- Now we'd like to pay tribute to several
of our cherished friends
who passed away this year.
Each person we are remembering made
an important contribution to our goal
of fighting cardiovascular
diseases and stroke.
The impact of their work will live on.
As their names appear, please
pause for a moment of silence.
(sentimental piano music)
Thank you.
The Basic Research Prize
recognizes researchers
who make significant
contributions to the advancement
of cardiovascular science
and who had outstanding
research laboratories.
This year's honor goes to
Doctor Elizabeth McNally.
A cardiologist and researcher who is
the Elizabeth J. Ward
professor of genetic medicine
and professor and director
of the Division of Cardiology
at Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine.
Doctor McNally has conducted
groundbreaking investigations
of genetic mechanisms
responsible for such inherited
disorders as heart
failure, cardiomyopathy,
muscular dystrophy, arythmias
and aortic aneurysms.
Her integration of molecular
biology and cellular biology
together with genetically
engineered models of disease
and human genomics has led to
the discovery of mechanisms
of disease and new therapeutic targets.
Her laboratory created the
first genetically engineered
model of cardiomyopathy
and muscular dystrophy.
She has generated several
other animal models
with a similar configuration of both heart
and muscle disease.
Doctor McNally is an
extraordinary physician,
scientist and educator.
Her promising studies hold great potential
for making more inroads into combatting
cardiovascular diseases.
Now let's take a moment to
hear from Doctor McNally.
- Hello, I'm Beth McNally
at Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine
and I'm truly honored
to be the 2016 recipient
of the Basic Research Prize
from the American Heart Association.
I've always been interested
in how genetic variation
causes cardiovascular disease.
My very first research
project nearly 35 years ago
was to study whether
genetic rearrangements cause
inherited forms of heart disease.
I started as an undergraduate
student working in
the laboratory of Doctor Leslie Leinwand
at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
I was especially lucky
because I was surrounded by
fantastic physician scientists,
mainly cardiologists.
Peter Buttrich and Glenn
Fischmann encouraged
and helped me pursue cardiology
as a clinical discipline.
At the Brigham and Women's Hospital
I also had terrific mentors.
I especially would like to
acknowledge Mark Pfeffer
and Cricket Seidman who
helped blend clinical
and research training for me.
And now we fast forward to
where so much is possible.
We routinely order genetic
testing to find answers.
This information that helps us better
to find risks for our patients.
We can sequence entire
genomes and build models
of these diseases to test new therapies
and to find new mechanisms.
I have had such wonderful
traineees over the years.
I continue to be very fortunate
with a stellar group of young scientists
who work with me every day.
I'm grateful to the
American Heart Association
for all they do to advance heart health.
So much progress has been made
and there is much more to do.
- Please join me in
congratulating the recipient
of this year's Basic Research Prize,
Doctor Beth McNally.
(audience applauding)
(dramatic music)
Congratulations again Beth.
The Clinical Research Prize
recognizes an individual
who is making outstanding
contributions to the advancement
of cardiovascular science
and who heads a distinguished
clinical research laboratory.
The recipient of this year's
award is Doctor Joseph Ornato.
Professor and chairman
of emergency medicine
and professor of internal medicine at
Virginia Commonwealth University
Health System in Richmond.
Doctor Ornato is a leader in
clinical research initiatives
that have been essential in
producing today's greatly
improved emergency cardiac care.
In this dramatically developing field,
Doctor Ornato has published
more than 350 papers
on enhanced emergency
cardiac care for conditions
such as heart attack and cardiac arrest.
His studies have demonstrated
the enormous potential
of mechanical CPR devices
during resuscitation,
and helped establish the
sub-field of resuscitation science
based on mechanical CPR.
Doctor Ornato chaired
the steering committee
of the NIHAHA sponsored clinical trial
that resulted in one of the most impactful
resuscitation science
papers in the last 20 years.
This trial demonstrated
the life saving potential
of public access
defibrillators that has lead
to the explosive growth
of automated external
defibrillator programs resulting
in countless lives saved.
Now let's take a moment to
hear from Doctor Ornato.
- I'd like to than the
American Heart Association
for this extraordinary honor.
