Contact: Cirina Catania 
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Vancouver, BC, Canada (July 28, 2010) -- Dr. Asher Kimchi, Founder and Chairman of the International Academy of Cardiology (IAC) announced the winners of the 2010 IAC Awards at the 15th World Congress on Heart Disease held in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Dr. Kimchi, together with Co-Chairmen Dr. Jeffrey S. Borer and Dr. John A. Elefteriades, headed a committee of 125 of the world's top cardiologists and scientists that reviewed nominees from multiple countries. In addition to the IAC awards, the committee also named two Faculty to receive the Distinguished Fellowship Award. The International Academy of Cardiology has established five awards to honor the memory of distinguished colleagues who made a major contribution to Medicine and Cardiology and who were members of the faculty of previous International Academy of Cardiology meetings. As in previous years, a very prestigious Awards Committee comprised of 125 faculty members selected the recipients.

The following awards for 2010 were presented at the Opening Ceremony of the International Academy of Cardiology 15th World Congress on Heart Disease Annual Scientific Sessions 2010:

The 2010 Distinguished Fellowship Awards were presented to two Faculty of the 15th World Congress on Heart Disease:

• Dr. James. H. Chesebro, Professor of Medicine at UMass Medical School and Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA
  
  
• Dr. Anne B. Curtis, Professor and Chief of the Division of Cardiology, and Director of Cardiovascular Services at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida

The Chairman of the 15th World Congress on Heart Disease, Dr. Asher Kimchi, is an internationally recognized and respected cardiologist, a former flight surgeon in the Israeli Air Force and the founder and chairman of the International Academy of Cardiology. He is an attending Physician at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles.

According to Dr. Kimchi, "Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death and disability for men and women in the industrialized countries and throughout much of the world." Dr. Kimchi continues, "Over the past two decades, we have witnessed impressive strides and explosive growth in the field of Cardiology. Thousands of scientists and clinicians around the globe are committed to the fight against heart disease and these award recipients are being honored today as the heroes in that fight," said Dr. Kimchi. "We are proud of them and pleased to be able to recognize them for their uncompromising approach to their work. It gives me great pleasure to stand in the company of these pioneers," Dr. Kimchi continued.

The Opening Ceremony and Awards Presentations were chaired by Dr. Jeffrey S. Borer, Professor of Medicine and Chairman, Department of Medicine; Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, SUNY, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn NY; Member, Scientific Executive Committee; Chairman, Section of Valvular Heart Disease for the IAC.

The following Members of the International Academy of Cardiology also took part in the Awards Ceremony:

• Prof. Naranjan S. Dhalla, Distinguished Professor and Director of Cardiovascular Developments, SBRC, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Member of the Scientific Executive Committee and Chairman of the Section of Cellular Biology of the Heart
  
  
• Dr. Gordon Fung, Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF School of Medicine and Director of Cardiology Services UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion, San Francisco, CA; Member, Scientific Advisory Board and Past President of the American College of Cardiology, California Chapter
  
  
• Dr. Kenneth Maiese, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurosciences of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey; New Jersey Medical School; Member, Scientific Executive Committee; and Chairman, Section of Vascular Biology

The Fourth H.J.C. Swan Memorial Lecture given at the Opening Ceremony on Sunday, July 25th, was delivered by Dr. Martin Allen Samuels, Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Professor of Neurology of the Harvard Medical School. His presentation was entitled, "'Voodoo' Death Revisited: The Modern Lessons of Neurocardiology."

“Many distinguished cardiologists and scientists joined the faculty and took part in this year's Congress. Papers were presented in the form of plenary sessions, symposia and posters and included superb scientific material that was carefully selected by the Scientific Abstract Review committee from over 850 abstracts submitted for presentation at the meeting. These four-hundred-eighty six (486) studies, originating from laboratories in 51 countries, assured that the meeting was a major scientific event” said Dr. Kimchi.

The International Academy of Cardiology, 16th World Congress on Heart Disease, Annual Scientific Sessions 2011, will be held in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, July 23-26, 2011 (http://www.cardiologyonline.com).

                        
Left to Right:  Dr. Anne B. Curtis, Dr. James H. Chesebro, Dr. Wilbert S. Aronow, Prof. Pawan K. Singal,
Dr. Asher Kimchi (Founder), Dr. Jeffrey S. Borer (Awards Chairman), Dr. Martin A. Samuels (Opening Lecturer),
Dr. Navin C. Nanda, Dr. Gerd Heusch, Dr. Elizabeth L. Barrett-Connor

For further information, please visit www.cardiologyonline.com or email Cirina Catania, The Catania Group, (pr@catania.us), 661-347-1349.

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Photo credit: Karen Burstein