Black individuals do science, research, and all things STEM, despite what some people mistakenly think.
For example, at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024, Roderic I. Pettigrew, Ph.D., M.D., FAHA, the endowed Robert A. Welch Professor of Medicine and former inaugural dean of Texas A&M University’s School of Engineering Medicine in Houston, will receive the 2024 Research Achievement Award.
The meeting was held in Chicago from November 16–18, 2024. The most recent research, scientific developments, and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science were presented at this world-renowned conference. On Sunday, November 17, 2024, during the Presidential Session, his prize was given out.
TEXAS A&M S ENGINEERING MEDICINE PROGRAM
Pettigrew remains chief executive officer of engineering health for Texas A&M in Houston and was just named vice chancellor for health and strategic initiatives for the statewide Texas A&M University System.
He oversaw the development of Texas A&M’s distinctive ENMED (Engineering Medicine) program and served as executive dean before to being appointed vice chancellor and the first dean of the School of Engineering Medicine in June 2024.
Keith Churchwell, M.D., FAHA, American Heart Association 2024-2025 volunteer president, adjunct associate professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, and associate clinical professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, said, “It is my honor to present Dr. Roderic Pettigrew with the 2024 Research Achievement Award.” Ideas that only seemed to exist in science fiction are brought to life by the kind of study Roderic is doing. These new biomedical innovations have the potential to help people stay healthy for longer, and their ability to combine engineering and medicine will contribute to developments that will influence medicine’s course in the future.
PROBLEM SOLVER
Throughout his career, Pettigrew has been at the vanguard of programs that combine medicine and engineering, and his work as a physician, scientist, and engineer has been focused on developing medical technology as a way to tackle problems.
He worked as a clinical research scientist at Picker International, the original MRI system maker, from 1983 until 1985. Pettigrew explored the more difficult task of developing MRI technology to capture images of the beating heart at a period when it was impossible to produce MR images of non-moving organs including the brain, spine, and extremities.
He contributed to the development and installation of the cardiovascular software for the first ten Picker systems installed globally.
Pettigrew then became a professor of radiology, medicine (cardiology), and bioengineering at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He oversaw the noninvasive cardiovascular imaging division of the Emory Center for Magnetic Resonance Research.
Furthermore, he oversaw a group of researchers who developed the instruments for quantitative, four-dimensional imaging of the heart and blood flow inside the thoracic cavity. This innovative method required 20 years of continuous advancements in processing power before it could be implemented into standard clinical practice.
Dr. Pettigrew was hired in 2002 to serve as the founding director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the only NIH institute established at the intersection of engineering, biological sciences, and physical sciences. In his capacity as its first director, he directed the NIBIB to concentrate on new developments in imaging and biomedical technologies in order to spur scientific research and technical advancements that would enhance human health.
For instance, he oversaw the NIBIB’s early co-founding of the Jackson Heart Study, which included a cardiovascular imaging sub-study. His studies at the NIH were centered on atherosclerotic disease imaging and predictive modeling. He recently co-edited Biomechanics of Atherosclerotic Plaque: From Model to Patient, the first comprehensive text. He is currently working on non-invasive, high-resolution vascular wall imaging and is pushing the boundaries of vascular cell aging and endothelial cell mechanosensing.
After that, Dr. Pettigrew joined Texas A&M University and established the School of Engineering Medicine (ENMED), where students can complete their master’s degrees in engineering and medical degrees in just four years.
“Being acknowledged by the Association for my work at the intersection of engineering and the physical and biological sciences, with a particular emphasis on cardiovascular disease, is an honor,” Pettigrew said. The overarching goal is to create innovations that will enable everyone of us to enjoy a healthy life and pass away in good health. We can now realistically anticipate faster changes and medical disruptions as a result of the convergence of historically separate but complementary fields that are, in Einstein’s words, branches of the same tree. Combining these with our knowledge, creative thinking, and quest for significant improvements promises faster production of things that will have a significant impact. Consider, for instance, the eradication of heart attacks and strokes. Through this transdisciplinary method, such ambitions might be realized with focused intention.
