Detailed Bio | SHAPE Society

Dr. Naghavi is an innovative physician, inventor, researcher, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist with interests in preventive cardiology, medical technology, and digital health. He graduated as a M.D. from Tehran University and was trained as a cardiovascular physician scientist under distinguished cardiologists Late Dr. Ward Casscells and Dr. James T. Willerson at the Texas Heart Institute and the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Dr. Naghavi has also greatly benefited from mentorship of Dr. Valentin Fuster, the world renowned cardiologist of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and Dr. P.K. Shah, the distinguished physician scientist in atherosclerosis and professor of medicine at UCLA. Dr. Naghavi is internationally recognized as a leader in heart attack prevention initiatives focusing on the detection of individuals with high risk asymptomatic atherosclerotic namely Vulnerable Plaques and Vulnerable Patients. Pursuant to his research in the field of Vulnerable Plaque, along with Drs Shah, Falk and others, Dr. Naghavi founded the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE) and is the Executive Chairman of the SHAPE Task Force. SHAPE is a nonprofit organization aiming to overhaul the existing outdated (inaccurate) method of cardiovascular risk assessment which fails to identify “The Vulnerable Patient” (asymptomatic individuals having a high risk of a near future heart attack). In 2006, with tireless efforts of Dr. Naghavi and colleagues at the SHAPE Task Force, the SHAPE Guidelines were published in American Journal of Cardiology and created a huge wave of awareness by calling on physicians to go beyond traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis (e.g. high cholesterol and blood pressure), and focus on the detection of atherosclerosis itself. The SHAPE Guidelines recommend noninvasive detection of atherosclerosis by cardiac CT scan and carotid ultrasound scan. Over years the SHAPE initiative has increasingly gained recognition, however unfortunately, due to the lack of insurance reimbursement for such preventive screening, most physicians are unable to practice the SHAPE Guidelines. In 2009, the SHAPE organization led by Dr. Naghavi helped pass Texas legislation HB1290 which became the first heart attack preventive screening law in the United States. Other states such as Florida, Maryland, Rode Island and California are following the Texas SHAPE initiative. In addition to SHAPE, Dr. Naghavi has a number of collaborative academic research initiatives including NIH and NSF funded projects. He has numerous scientific publications in medical journals, most notably three major publications (From Vulnerable Plaque to Vulnerable Patient, A Call for New Definitions and Risk Assessment Strategies: Part I , Part II, and Part III, the HAPE Guidelines. Dr. Naghavi is the editor of “Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis: Pathophysiology, Detection and Treatment”, the most comprehensive scientific collection on risk assessment of the Asymptomatic Vulnerable Patient. Along with academic activities, Dr. Naghavi is also an inventor and entrepreneur with over 30 patents and 5 medical. One of his companies Endothelix Inc www.endothelix.com was awarded $1,000,000 from State of Texas as a top emerging medical technology in Texas. He is currently the President of MEDITEX. Dr. Naghavi and colleagues are passionate about transforming new ideas into healthcare solutions that prolong life and enhance the quality of life. Innovative physicians, healthcare professionals, engineers, entrepreneurs, as well as venture capital investors are welcome to contact MEDITEX and explore mutual opportunities.

Email: morteza.naghavi@meditexcapital.com

Scientific Publications:

Naghavi M, Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis. Pathophysiology, Detection and Treatment. ISBN: 978-1-60327-178-3. Springer Inc. Editor: Morteza Naghavi, M.D., Co-Editors: Mathew Budoff, M.D., Daniel Berman M.D., Erling Falk, M.D., Ph.D., Zahi Fayad, M.D., Harvey Hecht, M.D., Khurram Nasir, M.D., Prediman K. Shah, M.D.

