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U of M Cardiologist Jay Cohn Honored with HFSA Lifetime Achievement Award
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (September 22, 2006) -- Jay N. Cohn, M.D., professor in the Division of Cardiology and director of the Rasmussen Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the University of Minnesota Medical School, is the recipient of the Heart Failure Society of America’s first annual Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented to Cohn at the HFSA 10th Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle, Wash.
Cohn is internationally known for his contributions to the understanding of cardiovascular disease and for his leadership in designing and carrying out clinical trials to examine new treatments for heart failure. His research has established the importance of structural remodeling of the left ventricle as the basis for the progression of heart failure and for the therapeutic response to drugs that prolong life and reduce long-term morbidity. He also organized and chaired the first long-term trial in heart failure, the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Program on vasodilator therapy of heart failure (V-HeFT).
In recent years he has focused efforts on early identification of cardiovascular disease in order to initiate therapy before organ system disease develops. His innovative efforts in early detection have included screening to diagnose stiffening of the small arteries, which uses a methodology he developed at the University of Minnesota. The method is now FDA-approved and marketed worldwide.
Founder of the HFSA in 1994, Cohn served as the society’s first president. The same year, he started the Journal of Cardiac Failure, the first scientific peer-reviewed journal dedicated to heart failure, and served as editor-in-chief from 1994 to 2001.
Cohn received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical School in 1956 and completed his internship and residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He served as a fellow in cardiovascular research and as a clinical investigator at the Veterans Affairs Hospital and Georgetown University from 1960 to 1965. He was Chief of Hypertension and Clinical Hemodynamics at the VA Hospital from 1965 to 1974 and Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University. Dr. Cohn was Head of the Cardiovascular Division at the University of Minnesota from 1974 to 1996.
The purpose of the HFSA Lifetime Achievement Award is to recognize individuals who have made a significant and sustained contribution to the field of heart failure in terms of its scientific understanding, epidemiology or clinical care, or for his or her exemplary leadership or inspiration to others resulting in an important impact on the field.
The Academic Health Center is home to the University of Minnesota’s six health professional schools and colleges as well as several health-related centers and institutes. Founded in 1851, the University is one of the oldest and largest land grant institutions in the country. The AHC prepares the new health professionals who improve the health of communities, discover and deliver new treatments and cures, and strengthen the health economy.
Contact: Liz Bryan, Academic Health Center, 612-624-5680
Sara Buss, Academic Health Center, 612-624-2449
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