Cell biologist and cardiac researcher Richard N. Kitsis, MD, was selected to receive the 2023 Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences of The Ohio State University in recognition of his “extraordinary and sustained leadership contributions” to cardiovascular research. Dr. Kitsis, Attending Cardiologist, Montefiore Einstein, and Professor, Medicine, Cell Biology, the Dr. Gerald and Myra Dorros Chair in Cardiovascular Disease, Director, Wilf Family Cardiovascular Research Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, received the prize and a $100,000 honorarium at a ceremony at The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio.
The Schottenstein Prize, awarded every two years, was established by an endowment from philanthropists and longtime Ohio State supporters Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein. “I am very honored to receive the Schottenstein Prize and truly humbled to be listed alongside previous distinguished recipients of the award,” said Dr. Kitsis.
Dr. Kitsis’ research has delineated basic mechanisms of cell death and their roles in several diseases. His lab was the first to show that regulated forms of cell death are primarily responsible for heart damage during a myocardial infarction (heart attack). “The significance of this finding is that the amount of damage sustained by the heart in the first 24 hours of a heart attack is a major determinant of whether the patient will go on to develop lethal heart failure,” Dr. Kitsis said. “The fact that this damage is the result of highly regulated cell death mechanisms suggests that it should be possible to reduce it with drugs.” Ischemic heart disease remains the world’s No. 1 killer.
Dr. Kitsis graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and earned his MD degree at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed cardiology training and postdoctoral scientific training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Among other honors, Dr. Kitsis has received the President’s Distinguished Lecture Award of the International Society for Heart Research and has served as chair of the American Heart Association Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences and the National Institutes of Health Myocardial Ischemia and Metabolism Study Section.
