Swedish Expands its Scientific Research Program

– Dr. Mark Reisman named chief scientific officer and head of research

SEATTLE, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Swedish announced it is expanding its research program to benefit more patients in the Pacific Northwest region. Swedish's goal is to enhance its longstanding research program to provide patients with the latest, most innovative, promising treatments. The program will also focus on adopting new and emerging therapies as well as acquiring the latest technologies, faster. To lead the expansion project, Swedish has appointed Mark Reisman, M.D., to chief scientific officer. In this new role, Dr. Reisman will further develop and execute Swedish's vision for strategic, scientific research that focuses on improving the lives of its patients.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100908/DC61856 )

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100908/DC61856 )

More widely known for its focus on patient care, Swedish already has a longstanding and innovative history in the field of medical research.  Since its founding in 1996, Swedish's Clinical Research program has led research in cancer, heart, headache, HIV/AIDS, organ transplantation, perinatal medicine, pediatrics, neurology, pain, rheumatology, brain cancer and many other specialties.

"We have an incredible opportunity to bridge the gap between research and patient care," said Dr. Mark Reisman, chief scientific officer at Swedish. "Clinical research helps physicians to stay at the forefront of their fields and ultimately provides more treatments to patients that they may not otherwise access."

As chief scientific officer, Dr. Reisman will provide physician-level and senior-level leadership to the Clinical Research division. His responsibilities include building and maintaining partnerships in the medical community and ensuring that Swedish has the infrastructure to support its physicians in their expanding research efforts. He will work to increase the productivity of research projects, secure additional sponsored funding and help raise the visibility of Swedish's research findings. Dr. Reisman will also be responsible for ensuring compliance with institutional and regulatory policies and research procedures.

As part of the expansion project, Swedish's research program staff will expand to provide more support for clinical research efforts through the addition of various new full-time positions. The available positions will be primarily clinicians as well as research nurses, grant writers, database coordinators and publications assistants.

"Research has been an integral part of Swedish for more than a decade. By taking on significant clinical projects, Swedish has been an active and contributing participant in the research community," said Jennifer Hansberry, R.N., B.S.N., director of Clinical Research at Swedish. "We are excited to have Dr. Reisman's leadership and expertise in delivering great results for our patients as we move into this next phase of growth."

Each year, Swedish-affiliated clinicians conduct and participate in more than 650 research trials locally, nationally and abroad. In addition to participating in major, federally funded programs (such as the Southwest Oncology Group and the Center for Perinatal Studies), Swedish physicians are involved in research studies of new treatment approaches for everything from coronary-artery disease to ovarian cancer to retinopathy.

Generous Donation Enables 'Rising Stars Program' in Cardiovascular Research

Along with a generous donation of $1 million from philanthropist Joe Clark to cardiovascular research, Swedish is well-poised to take the necessary steps to advance medical research in a broad range of disciplines.

The generous $1 million donation comes from Joe Clark, a Seattle aerospace executive. As a long-time associate of Dr. John L. Peterson, his cardiologist, Clark decided to support the research endeavors at the Swedish Heart and Vascular Institute. The gift will be used to establish a 'Rising Stars Program,' which will allow new and current physicians to dedicate a portion of their time to clinical research ensuring that Swedish is developing advanced treatments and using the most innovative technologies for the benefit of their patients.

Dr. Mark Reisman Appointed to Chief Scientific Officer

An interventional cardiologist with the Swedish Heart and Vascular Institute since 1995, Dr. Reisman has been the principle investigator for a number of groundbreaking clinical trials. He is a national leader in development and initial application of several medical devices. He has authored books and manuscripts on several of these techniques, which have provided a roadmap for many other physicians to safely and effectively use these technologies.

Dr. Reisman has also played a key role in the Swedish Heart & Vascular Institute's efforts to look at other technologies for opening arteries and keeping them open. He is renowned for his pioneering work in the developing field of neurocardiovascular interventions for the treatment and prevention of strokes as well as structural heart disease. These later studies will allow patients to have treatments to heart valves and other structures of their hearts using catheter-based techniques that do not require open surgery.

Dr. Reisman earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a medical degree from Sackler School of Medicine's New York State program. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., followed by a two-year residency in internal medicine and a two-year fellowship in cardiology at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York, N.Y. He completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology from University of California San Diego Medical Center.

Board-certified in cardiology and internal medicine, Dr. Reisman will continue as director of cardiovascular research at Swedish. He has been a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington (U.W.) since 2009, and works collaboratively on investigational studies with the U.W. He is also president of the board of directors for the Seattle Science Foundation and the director of several cardiology programs throughout the country.

Though he is taking on a new leadership role, Dr. Reisman will maintain an active clinical practice and continue to lead research into new therapies in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

About Swedish

Established in 1910, Swedish has grown over the last 100 years to become the largest, most comprehensive non-profit health provider in the Greater Seattle area. It is comprised of four hospital campuses – First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard and Edmonds – a freestanding emergency department and ambulatory care center in Issaquah, Swedish Visiting Nurse Services, and the Swedish Physician Division – a network of more than 40 primary-care and specialty clinics located throughout the Puget Sound area. In fall 2009, Swedish broke ground on a new medical office building and hospital in the Issaquah Highlands, as well as an emergency department and medical office building in Ballard. More recently, Swedish announced plans to open freestanding emergency department and ambulatory care center facilities in Mill Creek and Redmond. In addition to general medical and surgical care, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit www.swedish.org and www.swedish100.org.

SOURCE Swedish