Naghavi M, Yen A, Lin A, Tanaka H, Kleis H. New Indices of Endothelial Function Measured by Digital Thermal Monitoring of Vascular and Neurovascular Reactivity; Data from 6084 Patients in VENDYS Registry. 2015 (Submitted)

Kakadiaris I, Almogahed B, Hecht S, Sibley C, Hechbert S, Budoff M, Naghavi Introducing a New Methodology for Coronary Calcium Scoring using Machine Learning for Prediction of Cardiovascular Events. 2015 (Submitted)

Hartley CJ, Naghavi M, Parodi O, Pattichis CS, Poon CC, Zhang YT. Cardiovascular health informatics: risk screening and intervention. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 2012 Sep;16(5):791-4.

Ruiz EM, Papaioannou TG, Vavuranakis M, Stefanadis C, Naghavi M, Kakadiaris IA. Analysis of contrast-enhanced intravascular ultrasound images for the assessment of coronary plaque neoangiogenesis: another step closer to the identification of the vulnerable plaque. Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(15):2207-13.

Ahmadi N, McQuilkin GL, Akhtar MW, Hajsadeghi F, Kleis SJ, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Reproducibility and variability of digital thermal monitoring of vascular reactivity. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2011 Nov;31(6):422-8.

Ley O, Dhindsa M, Sommerlad SM, Barnes JN, Devan AE, Naghavi M, Tanaka H.

Use of temperature alterations to characterize vascular reactivity. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2011 Jan;31(1):66-72.

Akhtar MW, Kleis SJ, Metcalfe RW, Naghavi M. Sensitivity of digital thermal monitoring parameters to reactive hyperemia. J Biomech Eng. 2010 May;132(5):051005.

McQuilkin GL, Panthagani D, Metcalfe RW, Hassan H, Yen AA, Naghavi M, Hartley CJ. Digital thermal monitoring (DTM) of vascular reactivity closely correlates with Doppler flow velocity. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2009;2009:1100-3.

Ahmadi, N, Budoff, M, Naghavi M, et al. Low Fingertip Temperature Rebound Measured By Digital Thermal Monitoring Strongly Correlates with the Presence and Extent of Coronary Artery Disease Diagnosed by 64-Slice Multi-detector Computed Tomography. Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomograpy. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2009 Oct;25(7):725-38.

Ahmadi N, Budoff M, Naghavi M, et al. Vascular Function Measured by Fingertip Thermal Reactivity is Impaired in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Cardiometabolic. J Clin Hypertens. 2009 Nov;11(11):678-84.

Ahmadi N, Tirunagaram S, Hajsadeghi F, Flores F, Saeed A, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Concomitant insulin resistance and impaired vascular function is associated with increased coronary artery calcification. Int J Cardiol. 2009 Feb 2.

Ahmadi N, Usman N, Shim J, Nuguri V, Vasinrapee P, Hajsadeghi F, Wang Z, Foster GP, Nasir K, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Vascular dysfunction measured by fingertip thermal monitoring is associated with the extent of myocardial perfusion defect. J Nucl Cardiol. 2009 Jan 6.

Ahmadi N, Hajsadeghi F, Gul K, Vane J, Usman N, Flores F, Nasir K, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Relations between digital thermal monitoring of vascular function, the Framingham risk score, and coronary artery calcium score. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2008 Nov;2(6):382-8.

Naghavi M, Falk E, Hecht HS, Shah PK; for the SHAPE Task Force. The First SHAPE (Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education) Guideline. Crit Pathw Cardiol. 2006 Dec;5(4):187-190.

Naghavi M, Hecht HS. Vulnerable patients are between a ‘ROC and a hard place’: yes, it’s time to screen for coronary artery disease. Cleve Clin J Med. 2007 Oct;74(10):757-8. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2007 Sep;5(5):917-25.

Naghavi M. Preventive Cardiology: the SHAPE of the future. A Synopsis from the Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force report. Herz. 2007 Aug;32(5):356-61.

Jamieson M, Naghavi M. Multi-Constituent Cardiovascular Pills (MCCP) – Challenges and Promises of Population Based Prophylactic Drug Therapy for Prevention of Heart Attack, Current Pharmaceutical Design Journal. 2007;13(10):1069-76.

