Professor Awarded International Distinguished Fellowship
The International Academy of Cardiology recently awarded a distinguished fellowship to Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H. in FAU’s College of Medicine, for his contributions to cardiovascular medicine.
Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., first Sir Richard Doll professor and senior academic advisor to the dean, (pictured on the right) with Eugene Braunwald, M.D. at the “World Congress on Heart Disease” in Boston.
The International Academy of Cardiology (IAC) recently awarded a distinguished fellowship to Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., first Sir Richard Doll professor and senior academic advisor to the dean in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University. The IAC established this award to honor colleagues who have made profound contributions to cardiovascular medicine and have provided important service to the academy. Hennekens received the award at the opening ceremony of the “World Congress on Heart Disease” in Boston.
“Dr. Hennekens is one of our most esteemed researchers whose groundbreaking scientific findings have significantly improved our ability to treat as well as prevent cardiovascular disease,” said Arthur J. Ross, III, M.D., M.B.A., interim dean and a professor in FAU’s College of Medicine. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving to receive this prestigious distinguished fellowship from the International Academy of Cardiology.”
During his acceptance speech, Hennekens recollected the words of Sir Isaac Newton who said “if I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants,” referring to his mentors and those have who inspired him during his distinguished career.
“I owe a debt of gratitude to Eugene Braunwald, Sir Richard Doll, George B. Hutchison, Mary Jane Jesse, Brian MacMahon, and Sir Richard Peto, whom I consider my professional parents as well as David DeMets, Robert S. Levine, and Marc A. Pfeffer, whom I consider my professional siblings,” said Hennekens.
Hennekens was formerly the first Eugene Braunwald professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School and served under Braunwald’s leadership for 25 of his 30 years at Harvard. Braunwald, a classmate at New York University School of Medicine of Ira J. Gelb, M.D., a professor and founder of FAU’s College of Medicine, delivered the inaugural invited address on heart failure. Hennekens gave an invited address on statins in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease based on a recently published chapter in collaboration with Eric Lieberman M.D., Mark Rubenstein M.D., and Patricia R. Hebert, Ph.D., M.S.N., all affiliate faculty members in FAU’s College of Medicine, as well as DeMets and Pfeffer.
Among the numerous honors and recognition Hennekens has received include the 2013 Fries Prize for Improving Health for his seminal contributions to the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease, the 2013 Presidential Award from his alma mater, Queens College, for his distinguished contributions to society, and the 2013 honoree of the American Heart Association, which he shared with FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, for reducing premature deaths from heart attacks and strokes.
From 1995 to 2005, Science Watch ranked Hennekens as the third most widely cited medical researcher in the world and five of the top 20 were his former trainees and/or fellows. In 2012, Science Heroes ranked Hennekens No. 81 in the history of the world for having saved more than 1.1 million lives.
In 2014, he received the Ochsner Award for reducing premature deaths from cigarettes. In 2016, he was ranked the No. 14 “Top Scientist in the World” with an H-index of 173.
-FAU-
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