Atherotech Recruits Top Experts in Fight Against Heart Disease

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- With heart disease continuing to be the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S., Atherotech Inc. has recruited eight top cardiovascular experts to its medical advisory board to help guide development of a new preventive program. The company is expanding its disease management services with the goal of helping physicians reduce death and disability from heart disease.

These experts will advise Atherotech, maker of the patented VAP Cholesterol Test, in the expansion of its disease management program. The physicians bring expertise in current trends in cardiovascular disease identification, risk assessment and management, and research and outcome studies.

The new advisory board members are distinguished medical doctors Eliot A. Brinton, Michael H. Davidson, Prakash C. Deedwania, Gary H. Gibbons, Peter H. Jones, Richard B. Lanman, Charles A. Reasner II, and Peter P. Toth. Among them, these medical experts hold 16 fellowships or board certifications from various respected medical societies. To review individual detailed biographies, please visit www.atherotech.com/mad.

Atherotech announced the board appointments during the American College of Cardiology 59th Annual Scientific Session Exposition in Atlanta. "Collectively the members of this board have more than 150 years of clinical research, nearly 1,000 publications and over 200 years of clinical patient care," said Atherotech Chief Medical Officer Michael E. Cobble. "They will help intensify our focus on highlighting major and residual lipid risks in patients at risk or who already have cardiovascular disease."

Each board member contributes specific expertise. "Our research efforts are focused on discovering who is truly at risk for cardiovascular disease and how we can better manage this risk," said Dr. Davidson. "The past focus only on LDL/HDL/triglycerides misses nearly half of patients at risk."

Dr. Davidson is Executive Medical Director of Radiant Research in Chicago, which operates 21 centers around the nation that focus on lipid research. "By serving on the medical advisory board, I hope to increase awareness of the benefits of advanced lipid testing and its utility to physicians and patients," he said.

Dr. Toth, a family practitioner at Sterling Rock Falls Clinic in Sterling, Ill., began using the advanced lipid profile for its powerful predictive factors.

"I started using Atherotech's VAP Test in my practice because it is highly cost effective and reports 22 lipid and cardiovascular risk parameters that help me better assess and treat patients. When half of people who experience heart attacks have no idea they are even at risk, we need more information to manage these patients," said Dr. Toth, who is Chief of Medicine at CGH Medical Center in Sterling and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois School of Medicine. "I am pleased to serve on the medical advisory board of a company whose services help me take the care of my patients to a higher level."

An associate professor at the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Dr. Jones performs clinical trials of new lipid-modifying drugs. He is site principal investigator of the AIM HIGH trial, a NIH-funded 4-year outcomes study.

"Advanced lipid testing is essential to my work as a clinical investigator to improve risk assessment and to potentially further reduce patients' risk," Dr. Jones said. "I'm also interested in obesity research, particularly in the effects of weight reduction on plasma markers of inflammation and insulin sensitivity. Atherotech is committed to expanding services into disease management, and I am looking forward to being a part of their efforts."

Atherotech provides physicians and cardiology practices with a single source for the VAP Cholesterol Test and more than a dozen cardiovascular and metabolic tests. Cardiometabolic testing available through Atherotech includes C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), Lp-PLA2, apoE genotype, NT-proBNP, Cystatin C, T3 and T4 when TSH is abnormal, plus gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a recognized cardiovascular risk biomarker.

The VAP Test includes Lp(a) at no additional cost and identifies markers of metabolic syndrome, which is frequently associated with early diabetes. It is the only single cholesterol test that routinely reports apoAI, apoB and the apoB/apoAI ratio.

For more information on the VAP Test, visit www.thevaptest.com or call 877.901.8510.

About Atherotech Inc.

Atherotech is a CLIA-certified clinical reference laboratory and cardiodiagnostic company focusing on cardiometabolic tests, including the company's patented VAP Cholesterol Test, which reports the cholesterol content of all lipids, components and subclasses. The VAP Test is the first cholesterol profile to comply with updated National Cholesterol Education Program ATP III recommendations for direct LDL measurement, which is accurate with non-fasting samples. It is the only advanced lipid profile that routinely reports all three lipoprotein parameters considered necessary by the American Diabetes Association and American College of Cardiology expert consensus guidelines. The VAP Test is available through national and regional diagnostic laboratories and is reimbursed by many of the largest private insurers as well as Medicare. For more information, visit www.thevaptest.com.

SOURCE Atherotech Inc.