Valentin Fuster

Biography

Dr. Fuster serves The Mount Sinai Medical Center as Director of Mount Sinai Heart, the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health. He is the Richard Gorlin, MD/Heart Research Foundation Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Fuster was the President of Science and is now the General Director of the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) in Madrid, Spain.

Among the seemingly countless positions of distinction that he holds are Past President of the American Heart Association, Past President of the World Heart Federation, Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences where he serves as Chair of the committee on Preventing the Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease, former member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Advisory Council, and former Chairman of the Fellowship Training Directors Program of the American College of Cardiology. Twenty-six distinguished universities throughout the world have granted him Honorary Doctorate Degrees.

Dr. Fuster is the recipient of two major ongoing NIH grants. He has published more than 800 Pubmed articles on the subjects of coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis and thrombosis, and he has become the lead Editor of two major textbooks on cardiology, 'The Heart' (previously edited by Dr. J. Willis Hurst) and "Atherothrombosis and Coronary Artery Disease" (with Dr. Eric Topol and Dr. Elizabeth Nabel). Dr. Fuster has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Nature journal that focuses on cardiovascular medicine (Nature Reviews, Cardiology, April 2009) and he is the Editor of the new “AHA Guidelines and Scientific Statements Handbook”, which compiles all the latest information.
Dr. Fuster is the only cardiologist to receive the two highest gold medal awards and all four major research awards from the four major cardiovascular organizations: The Distinguished Researcher Award (Interamerican Society of Cardiology, 2005 and 2009), Andreas Gruntzig Scientific Award and Gold Medal Award (European Society of Cardiology, 1992 and 2007 respectively), Gold Medal Award and Distinguished Scientist (American Heart Association, 2001 and 2003 respectively), and the Distinguished Scientist Award (American College of Cardiology, 1993).

In addition, he has received the Lewis A. Conner Memorial Award by the American Heart Association, the James B. Herrick Achievement Award from the Council of Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association, and the 1996 Principe de Asturias Award of Science and Technology (the highest award given to Spanish-speaking scientists). In 2008, Dr. Fuster received the Kurt Polzer Cardiovascular Award from the European Academy of Science and Arts. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Teacher Award of the American College of Cardiology and then later that year, the prestigious International Arrigo Recordati Award for his Scientific Achievement in the development of Cardiovascular Imaging.

After receiving his medical degree from Barcelona University and completing an internship at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Dr. Fuster spent several years at the Mayo Clinic, first as a resident and later as Professor of Medicine and Consultant in Cardiology. In 1981, he came to Mount Sinai School of Medicine as head of Cardiology. From 1991 to 1994, he was Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of Cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He returned to Mount Sinai in 1994 as Director of the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and most recently, he has been named the Director of the Mount Sinai Heart.

Read the commentary by Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, "Prevention: A Heart Health Imperative" that appeared in the New York Times on July 14, 2009.

Addressing the Three Cardiovascular Challenges: Cognitive Medicine, Technology, and Health Promotion

The American Heart Association (AHA) presented its 2012 Research Achievement Award to Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD.

Download Dr. Fuster's CV