Which I'm proud to receive on
behalf of all my colleagues
involved in pre-hospital
resuscitation research.
Out of hospital cardiac
arrest is an enormous
public health problem.
It kills more than 360,000
Americans each year.
That's a death toll equal to
a pair of jumbo 747s crashing
and killing every single person on board
every day of the year.
When the heart stops, seconds
and minutes to effective
treatment can literally
mean the difference
between life or death.
Research, citizen CPR training
and improving community
systems of care are beginning
to make a difference.
Just 25 years ago when my career began,
survival was less than three percent
in many of our largest cities.
Now we can save 12 percent on
average in the United States,
and in some cities up to 20 percent.
I've had the privilege to lead
the American Heart
Association and NIH funded
Pblic Access Defibrillation Trial
which showed that laypersons
using AEDs can double
cardiac arrest survival.
Now, AEDs are commonplace, we
have them in public buildings,
airports and on the airlines.
For the last 11 years the
Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium
conducted clinical trials with
up to 23,000 cardiac arrest
victims randomized to various
treatments in over 350
of our EMS agencies in the US and Canada.
Our work is to find
optimal CPR techniques,
clarify the role of anti-arrhythmic drugs
as well as circulatory
adjuncts during resuscitation.
So on behalf of our future patients,
I sincerely thank the Heart Association
and the National Institutes of Health
for their continued support of basic
and clinical resuscitation research
so we can further improve survival
from cardiac arrest.
Thank you so much.
(audience applauding)
- Please join me in
congratulating the recipient
of this year's Clinical Research Prize
Doctor Joseph Ornato.
(exciting, dramatic music)
The Population Research Prize
recognizes an individual
who is making outstanding
contributions to the advancement
of cardiovascular science
and who heads a major
population research laboratory.
This year's recipient is
Doctor Emilia Benjamin.
A professor of medicine and epidemiology
at Boston University Schools
of Medicine and Public Health,
and senior investigator at
the Framingham Heart Study.
Doctor Benjamin is a widely
cited investigator who has
co-authored 450 reports in
leading scientific journals,
covering multiple aspects of
cardiovascular epidemiology.
Her research findings have
led to a fuller understanding
of inflammation and vascular function.
She is perhaps most noted for her work
expanding knowledge of
atrial fibrillation,
including its epidemiology, risk factors,
genetic basis and prognosis.
Among her important findings
regarding atrial fibrillation
are the discovery of a
25 percent lifetime risk
of AF beyond the age of 40.
The description of a widespread heritable
component underlying AF.
Development of a risk
prediction score for AF,
and demonstration of
an association between
atrial fibrillation and
increased mortality.
Doctor Benjamin's
investigative career has been
remarkably significant and successful.
Now let's take a moment to
hear from Doctor Benjamin.
- The American Heart
Association asks us why
and true confessions, I ask myself why,
as there are dozens of
population scientists
who can be standing here instead of me,
My why is because our work
as population scientists
is deeply meaningful and joyous.
As population scientists
we have the privilege
of contributing to the
American Heart Association's
2020 impact goal through
research, education, and advocacy.
Together we will improve
the cardiovascular health
of all Americans by 20
percent while reducing deaths
from cardiovascular disease
and stroke by 20 percent.
I remain deeply grateful to
the American Heart Association,
Boston University Medical Center,
the Framingham Heart Study participants,
my colleagues, mentees and my family
for supporting my work.
So why?
Life is why, and what a wonderful life.
Thank you so much.
Colleagues.
(audience applauding)
- Let's continue to
congratulate the recipient
of this year's Population Research Prize,
Doctor Emilia Benjamin.
(upbeat music)
The Eugone Braunwald
Academic Mentorship Award
honors a special
individual who for at least
20 to 25 years has successfully mentored
promising young academics.
This year the award goes to Eric Olson.
Professor and chairman of the
Department of Molecular Biology at the
University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas.
Doctor Olson has impacted
many careers in cardiovascular
research, education and medical practice.
While serving as a leader
in the developmental
biology field and in medicine.
He is regarded as one of the
most productive investigators
studying basic and translational sciences
in cardiovascular biology.
