WEforum Health and Wellness Conference 2016
DR. MARC STEVEN PENN – Cardiologist and Director of Research
Summa Cardiovascular Institute
What You Need to Know About Inflammatory Biomarkers to Assess Cardiovascular Risk
Wednesday, April 20th 10:00-10:45 AM – Promenade 2
While routine lipid screening plays an important role in cardiovascular risk assessment it does not provide a complete picture of your health. In fact, nearly 50% of all heart attacks and strokes occur in patients with ‘normal’ cholesterol levels. Recent evidence goes beyond lipids to suggest that inflammation within the artery wall is the primary contributor to this residual risk for heart attack and stroke. Inflammation contributes to both vulnerable plaque formation and to plaque rupture. Inflammation can be easily measured with advanced testing that assesses a patient’s inflammatory state and cardiovascular risk. Monitoring their inflammatory status may allow you to catch the beginning, or even treat advanced stages of inflammation, in an effort to reduce their cardiovascular risk.
Objectives:
- The learner will be able to recognize the importance of inflammatory biomarkers to assess cardiovascular risk.
- The learner will be able to differentiate routine lipid screening vs. advanced testing of inflammation biomarkers that help assess a patient’s cardiovascular risk.
Dr. Marc Penn is a cardiologist and Director of Research at the Summa Cardiovascular Institute in Akron, Ohio and Professor of Medicine and Integrative Medical Sciences at Northeast Ohio Medical University where he leads the Skirball Laboratory for Cardiovascular Cellular Therapeutics. From 2000-2011 Dr. Penn was a staff cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic from 2000-2011 where he served as the Director of the Coronary Intensive Care Unit, Director of the Experimental Animal Laboratory, Director of the Bakken Heart-Brain Institute, and the first Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Cell Therapy. Dr. Penn completed his undergraduate and postgraduate work at Case Western Reserve University completing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 1989 and Doctor of Medicine in 1994. He completed his Internal Medicine training at University Hospitals of Cleveland (1994-97) and his Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic (1997-2000). He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine by the ABIM. During his training he received numerous awards including the 2000 Joseph Cash Memorial Prize for Clinical Outcomes Research and the 1999 Irvine H. Page Young Investigator award for Atherosclerosis Research presented by the National American Heart Association. Dr. Penn has an adjunct appointment at Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Bioengineering Center at Cleveland State University. Dr. Penn’s research has led to several discoveries in the field of cardiovascular medicine. His education and training have helped him develop diagnostics and drug delivery systems for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, including strategies to optimize gene therapy and stem cell therapy for the regeneration of myocardial tissue.Dr. Penn has been an invited lecturer at international symposiums and conferences and is author or co-author of numerous published articles, abstracts, book chapters and books on a wide range of topics, from diabetes and lipoprotein oxidation; the development and role of cardiovascular diagnostics in clinical medicine; and stem cell and gene based therapies for heart disease. He is the Editor or co-Editor of 3 books including Stem Cells and Myocardial Regeneration published by Humana Press.Dr. Penn is an active inventor and serial entrepreneur. He has generated intellectual property in the fields of diagnostics, biologics and devices that has been licensed by 7 companies. In 2006 he was named Innovator of the Year at the Cleveland Clinic. He is the founder and CSO/CMO of Juventas Therapeutics, Inc. (Cleveland, OH) and SironRx Inc. (Akron, OH), privately funded clinical stage regenerative medicine companies founded on intellectual property developed in his laboratory for cardiovascular disease and wound and bone healing, respectively. He is a founder and CMO of Cleveland Heart Labs, Inc. (Cleveland, OH), a diagnostic company based on biomarkers associated with coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and other inflammatory diseases. He was founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cour Pharma from 2007-2010 (Kalamazoo, MI). He is an advisor and Scientific Advisory Board member of numerous companies and funds. Of note he is the PI of the Athersys MAPC in AMI Phase I and II trials and serves on the Aastrom Biosciences Scientific Advisory Board. In 2010 he joined the healthcare consulting group Kenwood Health Group (San Francisco, CEO David Strand, former COO of Cleveland Clinic) as CMO. He is a Venture Partner with Oakwood Medical Investors (St. Louis, MO) and served on the Scientific Advisory Board of Frantz Medical Ventures (New York City), and as a Clinical Partner with Foundation Medical Partners (New Canaan, CT) representing the interests of the Cleveland Clinic. From 2008-10 Dr. Penn served as the Senior Medical Director for Emerging Businesses at Cleveland Clinic.
