Infraredx, Inc., a medical device company committed to advancing the diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease, today announced that it has received a $25 million equity investment from Nipro Corporation. This investment builds on Infraredx’s exclusive agreement with Nipro for distribution of its TVC Imaging System in Japan, the world’s largest intravascular imaging market. In conjunction with the investment, a member of Nipro’s management team will join Infraredx’s board of directors.

Gladstone Institutes researchers published a proof of concept study in Stem Cell Reports of human fibroblasts being reprogrammed into beating heart cells. A description of their work and a 3-D video illustrating a heart muscle cell are available below. 

Tony Das, MD, the cardiologist who treated George W. Bush on Aug. 6, discusses his reasoning for the former president’s stent procedure in a blog entry posted on the American Heart Association’s site. 

World-renowned cardiologist and researcher Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, MACC, has been named editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,  the nation’s leading source of  clinical information in the area of cardiovascular medicine and the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees has named Jeff Bolton Mayo Clinic's next vice president, administration and chief administrative officer and recognized two recipients of Mayo Clinic named professorships.

The Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) announced this week that updated standards for cardiac intervention procedures have been published and are now available for download on the ACE website. ACE updated its Cath/PCI standards to align with the recently published clinical competency document for PCI which includes information on physician training, clinical competency criteria and the updated expert consensus document published in 2012.

The University of Vermont College of Medicine has announced that cardiologist and Professor of Medicine David Schneider, M.D., has been appointed director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI). The director of cardiology in the department of medicine and medical director of cardiology at Fletcher Allen Health Care, Schneider will succeed CVRI founding director Burton Sobel, M.D., who passed away in spring 2013.

Through the kindness of Richard M. and Yvonne Hamlin, Summa Health System announced today the largest philanthropic gift in its organization’s history – a $4 million contribution for the creation of a hybrid cardiovascular operating room at Summa Akron City Hospital. In honor of the benefactors, Summa’s Center of Excellence building at 95 Arch Street in Akron will be renamed The Richard M. and Yvonne Hamlin Pavilion. The facility is home to numerous cardiopulmonary patient services as well as medical and surgical physician offices.