A cardiology Legend passes away.
Professor Shahbuddin H. Rahimtoola MD MACC passed away on December 10 2018.
Professor Rahimtoola was present at the first APCNA meeting in New Orleans when our Association was established. He was a Mentor to our Association. Always there to help us promote our organization. He personally brought cardiologists into our organization.
He was born in Bombay and moved to Karachi. Professor Rahimtoola graduated from Dow Medical College in 1954.After completing house job at the Civil Hospital for three years he proceeded to United Kingdom for further education. He received the MRCP from the Royal College of Physician of Edinburgh in 1963 and he was awarded the Fellowship [FRCP] in 1972.
In 1963 Prof. Rahimtoola moved to the United States. He was initially associated with the Mayo Clinic. Moved to Chicago and was Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois and Chief of Cardiology, Cook County Hospital from 1969 to 1972. He was then appointed as Professor of Medicine at the University of Oregon – a post he held from 1972 to 1980. He then moved to California where he was Chief of the Division of Cardiology at University of Southern California from 1980 till 1992. In 1984 he became the first George C. Griffith Professor of Cardiology.1993 he rose to become Distinguished Professor at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. During the 1990s he also served as Chairman of Council on Clinical Cardiology at the American Heart Association. He was Trustee of the American College of Cardiology.
Prof. Rahimtoola also served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. His credentials stand at 1420 national and international presentations and lectures – 11 edited textbooks and 513 scientific articles published -these include 120 book chapters, 316 original and other scientific articles along with 67 editorials.
Prof. Rahimtoola is been best known for his work in valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, results of cardiac surgery, and arrhythmias along with cardio-myopathy and congenital heart disease.
He remained the Editor-in-Chief of Current Topics in Cardiology, a book series dedicated to research and publication for Physicians. He has also served as Editor of Modern Concepts of Cardiovascular Disease [publication of the American Heart Association] and Clinical Cardiology [publication of JAMA].
He served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. His credentials stand at 1420 national and international presentations and lectures – 11 edited textbooks and 513 scientific articles published -these include 120 book chapters, 316 original and other scientific articles along with 67 editorials.
Prof. Shahbudin Rahimtoola has been termed as a ‘contemporary giant’ in field of Muslim contribution to medical research. Has also been labelled as ‘Cardiologist of the World’ and ‘Father of Research’ by the European Heart Journal in 2013. Mayo Clinic’s all-time top fifty practitioners list includes Prof. Shahbudin Rahimtoola.
The FDA awarded him the Harvey W. Wiley Medal. .Prof. Rahimtoola was recipient of the William Osler Award from the University of Miami He received the Gifted Teacher Award from the American College of Cardiology in 1986. In 1989 he was the recipient of the James B. Herrick Award from the American Heart Association. In 1996 was awarded the Melvin L. Marcus Memorial Award from the International Society of Heart Failure.
He was conferred the Master of the College from the American College of Cardiology in 1999. The ACC further conferred on him the Distinguished Scientist Award in 2001]In 2000 was conferred the Hamdan Award in the Middle East.
In 2002 was awarded the D.Sc. (Hon) by the University of Karachi in a ceremony held at the Governor House .In 2009 the European society of Cardiology awarded him the Gold Medal for his outstanding contribution to the development of Cardiology. This was followed by the American College of Cardiology honoring Lifetime Achievement status in 2013.
