Scripps Health's Eric Topol Among 10 Most Influential Physician Leaders
Chief Academic Officer makes Modern Healthcare magazine list again
Eric Topol, MD
For the second year in a row, Scripps Health Chief Academic Officer Eric Topol, MD, has been named one of the 10 most influential physician executives by Modern Healthcare magazine.
The internationally recognized cardiologist, geneticist and researcher was listed at No. 8 in the publication’s annual ranking of the 50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare, which appeared in the April 22 edition of the magazine. Others on the list included National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, Mayo Clinic CEO John Noseworthy and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden.
As a digital health pioneer, Dr. Topol is a leading champion of a technological revolution that promises to transform the delivery of healthcare services, lower the cost of medicine and personalize the treatment of illness.
“I am honored to be recognized this year by the Modern Healthcare annual poll of influential physicians,” Dr. Topol said. “It is terrific to see the call for a digital shakeup in the medical community taking hold.”
Readers of the magazine and its sister publication, Modern Physician, nominated 100 candidates for this year’s ranking, and their votes accounted for 50 percent of the selection outcome, according to the publications. The remaining portion of the outcome was determined by magazine senior editors.
“Once again, Scripps Health is proud to be represented by Dr. Topol in this prestigious list of health care thought leaders,” Scripps Health Chief Executive Officer Chris Van Gorder said. “His work in genomic and wireless health is helping to transform medicine here in San Diego and across the country.”
A leader in digital health
At Scripps Health, Dr. Topol leads the effort to move medical research and technology from the laboratory to the bedside, oversees the Genomics Medicine Program and practices cardiology at Scripps Clinic. He also directs the Scripps Translational Science Institute, a major research initiative at Scripps Health involving collaboration with The Scripps Research Institute, where he is a professor of genomics.
His most recent research work, known as the IDIOM Study, focuses on sequencing the DNA of people with an idiopathic disease in hopes of discovering genetic variations that might lead to a diagnosis and treatment of the mystery condition. Researchers discovered a new treatment for the first participant in the study, a San Diego teenage girl suffering from severe neuromuscular problems, following an in-depth analysis of her genetic code.
Dr. Topol’s acclaimed book, “The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care,” provides a roadmap for how the convergence of mobile devices, smartphones, DNA mapping, cloud computing, digital imaging and online social networks will revolutionize the practice of medicine.
Last year, Dr. Topol was named the most influential physician executive in the country by Modern Healthcare, landing in the No. 1 spot on the magazine’s annual list. More recently, he demonstrated cutting-edge digital health technology during a guest appearance on “The Colbert Report,” the popular talk show on Comedy Central. He is regularly called on by national media outlets to comment on major news in the worlds of genetics, heart health and medical technology.
Before joining Scripps Health in 2006, Dr. Topol led the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic for 15 years. He has written more than 1,100 peer-reviewed articles and has edited more than 30 books. He was the first physician to publish safety concerns about the cardiovascular risk of the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx, which was later removed from the market by its manufacturer.
Dr. Topol is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association of Physicians, and he was recognized by Thomson Reuters’ Institute of Scientific Information for being among the 10 most cited biomedical researchers in medicine in the past decade.
Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system in San Diego, Calif.
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