, William Devlin, invasive cardiologist at Beaumont, has worked with her for about a decade, and is in charge of orangutans and gorillas.

"This is all volunteer work. We don’t get paid for any of this," he said.

Devlin said Kutinsky cares a lot about her patients, both human and primate, and keeps her family a priority. As a mom with two young girls, Kutinsky said she relies on her supportive spouse and positive people.

"Don’t take no for an answer. Keep trying. If you hit a road block, turn another way," she said.

Her hobby continues to open her world. She recently returned from a trip to Africa where she looked at wild gorillas in Cameroon.