By GREGORY ZELLER //
A major-league surgeon credited with pioneering the use of stents to promote blood flow in compromised heart valves is now wielding her scalpel – and next-level mind – for Northwell Health.
In an impressive get for the New Hyde Park-based health system, Cindy Grines is now performing interventions and cardiac catheterizations at Manhasset’s Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital. Grines, who helped usher percutaneous coronary intervention into mainstream use for heart attack victims, has also been appointed chairwoman of cardiology at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine.
Calling Grines “one of the most esteemed interventional cardiologists in the country,” Northwell Health Chief Physician Lawrence Smith, who doubles as dean of the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, said Northwell was thrilled to welcome the stellar surgeon.
“With exceptional clinical, teaching and research skills, Dr. Grines will develop a premiere cardiac research program,” Smith said this week, adding the cardiology chair would also focus on developing new clinical trials “that will give patients earlier access to the latest in diagnostics and therapeutics.”
The author of more than 400 papers, book chapters and medical-journal articles on cardiac catheterization, PCI, acute myocardial infarction, gene therapy and heart disease in women, Grines – who is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Interventional Cardiology – most recently served as vice president of academic and clinical affairs at Detroit Medical Center’s Heart Hospital.
Laerence Smith:
Prior to joining the DMC faculty, she spent two decades at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan, where she rose to chief of cardiovascular medicine. At Beaumont, Grines led numerous multicenter clinical trials, including a Primary Angioplasty in Myocardial Infarction trial that demonstrated PCI was superior to clot-busting drugs as a treatment for narrowed arteries due to coronary artery disease.
Grines also is credited with leading a Stent PAMI study that confirmed the benefits of stents versus angioplasty for treating heart attacks – research that “revolutionized the management of heart-attack patients across the world,” according to Northwell Health.
Grines received her medical degree from Ohio State University, where she also completed her internship and residency. A fellowship in cardiology followed at the University of Michigan Hospital.
The cardiologist is a member of numerous professional societies and sits on the executive committee of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. She also serves on the Scientific Session Program Committee for the American College of Cardiology and is the chairwoman for Women in Innovations, an offshoot of the SCAI dedicated to fostering professional development, education, collaboration and research by and on behalf of women in interventional cardiology.
