Stanford Investigator Wins Top Clinical Research Award

The Clinical Research Forum, a nonprofit foundation that promotes clinical research impact on health and healthcare, awarded its most prestigious honor, the Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award, to a team co-led by a Stanford Medicine researcher.

David Maron, MD, C.F. Rehnborg professor of medicine and Director of Preventive Cardiology, Stanford University, and his Co-Principal investigator, Judith Hochman, MD, Professor of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, were both recognized during the Forum’s Annual Meeting, held virtually on March 30th, for their innovative ISCHEMIA trial, Initial Invasive or Conservative Strategy for Stable Coronary Disease, published last year in the NEJM.

The international NIH-funded clinical trial compared the efficacy of two standard treatments for chest pain, an invasive strategy and a conservative strategy, for stable patients with coronary artery disease. The trial revealed no difference in the likelihood of an adverse event, including heart attack and death, between those treated with surgery and those with medications and lifestyle changes.

This groundbreaking research will better inform decision making between physicians and patients about management of angina and has the potential to impact the care of the millions of patients globally. See the short video shared during the award presentations.

The Research Excellence Award comes with a $7,500 prize. Selection criteria included innovation and novelty; contribution to the understanding of human disease or physiology; and the potential to alter the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of clinical conditions.

The ISCHEMIA Trial was also named a CFR 2021 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award Finalist.