2002 Achievement in Clinical Research Award

Fred Morady, M.D., professor, Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology

Through his groundbreaking work in catheter ablation procedures, Dr. Fred Morady has made a substantial impact on the treatment of heart arrhythmias. Along with Dr. Mel Scheinman, Dr. Morady pioneered a catheter ablation technique of the atrioventricular node and published the seminal article on this procedure in JAMA. He has since worked on improving the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of a variety of catheter ablation procedures. His 377 publications include a number of instances in which he was the first to describe a novel application of this technique. Dr. Morady identified critical portions of the reentry circuit of ventricular tachycardia. This lead to a mapping tool that has become a gold standard for mapping maneuvers for selecting target sites for ablation of ventricular tachycardia around the world.

Dr. Morady established the feasibility of performing catheter ablation procedures on an outpatient basis. He also demonstrated the efficacy of catheter ablation techniques through randomized studies comparing the efficacy of direct current vs. radio-frequency catheter ablation of the arterioventricular node; fast vs. slow pathway ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia; and use of anatomic vs. electrographic mapping approach for ablating AV nodal reentrant tachycardia. The electrophysiologic community around the world quickly incorporated the findings of these trials into clinical practice.

An international leader in the field of cardiac arrhythmias, Dr. Morady's work and has steadily advanced the field to a point where, today, many patients can be cured through the use of catheter ablation techniques.