WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 14, 2014 – Marie Claude Morice, MD was presented the TCT 2014 Geoffrey O. Hartzler Master Clinical Operator Award in a ceremony held today during the 26th Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference, the annual scientific symposium of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). The award is given each year to a physician who has advanced the field of interventional cardiovascular medicine through technical excellence and innovation. Dr. Morice, a world-renowned interventional cardiologist, is the first woman to be recognized with this award.
A widely respected physician and researcher, Dr. Morice has participated in clinical research activities for the past 20 years resulting in more than 250 peer-reviewed publications. She is the Co-Founder of the French "Coronary Stenting without Coumadin" study group. She also served as the principal investigator of the RAVEL study, the first worldwide randomized study on drug-eluting stents. The study showed that sirolimus-eluting stents improve prevention of neointimal proliferation, restenosis and associated clinical events compared with bare-metal stents and helped usher in a new era in interventional cardiology. Most recently, as part of the executive committee of the SYNTAX trial, Dr. Morice directs a subgroup focusing on patients with left main disease which has led to significant changes in European and American guidelines for the treatment of coronary left main disease.
TCT Directors, Gregg W. Stone, MD and Martin B. Leon, MD jointly presented the award, given annually at TCT to an interventional operator who has distinguished himself or herself as an innovator in the field. Dr. Leon is the Founder of CRF and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Stone is Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of Cardiovascular Research and Education at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Both serve as Co-Directors of the Medical Research and Education Division at CRF, and direct the annual TCT scientific sessions.
"Dr. Morice is highly deserving of the TCT 2014 Geoffrey O. Hartzler Master Clinical Operator Award," said Dr. Leon. "Her work inside the cath lab and her devotion to clinical research activities have advanced the field of interventional cardiology and provided physicians with new, more effective ways to treat patients."
"It is a thrill for us to recognize Dr. Morice with this award," said Dr. Stone. "Her unparalleled expertise in the cardiac cath laboratory is coupled with charisma and a drive to redefine the stereotype of the interventional cardiologist."
"She has broken barriers her whole life by setting new standards for the treatment of left main and complex bifurcation disease, educating hundreds of cardiology fellows, and serving as an inspiration to future cardiologists around the world," Dr. Stone added.
Dr. Morice is currently the Head of Interventional Cardiology at the Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris (Générale de Santé) the highest-volume PCI center in the greater Paris area. Previously, she served as Head of the Interventional Cardiology Department of the CCN in Paris. Dr. Morice is a fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology, as well as an Honorary Professor of the Universidad Del Salvador in Buenos Aires. She is also the President and Medical Director of the European Center for Cardiovascular Research (CERC) which was founded in 2008. Dr. Morice earned her medical degree at the University of Medicine in Paris.
About CRF and TCT
The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with heart disease through high quality research and education. Since its inception in 1991, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies and therapies in interventional cardiovascular medicine.
Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) is the annual scientific symposium of CRF and the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. For more than 25 years, TCT has featured major medical research breakthroughs and gathered leading researchers and clinicians from around the world to present and discuss the latest evidence-based research in the field.
For more information, visit http://www.crf.org and http://www.tctconference.com.