Biography
I am Professor Emeritus of Medicine-Cardiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Briefly, my academic career spans for four decades dedicated to research and clinical efforts to discovering effective treatments of pulmonary hypertension. In 1980 I was Principal Investigator of the NIH Registry on Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, the first of its kind, and have been a leader of the largest clinical centers in the U.S. for evaluating and treating patients with pulmonary hypertension ever since. I have been involved in pioneering research on the molecular mechanisms, epidemiology, clinical presentation, natural history and treatments of the disease. In 1998 I assembled and chaired the World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension, sponsored by the WHO, which led to the classification of the disease, as well as a dramatic increase in research in the field of pulmonary vascular diseases. In 2006, I co-founded the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute, a global health professional organization that is committed to bringing advances in treating pulmonary vascular diseases to the developing world. I have been listed among the America’s top 1% of doctors by Castle Connolly Ltd. for more than 30 consecutive years. In 2014 I received the Heart for Hope Legacy Award from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association; in 2015 I received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute, and in 2016 I was designated a Living Legend by the American College of Cardiology.
When I retired (summer 2021) I became the Chief Medical Officer of a biotech company developing novel treatments for pulmonary hypertension. My work days now have become longer, and my golf game has gotten worse.
I am a native Chicagoan, growing up on the South Side (White Sox fan), now living in Skokie. As an avid sports fan, I have been accustomed to cheering for teams that lose, but never quit. I have 4 children and 9 grandchildren, who are the proudest achievements of my life.
stuart.rich@northwestern.edu