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Each year the Heart Rhythm Society identifies and recognizes outstanding contributions to the field and to the Society. Congratulations to the 2010 award recipients: Nabil E. El-Sherif, MD; David L. Hayes, MD, FHRS, CCD and Yoram Rudy, Ph.D., FHRS. They will be honored at the Awards Ceremony and Presidents’ Reception held in conjunction with Heart Rhythm 2010. Pioneer in Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology
Nabil E. El-Sherif, MD graduated from Cairo University School of Medicine in 1960 and received his postgraduate training at Cairo University Hospitals and Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, FL. In 1978 he became a Professor of Medicine and Physiology at the State University of New York (SUNY), Downstate Medical Center and in 1984 became the director of its Cardiology Division. Currently, he is the director of the Cardiology Division at the New York Harbor Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, Brooklyn Campus. Dr. El-Sherif is an internationally recognized expert in the field of basic and clinical cardiac electrophysiology. He has published more than 430 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, and book chapters and has authored and co-authored eight books. He is a member of the editorial board of several national and international journals and served on the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, and Veterans Affairs Central Office research study groups. His research has been supported consistently by federal and non-federal grants for the last 34 years and has dealt with the link between molecular biology, ion channel physiology, cellular electrophysiology and clinical presentations of cardiac arrhythmias. Dr. El-Sherif has made several seminal contributions to understanding electrophysiological mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias, particularly in myocardial ischemia/infarction in particular. His early studies on the canine post-infarction model resulted in the description of the figure-of-eight reentrant circuit. This was later confirmed in clinical studies where surgical or electrode catheter ablation of the slow common pathway of the figure-of-eight circuit was utilized as a therapeutic measure in appropriate patients. His experimental studies in the canine pericarditis atrial flutter model contributed to identifying the atrial flutter circuit isthmus by showing that ablation of the slow zone of the circuit between the inferior vena cava and tricuspid ring resulted in termination of atrial flutter. This became the basis of the successful technique of radiofrequency ablation of atrial flutter circuit in the clinical setting. His more recent studies have provided significant understanding of the electrophysiological mechanism of torsades de pointes arrhythmias in both the congenital and acquired long QT syndrome, as well as the electrophysiological basis of the use of T-wave alternans as a marker of susceptibility to malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Dr El-Sherif also contributed toward introducing the technique of signal averaged electrocardiography to clinical practice as a non-invasive marker of ventricular electrical vulnerability. His recent basic research involves studies of post-infarction signal transduction pathways as targets of novel therapeutic interventions in post-infarction patients. He has also contributed to graduate and post-graduate medical education and has trained many clinical and basic cardiac electrophysiology scientists who came to his clinical and basic laboratories from all over the world. Dr. El-Sherif has served on numerous national and international assignments and has received several honorary awards, including the 2007 outstanding achievement award from the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (ECAS). Distinguished Teacher Award
The era of modern pacing and electrophysiology and David L. Hayes, MD, FHRS, CCDS came of age together. Dr. Hayes is recognized as one of the field’s most important teachers, authors and clinicians. The Heart Rhythm Society is proud to recognize Dr. Hayes’ talents by awarding him its Distinguished Teacher Award. Dr. Hayes was born in Missouri and attended the University of Missouri Medical School. He completed his internship and residency in Medicine at the Mayo Graduate School in Rochester. He was also a Resident in Cardiovascular Diseases at Mayo and finished his training in 1981. He spent the next year taking post graduate training in cardiac pacing at the Montefiore Hospital and the Surgical Clinic Val d’Or in Saint Cloud, France. He then returned to the Mayo Clinic in 1982. In 2002 he was appointed Chair of the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Director of Pacemaker Services at the Mayo Clinic. He has lectured extensively at formal national and international meetings. He has given over 500 invited lectures in 27 countries to a range of audiences — from technicians, to RNs, to trainees, and to fellow physicians. His lectures vary in topic from the very specific (e.g., how to position a LV lead) to classic overviews (e.g., the future of chronic resynchronization therapy). Rarely is the same lecture given on more than one occasion. His speaking career is a remarkable intellectual achievement. Dr. Hayes has the unique skill to simplify difficult concepts without the clutter of graph after graph. His approach represents a commonsense one borne out of knowing what the clinician needs to learn. He is quick to realize what he does not know and is direct and self-effacing. His presentations are helped by a clarity of thought and a great sense of humor. His “Jeopardy” session at the technician/RN meetings are classic Hayes. His colleagues consider him a master teacher with a great sense of style. Dr. Hayes has made further contributions to our field. He has co-authored 421 peer-reviewed manuscripts, has written 93 book chapters, and co-authored seven textbooks on pacing and electrophysiology. He was President of our Society in 1998-99 and helped oversee its transition to the Heart Rhythm Society. His’ wife, Sharonne, is a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic whom he met when she was an Internal Medicine Resident. They have two children. Dr. Hayes’ academic accomplishments do not begin to define him. Despite his gargantuan appetite for intellectual accomplishment and teaching, he remains a consistent figure of humility, good humor, and frank opinions. Our field owes him a great debt for the intellectual order and openness he has brought to a complex subject matter. Distinguished Scientist Award
Yoram Rudy, Ph.D., FHRS was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel. In 1966, he entered the Department of Physics at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where he earned a B.Sc. degree in 1970 and the M.Sc. degree in 1973 conducting research in quantum mechanics. In the fall of 1973 he decided to pursue his interest in the physics of living systems and joined the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. There, he conducted research in bioelectric phenomena under the guidance of Dr. Robert Plonsey, a pioneer in this field of science. Dr. Rudy received his Ph.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1978. In 1980, Dr. Rudy joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University as an assistant professor. He later became The M. Frank and Margaret C. Rudy Professor of Cardiac Bioelectricity, with academic appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Physiology & Biophysics, and Medicine. In 1994, he established the interdisciplinary Cardiac Bioelectricity Research and Training Center. During his tenure at Case Western Reserve, he also served as a visiting professor in several universities around the world. In 2004, Dr. Rudy moved to Washington University in St Louis where he is currently the Director of the Cardiac Bioelectricity and Arrhythmia Center (CBAC). The Center includes 36 faculty members from basic science and clinical departments, covers the various aspects of cardiac electrophysiology, from genetics and molecular biology to the bedside. In seminal publications, Dr. Rudy has presented computational approaches to study the mechanisms of cardiac electrical function and arrhythmias at multiple scales, from the molecular structure and function of ion channels at the nanometer level, to the whole cell and the multi-cellular tissue. His work has demonstrated the need for understanding biological mechanisms due to interactions between multiple molecular non-linear processes by integration of experimental findings into complex theoretical models. A more applied aspect of his work has been the development of Electrocardiographic Imaging (ECGI) and its application to patients; an imaging modality for beat-to-beat non-invasive imaging of intracardiac electrical activity and arrhythmias. Dr. Rudy has been an outstanding citizen of the cardiac electrophysiology community generally, and of the Heart Rhythm Society specifically. He has achieved renown as a teacher, both in the lecture hall and in the printed word, and remains active as a moderator, speaker and faculty member at the annual Heart Rhythm Society’s Scientific Sessions. He has also been extremely generous with his time and support of the scientific and educational missions of the Society. |
