Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Named President of Mount Sinai Heart

October 19, 2022 — Mount Sinai Health System’s globally acclaimed cardiologist Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, has been named President of Mount Sinai Heart, a newly created position, effective Sunday, January 1, 2023. He will relinquish the title of Director as he transitions from day-to-day administrative leadership of Mount Sinai Heart into the new advisory position. Dr. Fuster will continue in his roles as Physician-in-Chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital and as the Richard Gorlin, MD/Heart Research Foundation Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After dedicating the last 28 years to building one of the world’s leading cardiovascular centers, Dr. Fuster will continue to advance the clinical care, research, and innovative training at Mount Sinai Heart. 

“Valentin Fuster has been the world’s leading cardiologist for decades, and as hyperbolic as that may seem, it is the reality. We have been blessed with his presence,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. 

A preeminent leader in cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Fuster was named Director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai in 1994 and became Director of Mount Sinai Heart at its establishment in 2006. He has built Mount Sinai Heart into one of the world’s leading centers for cardiovascular care, cardiac surgery, and advanced research. Dr. Fuster is also General Director of the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

“In my opinion, Valentin Fuster is the greatest cardiologist in the world. His accomplishments are legendary in every domain of cardiology,” said Dennis S. Charney, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System. “He is irreplaceable. Fortunately, he’s not retiring; he’s staying at Mount Sinai to advise and mentor our faculty and trainees. I’m lucky to call him my friend.” 

Dr. Fuster’s unparalleled body of research has brought new insight into the causes, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. He has worked across the globe to reduce heart disease and improve cardiovascular medicine. His research into the origin of cardiovascular events, which has contributed to improved treatment of heart attack patients, received the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, Spain’s highest international honor, in 1996. In 2011, he was awarded the Grand Prix Scientifique of the Institute of France for his translational research into atherothrombotic disease, and in 2020, he was honored in Thailand as a Prince Mahidol Award Laureate for his lifelong contribution to the field of medicine. In 2022, the American College of Cardiology instituted the Valentin Fuster Award for Innovation in Science. 

During his remarkable career, Dr. Fuster has held leadership positions that include President of the American Heart Association; President of the World Heart Federation; member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, where he chaired the Committee on Preventing the Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease and Co-Chaired the Committee on Global Health and the Future of the United States; and President of the Training Program of the American College of Cardiology. 

Dr. Fuster completed his medical degree at the University of Barcelona and his PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He was Professor in Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases at the Mayo Medical School from 1981-1982 and at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine from 1982-1991. At Harvard Medical School, he was The Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine from 1991 to 1994, while also serving as Chief of Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Dr. Fuster is the only cardiologist to have received the highest awards for research from the four leading cardiovascular organizations: the American Heart Association (Gold Medal and Research Achievement Award), the American College of Cardiology (Living Legend and Life Achievement Award), the European Society of Cardiology (Gold Medal), and the Inter-American Society of Cardiology (Research Achievement Award). In May 2014, King Juan Carlos I of Spain granted Dr. Fuster the title of Marquis for his "outstanding and unceasing research efforts and his educational outreach work." 

The world-renowned cardiologist was recognized during TCT2022, the 34th Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT), the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), on Sept. 17, when the Foundation awarded Fuster with the TCT Career Achievement Award. This prestigious honor recognizes pioneers in interventional cardiovascular medicine.

“Dr. Fuster is a luminary in cardiovascular clinical care, education, and research, whose decades of service to Mount Sinai have elevated the entire Health System,” said Margaret Pastuszko, MBA, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. Mount Sinai Heart is among the top 6 in the nation for cardiology and cardiac surgery, according to U.S. News & World Report.  Newsweek’s “The World’s Best Specialized Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Heart as No. 1 in New York and No. 4 globally. It is part of Mount Sinai Health System, which is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. We advance medicine and health through unrivaled education and translational research and discovery to deliver care that is the safest, highest-quality, most accessible and equitable, and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 free-standing joint-venture centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org 

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