John Cheatham receives prestigious award for work on congenital heart disease

The Pediatric Interventional Cardiac Symposium (PICS) & Adult Interventional Cardiac Symposium (AICS) Lifetime Achievement Award for 2007 was recently presented to John P. Cheatham, MD, Co-Director of The Heart Center at Columbus Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics & Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Cheatham also serves as Director of Cardiac Catheterization & Interventional Therapy. The meeting was attended by nearly 1,000 interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from all 5 continents focused on improving the care of children and adults born with complex congenital heart disease (CHD). There have been only 10 physicians who have received this prestigious award in the past, with Cheatham being only the 4th recipient from the USA.

Recognized as a pioneer in the design and testing of new materials and techniques for CHD, Cheatham was instrumental in developing the NuMED CP stent and the BIB balloon catheter, among other closure devices used in the transcatheter treatment of CHD. He is also credited with contributing to improved outcomes in the treatment of newborns with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome using a Hybrid approach, which combines surgical and transcatheter techniques. Dr. Cheatham has been requested to lecture in more than 250 national and international meetings, has traveled around the world teaching new techniques to other physicians, and has published more than 200 manuscripts, book chapters, and abstracts. Cheatham was also cited as the creator of the International Symposium on the Hybrid Approach to CHD (ISHAC) while at Columbus Children's, recognized by his peers internationally as the leading teaching forum in the field of hybrid cardiac interventions.

Earlier this year, Dr. Cheatham was recognized as one of the top 25 Innovators in Healthcare by HealthImaging & IT for his integral role in the design and development of a five-axis flat panel detector (FPD) positioner released by Toshiba Medical Systems. This creative, unique C-arm design allows unparalleled access to the patient during complex interventional procedures.

In addition to his numerous leadership roles within Columbus Children's Hospital, Cheatham serves as the Co-Director of the International Program. Through his efforts, there are now formal educational agreements between CCH and Fuwai Cardiovascular Hospital in Beijing, as well as with Shanghai Children's Medical Center in the Pudong District of Shanghai. Teams of physicians from these institutions have trained in The Heart Center and then returned to China to implement new management strategies and have already reported improved outcomes.

Cheatham earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University and his M.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Boston Children's Hospital and his fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology at Texas Children's Hospital. He spent nearly 19 years at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and Omaha Children's Hospital before relocating to Nemours Cardiac Center and Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital for two years prior to joining the staff at Columbus Children's Hospital.

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