His findings of mechanisms
of gene regulation
have profoundly affected our knowledge
of muscle development and disease.
The scientific impact of his laboratory
and its trainees can be measured by
their nearly 80,000 citations
in the medical literature.
Doctor Olson began his
role as an academic mentor
as an assistant professor
at the University of Texas
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1984.
Over the past 31 years he
has trained 42 PhD students
and 85 post-doctoral fellows.
He has more than 30 students
currently in training.
And his former trainees,
56 are professors at
major academic institutions
in the US, Europe and Japan.
Others are productive
scientists or leaders
in the pharmaceutical
and biotech industries
and government agencies or continuing
their training in basic science.
Today Doctor Olson continues his career
and academic mentoring at the
University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center.
He views mentoring as
a lifelong commitment.
It is my pleasure to present the 2016
Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award
to Doctor Eric Olson.
(audience applauding)
(dramatic music)
- I am deeply honored and
thrilled to be recognized
by the Eugene Braunwald
Academic Mentorship Award.
A highlight of my career
has been my interactions
with my students and
post-doctoral fellows,
as well as with junior
faculty in my department.
This award is really a recognition of them
and all that they have accomplished.
They taught me how to be a mentor.
We have a saying in Texas.
If you see a turtle sitting
on top of a fence post,
you can be sure he had a
lot of help getting there.
Well I had a lot help getting here.
First and foremost I want
to thank the many students
and post-doctoral fellows
who have worked tirelessly
in my laboratory over the past 30 years.
One of the real thrills of doing science
is the opportunity to
interact with enthusiastic
smart and dedicated students.
And I've had many great
ones who came to Texas
from all corners of the
United States and the world.
Their success gives me
enormous satisfaction.
I also want to thank my scientific partner
Doctor Rhonda Bassel-Duby who
has co-mentored our trainees.
I'm also grateful to my wife
Laurie and our three children
for allowing me to spend so many hours,
including my weekends
immersed in the laboratory.
Finally I'd like to thank the
American Heart Association
leadership for this
honor, I am truly grateful
and I will continue to
work as hard as I can
to live up to the stature of this award.
Thank you very much.
(audience applauding)
- Thank your Doctor Olson.
The Research Achievement Award recognizes
a lifetime of distinguished
scientific achievement
in cardiovascular
research and or teaching.
The award this year goes
to Doctor Robert Califf,
commissioner of the US Food
and Drug Administration.
He was the founder and director of the
Duke Clinical Research Institute,
and more recently served as director
of the Duke Translational
Medicine Institute
and as Duke's vice-chancellor for clinical
and translational research.
We honor Doctor Califf
for his visionary clinical
research leading to procedures
that directly improved
management of patients with
cardiovascular disease.
Starting in the mid-80's,
Doctor Califf led a global
team of investigators in
studying novel therapeutic
approaches for patients
with heart disease.
The success of these clinical
trials led Doctor Califf
and others to establish
another international effort
resulting in studies that
were among the largest
randomized clinical trials ever conducted.
Doctor Califf was among the
early pioneers in establishing
the Duke Database for
Cardiovascular Disease,
still the world's largest
and longest established
observational database of
cardiovascular patients.
This database allowed Doctor
Califf to create models
that help clinicians predict
the presence and severity
of coronary artery disease.
Doctor Califf also founded the
Duke Clinical Research Institute
and served as its director
from 1995 to 2006.
The institute has
conducted clinical studies
at more than 37,000 sites in 65 countries.
In 2006 Doctor Califf
became the director of the
Duke Translational Medicine Institute,
and guided efforts to
accelerate the translation
of scientific discovery
from the laboratory
to patient care as well as to community
and population based interventions.
More recently he has been
principle investigator
for a project to reward
innovative treatment models
and technologies to improve diabetes care
in medically underserved areas of
the southeastern portion
of the United States.
It is now my honor to
introduce the 2016 recipient
of the Research Achievement Award.
Doctor Robert M. Califf.
(upbeat music)
(audience applauding)
- I'm honored to receive the
Research Achievement Award
from the American Heart Association.
The research I've done over the years
has definitely been and team sport.
