Press Releases

A new network dedicated to advancing research and therapies for stroke is forming in Chicago thanks to $2 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Chicago Stroke Trials Consortium is a partnership among Northwestern Medicine®, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Loyola University Medical Center, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Rush University Medical Center, and University of Chicago Medicine that will build an infrastructure to support clinical trials for stroke prevention, treatment and recovery. Northwestern University will be the regional coordinating center for the consortium and administer the project over the next five years.

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESPR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing first-in-class, oral, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering therapies for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, today announced full results of a Phase 2 clinical study of its lead product candidate ETC-1002 in patients with hypercholesterolemia and a history of statin intolerance. The study, ETC-1002-006, met its primary endpoint, demonstrating that ETC-1002 significantly lowered LDL-C compared to placebo by an average of 32 percent and was well tolerated. The data were presented today in an oral presentation at the 2013 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in Dallas by principal investigator Paul D. Thompson, M.D. Esperion previously announced positive topline results from this study in June 2013.

New research shows that Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) pacemakers with enhanced pacing features have the ability to slow the progression of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with bradycardia, or a slow heartbeat.

James A. DeWeese, M.D., a pioneer in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery and a former chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Vascular Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center, died Nov. 14, 2013. He was 88.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results showing that its investigational fully humanized antibody fragment (Fab) rapidly reversed the anticoagulation effect of dabigatran in healthy male volunteers. These results, presented today during the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013, represent the first clinical data involving the compound, which was discovered and developed by the company (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01955720).

Singulex, Inc., the developer and leading provider of Single Molecule Counting (SMC(tm)) technology for clinical diagnostics and scientific discovery, today announced new data highlighting the Company's ultrasensitive Erenna(r) Immunoassay System in the detection of cardiac troponin-I (cTnI). Two studies utilized the Erenna System to measure previously undetectable levels of cTnI in order to assess cardiovascular disease risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and heart failure (HF) patients. The data were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Dallas, Texas.

This year’s EuroEcho-Imaging conference in Istanbul, Turkey (11-14 December) will see global medical imaging manufacturer, Esaote, showcase Prevention Suite: a unique package of ultrasound imaging modalities for both cardiac and vascular investigations. Prevention Suite provides clinicians with a wide range of tools for assessing a patient’s risk of cardiovascular disease quickly and reliably, often before symptoms occur. It is regarded as providing a ‘step change’ in terms of early detection and prevention of cardiovascular disease using ultrasound.

The American Heart Association has presented its Research Achievement Award for 2013 to Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville, “for the profound and lasting impact of his extraordinary contributions to cardiovascular research.”

The American Heart Association has awarded its 2013 Population Research Prize to Lewis H. Kuller, M.D., Dr.P.H., of Pittsburgh, “for 40 years of inspired leadership of a worldwide effort to better understand and prevent heart disease and stroke in populations.”

The American Heart Association has presented one of its highest honors, the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award, to cardiologist and medical professor Mark Josephson, M.D., of Harvard Medical School.

The American Heart Association’s Council on Clinical Cardiology presented its James B. Herrick Award for outstanding achievement in clinical cardiology to Marc Alan Pfeffer, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School “for acclaimed research showing how cardiac muscle damage occurs during a heart attack, a discovery that led to new life-saving treatment.”

The American Heart Association today awarded its Clinical Research Prize for 2013 to Thomas Brott, M.D., “for his leadership of significant and innovative clinical research validating new procedures that have enhanced care of patients suffering stroke and helped to minimize or overcome its damaging effects.”

The American Heart Association today presented its Chairman’s Award honoring excellence in volunteer service to Ileana Piña, M.D., M.P.H., of Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York.

The American Heart Association today awarded its Basic Research Prize for 2013 to pediatric cardiologist and researcher Jeffrey A. Towbin, M.D., of Cincinnati, for “highly significant additions to our basic knowledge of cardiovascular disease in children.”

Under the new clinical integration model being implemented at MGH, the “Marquette General Heart and Vascular Institute” will be developed, placing a wide range of cardio and vascular services under a single, unified umbrella medical service line.

In a matter of years, a doctor may see real-time images of a patient's beating heart and steer a robotic catheter through its chambers using the push and pull of magnetic fields while the patient lies inside a magnetic resonance imager.

Cor Cardiovascular Specialists, Inc., Arrhythmia Specialists, Inc., and Walter Savage, M.D., announced today that they will join John Muir Health’s medical foundation. They become the first cardiology groups and cardiologists to join the foundation. John Muir Health's Physician Network currently provides services to patients through more than 900 independent and foundation-based physicians.

The latest science on the role of imaging in diagnosing and treating heart failure will be presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2013, the official annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). It takes place during 11-14 December in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Istanbul Lutfi Kirdar Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC).

To help reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease, the nation's leading killer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College have created the Dalio Institute of Cardiovascular Imaging. Raymond T. Dalio, a life trustee of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, has made a gift of $20 million through his Dalio Foundation in support of the institute.

Demystifying meditation with science, researchers at the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) have teamed with The Chopra Foundation and The Chopra Center for Wellbeing in a novel study of the ancient practice that uses wireless health sensors to collect physiological data from meditators.

In response to rising national health care costs, the Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute have launched a new center to increase efficacy and reduce costs at four major health care providers across Indiana.