Pulmonary Hypertension Pioneer Dr. Stuart Rich Joins Northwestern Medicine

CHICAGO, July 22, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Northwestern Medicine welcomes Stuart Rich, MD, as director of the new Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, and as a professor of medicine-cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Rich is a pioneer in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, an incurable and debilitating type of high blood pressure, and widely considered one of the world's most recognized experts on the disease.

"I'm a dreamer, and the leadership in the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is strong and visionary," said Rich. "Northwestern Medicine is the ideal setting for the next big breakthrough in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, and I look forward to working with the strong team in place to further advance treatment for this chronic disease."

During a more than three decade long career researching and treating pulmonary hypertension, Rich has published hundreds of clinical articles and book chapters. He has led the development of many new treatments for the disease, including the use of intravenous prostacyclin, the first FDA-approved treatment for pulmonary hypertension and the only one to date that has shown to improve survival.

His career began at the University of Illinois where he was principle investigator for the National Institutes of Health Registry on Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, the first of its kind, and has been the leader of the largest clinical center in the U.S. for evaluating and treating patients with pulmonary hypertension since 1980. He has been at the forefront of the development of virtually every new treatment for pulmonary hypertension, as well as the use of therapeutic procedures and devices.

Rich did his residency training in medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, and fellowship in cardiology at the University of Chicago. In 2014 he received the heart for Hope Legacy Award from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, and in 2015 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute.

Rich, who joins Northwestern from the University of Chicago Medicine, is now part of one of the nation's elite heart and heart surgery programs. Northwestern Memorial Hospital's heart and heart surgery program was rated ninth in the nation in the 2015 U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospitals" survey, and for the 8th consecutive year was the top-rated program in Chicago and Illinois.

"Dr. Rich has worked for decades as the world recognized leader in the field of pulmonary hypertension, and will make Northwestern Medicine the destination for thousands of patients with this rare but life threatening condition," said Dr. Patrick McCarthy, executive director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine and chief of cardiac surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "We look forward to this transformative physician accelerating the exceptional momentum of our team at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute." 

To learn more about the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, or to make an appointment, visit heart.nm.org or call (312) NM-HEART.

To learn more about Northwestern Medicine, visit http://news.nm.org/about-northwestern-medicine.html. 

SOURCE Northwestern Medicine

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