Anu’s story begins with a pulse. She’s 12 years old, holding her grandmother’s wrist, feeling the heartbeat’s rhythm—bounding or thready, slow or fast. “I was so taken by how much you could learn from touching someone, feeling the rhythm of their life, literally,” she recalls. Now a cardiologist at Mount Sinai, Anu Lala, MD, cares for patients with heart failure. Her work often places her at the border between life and death, which has challenged her to think deeply about questions both clinical and spiritual. In this conversation, Dr. Lala reflects on what she’s learned about uncertainty, healing, purpose, and what it means to live a good life.

Anuradha Lala-Trindade, MD, is Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Population Health Science and Policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also Deputy Editor of the Journal of Cardiac Failure.Links:

• Mount Sinai Heart
• Heart Failure and Transplantation at Mount Sinai Heart 
• Journal of Cardiac Failure
• Follow Dr. Lala on Twitter

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Check out more episodes of Road to Resilience —as well as guest pictures, transcripts, and more— on the Mount Sinai website.Road to Resilience brings you stories and insights to help you thrive in a challenging world. From fighting burnout and trauma to building resilient families, we explore what’s possible when science meets the human spirit.