Two UH Physician-Scientists to Receive 2024 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Awards

UH CR Award recipients (from left) Mehdi Shishehbor, DO, MPH, PhD and Amrou Sarraj, MD.

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals (UH) is celebrating the announcement that two of its physician-scientists will receive recognition for their profound contributions to advancing clinical research. UH is the only hospital system to have two honorees acknowledged this year by a national research consortium for the 10 most significant clinical advancements impacting the health and wellness of humanity.

Research teams led by Mehdi Shishehbor, DO, MPH, PhD, and Amrou Sarraj, MD, will be honored with a 2024 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award by the Clinical Research Forum (CR Forum). Other honorees include physicians from the Mayo Clinic, Tufts University Medical Center, and the University of Chicago, among others.

“University Hospitals is committed to cutting-edge research in order to bring new drug, device and cell therapies to patients who are out of options and need hope,” said Dr. Daniel Simon, President of Academic & External Affairs and Chief Scientific Officer at University Hospitals, as well as the Ernie and Patti Novak Distinguished Chair in Health Care Leadership. “We are honored that two of our outstanding physician-scientists have been recognized for their impactful work in preventing amputation and enhancing independence after stroke. Drs. Shishehbor and Sarraj are perfect examples of our vision to advance the science of health and the art of compassion.”

The Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards honor groundbreaking achievements in clinical research from across the nation. The competition seeks to identify major advances in the biomedical field resulting from the nation’s investment in health and welfare. The Top 10 award recipients are selected by a CR Forum panel from clinical research studies published in peer-reviewed journals in 2023. They are based on the degree of innovation and novelty involved in the advancement of science; contribution to the understanding of human disease and/or physiology; and potential impact upon the diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of disease.

Dr. Mehdi Shishehbor’s award-winning research study, “The PROMISE II U.S. Pivotal Clinical Trial” enrolled 105 no-option patients across 20 U.S. centers. Results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March 2023 as “Transcatheter Arterialization of Deep Veins in Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 400 Americans per day undergo a lower extremity amputation, most commonly due to poor circulation. PROMISE II studied transcatheter arterialization, a procedure that bypasses blocked arteries in the leg and rushes blood back into the foot using a novel stent that turns a vein into an artery. Before entering the trial, all patients were headed toward a major amputation. At 6 months post-procedure, 76 percent of patients avoided an above-the-ankle amputation. PROMISE II found that transcatheter arterialization of the deep veins was safe and could be performed successfully in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia and no conventional surgical or endovascular revascularization treatment options.

“Research and innovation bring hope. At University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, we are committed to defining the future of medicine and bringing the latest technologies and techniques to our patients,” said Dr. Shishehbor, President of UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute; Angela and James Hambrick Chair in Innovation; and lead author and co-principal investigator of the study. “I am honored by this recognition and excited that this work has now been approved by the FDA which will likely save many more limbs and lives.”

Dr. Amrou Sarraj’s award-winning research study, “SELECT2: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Optimize Patient's Selection for Endovascular Treatment in Acute Ischemic Stroke” was conducted across 31 comprehensive stroke centers and tertiary hospitals in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand with UH as the coordinating center. Results of the trial were presented at the International Stroke Conference in February 2023 and were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine as “Trial of Endovascular Thrombectomy for Large Ischemic Strokes.”

SELECT2 discovered that patients with large strokes had a dramatically better recovery after endovascular thrombectomy plus medical management, than patients who only received standard medical management. These results represent a major advancement in stroke therapy worldwide and have brought hope for a significant subgroup of patients (~1 in 5 patients with a large vessel occlusion) who previously were thought not to benefit. Additional sub-analyses from the trial, since published in prestigious journals such as the LANCET, Journal of the American Medical Association, and JAMA Neurology, have demonstrated sustained long-term benefits in functional scores and quality of life as well as consistent benefits across strata based on key clinical and neuroimaging subgroups, providing comprehensive validation of the treatment benefits.

“This achievement exemplifies our unwavering commitment to advancing patient care and improving outcomes,” said Dr. Sarraj, UH stroke systems director; George M. Humphrey, II Chair in Neurology; and the global principal investigator and lead author of the study. “We extend our deepest gratitude to the courageous patients and their families who participated in this trial. Their invaluable contribution has paved the way for future advancements. This milestone underscores University Hospitals' dedication to transformative research and reaffirms our mission to drive innovation in healthcare.”

The awards will be celebrated at a ceremony in Las Vegas, NV on April 2, 2024.