Renu Virmani

President and Medical Director

MD

CVPath Institute, Gaithersburg, MD, US

Expertise

Intervention Coronary Interventions MI/ACS Heart Failure Anticoagulation Carotid Artery Disease Vascular Disease and Surgery Coronary Artery Disease and Myocardial Infarction Prevention & Chronic Conditions STEMI

Biography

Personal History

Dr Renu Virmani was born in 1943 in Pakistan. Her father was an industrialist of Delhi and Amritsar, India.²

As the youngest girl in a family of ten children, Dr Virmani was always driven to stand out and excel. Her aunt, who was a neurologist, was instrumental in forging her ambitions to pursue medicine. “I admired her and she showed me that women can do whatever they want,” she says.¹⁰

After meeting Professor Sylvan Weinburg, an influential cardiologist and president of the American College of Cardiology, she was introduced to Dr William (Bill) Roberts, who was known as ‘the man’ of cardiac pathology at the time.¹⁰ With Dr Roberts as her mentor, she began her journey towards qualifying as a cardiac pathologist.

Virmani and her husband have a shared love of travel and support each other in their dedication to their demanding careers.² They have two children and three grandchildren.⁸ Her favourite travel destinations are European cities and Manhattan.⁹

Academic History

Dr Virmani received her M.D. from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi University, in New Delhi, India.¹

She completed residencies in Gynecology, Obstetrics and Internal Medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. Her Fellowships in Pathology were at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial College and Hospital in Meerut and the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Career Overview

After her fellowships, Dr Virmani returned to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as a staff fellow until being hired as a staff pathologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP).² She then left for Vanderbilt to work as Director of the Autopsy Service, but returned to AFIP in 1984 when she was offered the position of Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Pathology.² She also served in the reserves until 1989, based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.²

Currently, Dr Virmani serves as the President of CVPath Institute, which she founded in 2005.⁷ It is an independent non-profit organization in Gaithersburg, MD dedicated to the study of cardiovascular diseases.

She is a Clinical Professor at the Department of Pathology at Georgetown University, University of Maryland-Baltimore, George Washington University and Vanderbilt University.¹⁰

Dr Virmani lectures at scientific meetings, both nationally and internationally and has delivered more than 800 presentations globally. She is a member of the American Heart Association, the U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

She is responsible for multiple research grants in the field of cardiovascular pathology and has authored or co-authored over 850 publications in peer-reviewed journals in the field of atherosclerosis, vulnerable plaque, stents and other cardiovascular diseases. She has edited 7 books and contributed over 100 book chapters.⁵ She regularly reviews manuscripts for a number of major scientific journals.

Dr Virmani also works as a consultant to Abbott Vascular, 480/Medical Arsenal Medical, Atrium Medical Corporation, Biosensors International, GlaxoSmithKline, CBard/Lutonix, Medtronic AVE, Terumo and W.L. Gore.

Career Timeline

1979 - 1981: Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Research, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C.
1984 - 2004: Chair, Department of Cardiovascular Pathology of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
1988 - 1992: Member Cardiology Advisory Committee, national Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Health, Bethesda
1989 - 1993: Member AIDS Advisory Committee, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
2005 - Present: President and Medical Director, CVPath Institute

Recognition^{1, 6, 10}

Joint Service Commendation Medal for Outstanding Meritorious Service as Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Research, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
1981: Gold Medal for Best Scientific Exhibit at the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Las Vegas, Nevada
1985: Silver Medal for Second Best Scientific Exhibit at the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Las Vegas, Nevada
1988: Edward Rhodes Stitt Lecture Award, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, San Antonio, Texas
2006: Honorary degree fromEuroPCR
2007: Society for Cardiovascular Pathology Distinguished Achievement Award
2008: Honorary degree from the University of Antwerp, Belgium
2008: Honorary degree from European Society of Cardiology
2010: Delivered the Laennec Clinician Educator Lecture
2011: BAS Hugh Sinclair Lecture, British Atherosclerosis Society
2012: TCT Career Achievement Award
2012: Simon Dack Award from JACC Journals
2012: RT Hall Lecture Award from International Faculty for CSANZ 2012 Brisbane
2013: ICI 2013 Award (Innovations in Cardiovascular Interventions Award), Tel Aviv, Israel
2014: Houston Methodist Leading Medicine Award from Houston Methodist Research Institute
2014: Beacon of Interventional Cardiology Award from India Live 2015
Recognized by the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Associations
2015: TCT Career Achievement Award