Founding Story
Andreas
Gruentzig, MD
inventor of coronary
angioplasty |
Angioplasty.Org
was created in 1997 as a way of celebrating the first
two
decades of interventional cardiology and to serve
as a community, information source and
historical archive for cardiologists and other healthcare
professionals. We featured original video interviews
with renowned physicians and researchers, news and
discussion of controversial issues.
However, unlike
most physician websites, we decided to remain open
and noncommercial. No passwords,
no "doctors only" registration, no industry advertisements.
We
soon discovered that thousands of patients were visiting the
site, joining
the forums, asking questions and educating themselves
about the field of interventional cardiology. The fact is,
many patients prefer to participate actively in decisions
regarding
their own healthcare and want to understand the science behind
the treatments their doctors recommend.
So, in addition to providing
resources to physicians and healthcare professionals, our
goal is to offer patients more than the usual pamphlets
on "what
to expect when you have an angioplasty". We provide
in-depth information about coronary artery disease, the
evolution of minimally invasive procedures and the status
of current
and emerging treatments. And, we advocate for patient participation
in decision-making and evidence-driven, patient-centered
healthcare improvement.
John E. Abele |
This endeavor received a seed
grant in 1997 from John E. Abele, Founding Chairman,
retired, of Boston Scientific Corporation. His strong conviction
was that this website serve as a non-commercial archive of
information, and a tribute to the men and women who pioneered
interventional cardiology and radiology.
Richard
K. Myler, MD |
Founding Medical Advisor to
Angioplasty.Org, trail-blazing cardiologist Richard K.
Myler, MD, was introduced to Dr. Andreas Gruentzig by
Mr. Abele in 1976. He immediately saw the value of Gruentzig's
balloon and invited him to San Francisco, where together
they performed the first intraoperative coronary angioplasties.
In April 1978, Dr. Myler performed the first PTCA in the
United States.
Staff
Burt Cohen |
Burt
Cohen, Producer & Editor-In-Chief
BA, Williams College; MFA, N.Y.U. Graduate Institute of Film and Television;
post-graduate study, San Francisco State Multimedia Studies Program
Burt has been a pioneer in medical
education for nearly four decades. He co-developed the multi-screen,
live, interactive video demonstration course and produced
these in the U.S., Canada and Europe, training
thousands of interventional cardiologists. He has worked
closely with the physicians who created this field of medicine
since its
inception to educate the profession and the public about
interventional treatments. His films and websites have been
awarded the CINE Golden Eagle, Time Inc Health "Freddie",
International Film & TV Festival Silver Medal, American
Film Festival Red Ribbon and Art Direction Magazine Creativity
Awards. He has been an editorial consultant to the American
Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology,
created multimedia educational projects from physician training
programs to medical history documentaries, for 45 corporate
and nonprofit clients including hospitals and universities,
device manufacturers, medical imaging and pharmaceutical
companies.
Cohen produced and directed
the feature-length documentary, "PTCA:
A History", which chronicles the birth
of interventional cardiology, and created a permanent video
installation for the American College of Cardiology's Heart
House in Washington, DC. Addressing the
30th anniversary celebration of angioplasty,
Dr. Stephen Oesterle, Senior Vice President for Medicine
and Technology at Medtronic, stated, "Burt Cohen has been
documentarian of this field of medicine for 30 years."
Deborah
Shaw, Patient Education Editor
Deborah is a writer, consultant and communications designer specializing in education,
training and health. She has developed informational and educational materials
for numerous nonprofit and corporate clients including hospitals, schools and
consulting firms and edited training materials used by CBS, the American Management
Association and Kaplan, Inc. She has been a newspaper columnist and published
articles in The New York Times, Training Magazine, ASTD
Training and Development Journal, Videography, and other publications.
Deborah is also a former school administrator and author of a parenting guidebook.
Megan
Andrews, SEO Manager & Content Associate
Megan is a specialist in white-hat search engine optimization and content
management, and a writer for print and web outlets. Her roster of past and
present clients includes The Discovery Channel, Yelp, Myspace Local, and Yahoo's
Associated Content, where her article portfolio has earned over 3.8 million
views. Megan holds a Honors Baccalaureate degree from Stanford University.
Resources and Experts
Angioplasty.Org has worked with many of the leaders in interventional
cardiology. The site includes original interviews and commentary
from over 50 preeminent interventionalists. Among the physicians
that have served in an advisory role and encouraged our mission
are: Dr. Gary Roubin, Chairman of Interventional Cardiology,
Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute of NY; Dr. Spencer B.
King, III, Fuqua Chair of Interventional Cardiology at Piedmont
Hospital in Atlanta, angioplasty pioneer Dr. Geoffrey Hartzler,
stent inventor Dr. Richard Schatz, Dr. Shigeru Saito of Kamakura,
Japan, Dr. Paul Yock of Stanford, Dr. Sunil V. Rao of Duke Medical
Center, Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps and Editor-in-Chief of theheart.org,
Dr. Patrick Serruys of ThoraxCenter in Rotterdam, Dr. William
O'Neill of Miami University and many others.
Funding
Angioplasty.Org is editorially
independent, journalistic and noncommercial. The site has received
modest financial support from medical device companies and
healthcare organizations in the form of unrestricted grants.
We post no product advertising or editorial content sponsored
by, or influenced by, our funders. As part of our news reporting
we may post corporate press releases announcing study results
and related information; all press releases are clearly identified
as such. Our community forum, news feed services and blog pages
host Google sponsored ads and links. We do not control Google
ad content, and our opinion and community pages, just like
our informational pages, are to be best of our knowledge, free
of any commercial influence.
Much of the content
on the site is produced on a volunteer basis, including the
blogs, forum discussion moderation and extensive individual
responses to patient inquiries and concerns. We also rely
on donations from our user community and small fees from
the sale of our medical history videos.
|