Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation , USA
Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation , USA
Martin B. Leon is Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF). He is also CRF’s Co-Director, Medical Research and Education Division. He is Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy (CIVT) and Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Leon serves on the Executive Board of the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Heart Valve Center.
A distinguished pioneer in interventional cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Leon has been the principal investigator for over 50 clinical trials that have helped shape the field of interventional cardiovascular medicine including STRESS, STARS, Gamma-one, SIRIUS, ENDEAVOR, and most recently, the PARTNER trial, studying the value of transcatheter valve therapy for patients with aortic stenosis.
He is the Founder and Director of Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT), the world’s premier meeting dedicated to interventional cardiovascular medicine, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013.
He has also been the Director or Co-Director of more than 100 international educational programs in the field.
Dr. Leon has received 10 international career achievement awards and was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Athens.
He was previously the Director of Cardiovascular Research and Education at the Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute in New York as well as Director of Clinical Research at the Washington Cardiology Center at the Washington Hospital Center and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC.
He also served as a Clinical Associate, Senior Investigator, and Director of the Catheterization Laboratories in the Cardiology Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
He was a founder of the Washington Cardiology Center and the Cardiology Research Foundation in Washington, DC. Dr.
Leon received his medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine internship and residency as well as a cardiology fellowship at the Yale-New Haven Hospital.