Dr Valentin Fuster Receives Honorary Fellowship

14 Mar 2023

Dr Valentin Fuster has been admitted to The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow as an Honorary Fellow. Dr Fuster received the Honorary Fellowship at the Interactive Cardiology Conference hosted in College on 10 March to commemorate his lifetime commitment and ground-breaking contribution to cardiovascular research. 

A Spanish-American, Dr Fuster gained his medical qualification at the University of Barcelona in 1967 and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1971, before moving on to pursue a career as professor of Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases first at the Mayo Medical School, Minnesota and then the Medical School of Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. He would later take up the position as Director of the Cardiovascular Institute at the hospital in 1994. Dr Fuster now serves as President of Mount Sinai Heart alongside being the Physician-in-Chief at Mount Sinai Hospital. He is also currently holding the position as General Director of the National Centre for Cardiovascular Investigation in Madrid. 

Dr Fuster’s extensive career in cardiology has been recognised by three of the leading cardiovascular organisations; the American Heart Association (Gold Medal and Research Achievement Award), the American College of Cardiology (Living Legend and Life Achievement Award 2017) and the European Society of Cardiology (Gold Medal) for his outstanding contribution to heart research, he remains the only cardiologist to have received all three of the highest-ranking awards. 

His research into the origin of heart attacks has been instrumental to the transformation of cardiovascular prevention and treatment. In his early career, he conducted a pioneering trial of aspirin in human atherothrombotic disease to demonstrate the role of platelets in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) occlusion. In the 1990’s, he developed new diagnostic MRI imaging to distinguish vulnerable plaques that contribute to unpredictable acute attacks, which launched the use of drug-eluting stents (DES). Most recently, in 2022 he led a successful milestone trial of a ‘Polypill’ (containing aspirin, ramipril, and atorvastatin) which showed a clinically relevant reduction in recurrent cardiovascular events due to a better adherence in taking the simplified combined pill.  The College recognises Dr Valentin Fuster’s immeasurable and long-standing contribution to heart medicine and continued commitment to promoting healthier lifestyles in patients and furthering cardiovascular research by awarding this Honorary Fellowship.

Category: College