Mayo Clinic Physicians Receive Top Awards at American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions

Monday, November 05, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. — Three Mayo Clinic physicians will receive top awards at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

Robert Frye, M.D., will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes an American Heart Association Council member who has made major contributions to a scientific council over a continuous period and substantial professional contributions to the field.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. Frye's current research work centers on chairing a multicenter national trial, the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation. The investigation tests treatment strategies for coronary artery disease in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. A second project of Dr. Frye's focuses on studying inflammatory response in patients with coronary artery disease. In nearly 40 years of distinguished scholarship, Dr. Frye has published on topics that include the prognosis of heart patients; gender effects in functional response; population-based heart attack survival trends and rheumatoid arthritis as a risk factor in heart disease.

David Holmes, M.D., will receive the James B. Herrick Award, the Council on Clinical Cardiology's highest honor. The award honors a physician whose scientific achievements have contributed profoundly to the advancement and practice of clinical cardiology.

A graduate of Princeton University and Marquette University's School of Medicine, Dr. Holmes' research interests include investigating regional systems of care to optimize timeliness of reperfusion therapy in acute heart attack cases; assessing the risk of blood clot formation in relation to drug-eluting stents (an area in which he is an international leader), and determining the effects of coronary artery bypass grafting on specific causes of long-term mortality, which is part of the multicenter Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation.

Rick Nishimura, M.D., will receive the Laennec Clinician Educator Award from the Council on Clinical Cardiology. It honors a physician who has demonstrated excellence in clinical cardiology and education.

A graduate of Knox College and Rush Medical College, Dr. Nishimura's research interests center on heart physiology and combining technologies to further understand and treat heart valve and heart chamber function. His greatest passion is the education of medical students, residents and other cardiologists. Dr. Nishimura has won numerous teaching awards. He also has been in charge of many courses designed to update cardiologists on the newest aspects of cardiovascular care.

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