(Boston) – Newton resident Alice Jacobs, MD, FACC, FAHA, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Interventional Cardiology at Boston Medical Center is the recipient of the Drake Award. The award was presented at the Annual Maine Scientific Session's 59th annual conference in Bethel, Maine.
The Drake Award is presented every year in memory of Dr. Eugene Drake, considered to be the first physician in Maine to specialize in the treatment of heart disease. He was also co-founder of the American Heart Association, Maine Affiliate and dedicated his career to carrying out the American Heart Association mission. This award is given to physicians who have made significant contributions in cardiovascular disease research, treatment and education.
The conference was geared toward improving the knowledge and awareness of cardiovascular and stroke issues in acute-care areas to health-care professionals in the hopes of improving patient outcomes. In addition to being presented with the award during the weekend conference, Jacobs also gave a presentation on the current concepts and controversies surrounding myocardial infarction. Jacobs gave an update on the current status of reperfusion therapy for a STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) heart attack, as well as discussing the barriers to widespread implementation of systems of care for STEMI patients.
Jacobs is a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and past president of the American Heart Association (AHA). She was also a member of several American College of Cardiology (ACC) writing groups establishing training criteria in interventional cardiology, assessing and maintaining competence in interventional cardiology, and updating the ACC/AHA guidelines for the performance of percutaneous coronary intervention.
She serves as chair of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines, vice president of the Association of University Cardiologists, and is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine Interventional Cardiology Self-Assessment Test Committee and the New York State Cardiac Advisory Committee.
Jacobs major research interest is in coronary revascularization strategies. She is also interested in cardiovascular disease in women and the gender differences in the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of ischemic heart disease. Currently, she is leading the AHA's Mission: Lifeline, a community-based, national initiative to develop strategies to increase the number of ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients with timely access to primary PCI. She is the principal investigator of the MASS COMM trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of coronary angioplasty performed in community hospitals without on-site cardiac surgery in Massachusetts.
The 59th Annual Maine Scientific Session was sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose goal is to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association that focuses on reducing risk, disability and death from stroke through research, education, fund raising and advocacy.