Renowned North Texas Cardiac Expert Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Executive director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute honored for lasting impact of life’s work

William C. Roberts MD, executive director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute (BHVI), has been awarded the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for his contributions to the cardiovascular profession.

The award, which is the highest recognition the College can bestow on a member, recognizes Dr. Roberts' lifetime of outstanding work in cardiac pathology. It also recognizes an individual who has had a career of outstanding achievements in the field of cardiovascular disease and has served as a role model through service, basic or clinical research, and teaching.

Dr. Roberts was honored at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session and Expo April 4 in Chicago. The College was founded in 1949 and today has more than 49,000 members worldwide.

"I am humbled and honored to receive this award from my peers," said Dr. Roberts. "I am proud and pleased that the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute has played a major role in my career and research done particularly after coming to Dallas made this award possible."

"Dr. William Roberts has made lasting contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine through dedication to his patients, practice and colleagues," said ACC President Kim Allan Williams, MD, FACC. "It is an honor to be able to recognize Dr. Roberts with the Lifetime Achievement Award and celebrate his contributions to and achievements in cardiology."

In addition to his role at Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Dr. Roberts serves as editor-in-chief, The American Journal of Cardiology and Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings and dean of the A. Webb Roberts Center for Continuing Medical Education. He has published more than 1600 peer-reviewed articles and served on the editorial boards of nearly three dozen cardiology publications.

"It is a rarity to have the opportunity to work closely with such a stellar cardiac pathologist who is also an exemplary clinical research investigator and who is truly known to be the ‘father of cardiovascular pathology,'" said Kevin Wheelan, MD, chief of medical staff, Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital, Dallas. "To work with him on a daily basis is an honor. Dr. Roberts' contributions to the cardiology world have been far-reaching."

Marc Silver, MD, chief of the division of medical services and clinical professor of medicine at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, IL, said, "This award is so richly deserved. Perhaps no one more than my parents taught me so much over my entire career. He remains one of the most receptive and nimble minds in medicine. He has mentored and trained much of the current leadership in cardiovascular disease in America."

Barry Maron MD, director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, said, "No one in cardiovascular medicine is more deserving of this lifetime achievement award. Bill has indeed experienced a lifetime of achievement as the most important and accomplished cardiovascular pathologist of his era, as a teacher of incalculable numbers of cardiologists including at the annual Williamsburg Conference on Heart Disease for more than 40 years, and as the successful editor of The American Journal of Cardiology for 34 years."

The American College of Cardiology is a 49,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit acc.org.

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Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of those medical centers, Baylor Health Care System, Scott & White Healthcare or Baylor Scott & White Health.

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