So I want to thank three groups of people
who've really helped me in the many trials
and tribulations of this work.
First of course, the researchers
that I've worked with,
including the many trainees
and fellows over the years.
It's been a tremendous
experience to work with them,
both at Duke University
and the global network
of investigators that have done this work.
Secondly my family,
especially my wife Lydia
who stood by me for 42 years
through many long nights
of on-call time in the intensive care unit
and travels around the world.
And then finally the
patients who have volunteered
for the research including clinical trials
and observational studies
that have paved the way
for other patients to benefit
from the knowledge gained
about new treatments and
also about old treatments
and how to use them most effectively
in the current environment.
So thanks again for this award and
it's great to be here with you.
(audience applauding)
- Thanks again Doctor Califf.
Now it's time to announce the winner
of the Joseph A. Vita Award,
commemorating Doctor Joe Vita,
a highly successful clinical investigator
who passed away two years ago.
He launched the Journal of
the American Heart Association
and served as deputy editor of
the AHA journal Circulation.
This award is given to an
investigator whose publications
in the last five years have
had great impact on the field
of cardiovascular biology or medicine.
This year's award goes to Doctor
Christine Cricket Seidman.
Director of the Brigham and Women's
Cardiovascular Genetics Center
and a professor of genetics and medicine
at the Harvard Medical School.
Doctor Seidman's laboratory has attained
transformative achievements in identifying
the molecular basis for inherited forms
of heart failure including hypertrophic
and dilated cardiomyopathy.
In the past five years,
Doctor Seidman and her
associates have identified
Titan as the most
common cause of inherited
dilated cardiomyopathy
and in used induced pluripotent stem cells
to define the mechanism
by which the mutations
disrupt sarcomeric function.
Her lab has also shown that
allele specific silencing
and small molecule inhibitors
can suppress hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy in mice.
Doctor Seidman and her
colleagues have published
more than 80 scientific
papers in these subject areas
in the past five years.
Their previous and ongoing work may lead
to personalized treatments for
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
and inherited forms of
dilated cardiomyopathy,
two of the most common lethal forms
of inherited heart disease.
So now let's take a moment to hear
from Doctor Cricket Seidman.
- I'm incredibly honored
to receive this year's
Joseph A. Vita Award from the
American Heart Association.
Doctor Vita was a consummate
physician scientist
and he devoted his life to
understanding the mechanisms
and causes of cardiovascular disease.
My efforts in this arena are
the work of so many others,
trainees, clinicians and
researchers with whom
I've been privileged to
collaborate for many years.
I thank them and the
American Heart Association
as well as all of our
research participants
for their contributions that
have led to this great honor.
Thank you.
- Please join me in
congratulating the recipient
of this year's Joseph A. Vita Award,
Doctor Christine Seidman.
(audience applauding)
(upbeat music)
As part of the American
Heart ASsociation's recent
redesign of our research portfolio,
a new AHA merit award
was created to recognize
highly promising investigators
who have the potential
to dramatically improve
a field of science,
move it forward using
creative new approaches.
Each award consists of a million dollars
distributed over five
years to an investigator
who has demonstrated
visionary ideas on major
research challenges in
cardiovascular disease and stroke.
In this, it's inaugural year,
we are honored to recognize
two merit award winners.
Doctors Kenneth Poss and William Sessa.
Ken is the James B. Duke
professor of cell biology
and a professor of biology and medicine
at Duke University School of Medicine.
He was granted the merit award to study
how heart cells regenerate.
His goal is to contribute to developing
cardiovascular disease therapies that will
improve our ability to regenerate new
healthy heart muscle after an injury
such as a heart attack.
William is the Alfred Gillman
professor of pharmacology
and professor of medicine
and vice-chairman of
pharmacology at the Yale
University School of Medicine.
Doctor Sessa's research seeks
to improve understanding
of what triggers the beginning stages
of coronary artery disease
which remains the major
cause of death for those
with heart disease.
His research aims to
explore the underpinnings
of what initiates the accumulation
of fat in blood vessels.
This research could help
bring new forms of treatments
to market that prevent
heart attacks and strokes.
Please join me in a round of applause
for these two outstanding awardees.
(audience applauding)
