Dr. Steven E. Nissen
Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA



Dr. Steven E. Nissen, M.D., M.A.C.C., is Chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. From 2006 to 2007 he served as President of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the professional society representing American cardiologists.

His research has focused on the application of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging to the assessment of progression and regression of coronary atherosclerosis.  More recently, he has served as study chairman for large cardiovascular outcomes trials. His contributions to scientific literature include more than 400 journal articles and 60 book chapters. He is co-author of a book for patients with heart disease, Heart411 released by Crown Books on 31 January, 2012.

Dr. Nissen works closely with pharmaceutical companies on the development of new therapies for cardiovascular disease, but maintains a longstanding policy of requiring companies to donate all related honoraria directly to charity so that he receives neither income, nor a tax deduction.

He has also written extensively on the subject of drug safety. In 2001, he co-authored the first manuscript that raised concerns about the safety of rofecoxib (Vioxx™), which was withdrawn from the market three years later. In 2007, he authored a manuscript that demonstrated that the widely used diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia™) raised the risk of myocardial infarction, eventually leading in 2010 to withdrawal of the drug in Europe and severe restrictions in the US.

Dr. Nissen served as a member of the CardioRenal Advisory Panel of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for five years, and was Chairman the final year of his membership. He continues to serve as Advisor to several FDA committees as a “Special Government Employee”. In July 2008, while serving as guest member of the Endocrine and Metabolism Advisory Panel, he recommended a new approach for approval of diabetes drugs, which was ultimately adopted by the Agency in December 2008.

Dr. Nissen is also known for his role in public policy discussions, particularly in the area of drug safety. He has testified in both the Senate (Health Education and Labor Committee) and House of Representatives (Energy and Commerce Committee) on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy. He was actively involved in discussions with Congress on the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 that added additional regulatory authority for the Agency.

In 2007, Time Magazine selected Dr. Nissen as one of the world’s 100 most influential people. In 2015, he was named by Thompson-Reuters as one of the world’s most highly cited physician-scientists.