Equine internist and ultrasound/cardiology expert Dr. Cris Navas joined Penn Vet’s faculty last year, but his history with the School goes further back. From 2008 to 2012, Navas was a cardiology and ultrasound fellow and then lecturer at New Bolton Center. He left for a few years to teach elsewhere in the U.S. and Switzerland before returning to the Kennett Square area in 2019.

Navas’s main interest is exercise-related deaths and cardiac disease in athletes. “It’s an issue that needs to be fixed and has gained public attention recently,” he said. “We’re learning more all the time as new technologies increase our capacity to collect data, but we need better tools and more knowledge to interpret the data.” He is currently testing wireless heart rate monitor wearables that are streamlined for equine wearers, friendly for users, and better able to collect data from a larger population of horses than traditional wired patches. Dr. Cristobal Navas holds a surcingle fixed with a W2ND wireless heart monitor. Dr. Cristobal Navas holds a surcingle fixed with a W2ND wireless heart monitor.

At the same time, he’s also using digital technology, such as handheld ultrasound devices, to create an equine telehealth program. “Remote access and telecommunication tools will allow us to access many more people and advise in real time on cases around the world,” said Navas.