Naghavi M, Falk E, Hecht H, Shah PK. The First SHAPE (Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education) Guideline. Critical Pathways in Cardiology. 2006 Dec;5(4):187-190

Naghavi M, Falk E, Hecht H, Jamieson M, Kaul S, Berman D, Fayad Z, Budoff M, Rumberger J, Naqvi T, Shaw L, Faergeman O, Cohn J, Bahr R, Koenig W, Demirovic J, Arking D, Herrera V, Badimon B, Goldstein J, Rudy Y, Airaksinen J, Schwartz R, Riley W, Mendes R, Douglas P, Shah PK. From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: Part III. Executive Summary of the Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force. Am. J. of Cardiology, Vol. 98, No 2A, 1-15H

Khan T, Soller B, Naghavi M, Casscells W. Tissue pH determination for the detection of metabolically active, inflamed vulnerable plaques using near-infrared spectroscopy: an in-vitro feasibility study. Cardiology. 2005;103(1):10-6.

Carlier S, Kakadiaris IA, Dib N, Vavuranakis M, Stefanadis C, O’Malley SM, Hartley CJ, Metcalfe R, Mehran R, Falk E, Gul K, Naghavi M. Vasa vasorum imaging: a new window to the clinical detection of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2005 Mar;7(2):164-9.

Naghavi M, Libby P, Falk E, Casscells SW, Litovsky S, Rumberger J, Badimon JJ, Stefanadis C, Moreno P, Pasterkamp G, Fayad Z, Stone PH, Waxman S, Raggi P, Madjid M, Zarrabi A, Burke A, Yuan C, Fitzgerald PJ, Siscovick DS, de Korte CL, Aikawa M, Airaksinen KE, Assmann G, Becker CR, Chesebro JH, Farb A, Galis ZS, Jackson C, Jang IK, Koenig W, Lodder RA, March K, Demirovic J, Navab M, Priori SG, Rekhter MD, Bahr R, Grundy SM, Mehran R, Colombo A, Boerwinkle E, Ballantyne C, Insull W Jr, Schwartz RS, Vogel R, Serruys PW, Hansson GK, Faxon DP, Kaul S, Drexler H, Greenland P, Muller JE, Virmani R, Ridker PM, Zipes DP, Shah PK, Willerson JT. From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: a call for new definitions and risk assessment strategies: Part II. Circulation, 2003 Oct 14;108(15):1772-8

Naghavi M, Libby P, Falk E, Casscells SW, Litovsky S, Rumberger J, Badimon JJ, Stefanadis C, Moreno P, Pasterkamp G, Fayad Z, Stone PH, Waxman S, Raggi P, Madjid M, Zarrabi A, Burke A, Yuan C, Fitzgerald PJ, Siscovick DS, de Korte CL, Aikawa M, Airaksinen KE, Assmann G, Becker CR, Chesebro JH, Farb A, Galis ZS, Jackson C, Jang IK, Koenig W, Lodder RA, March K, Demirovic J, Navab M, Priori SG, Rekhter MD, Bahr R, Grundy SM, Mehran R, Colombo A, Boerwinkle E, Ballantyne C, Insull W Jr, Schwartz RS, Vogel R, Serruys PW, Hansson GK, Faxon DP, Kaul S, Drexler H, Greenland P, Muller JE, Virmani R, Ridker PM, Zipes DP, Shah PK, Willerson JT. From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: a call for new definitions and risk assessment strategies: Part I. Circulation, 2003 Oct 7;108(14):1664-72
Madjid M, Naghavi M, Litovsky S, Casscells SW. Influenza and cardiovascular disease: a new opportunity for prevention and the need for further studies. Circulation. 2003 Dec 2;108(22):2730-6. Epub 2003 Nov 10.
Naghavi M, Madjid M, Gul K, Siadaty MS, Litovsky S, Willerson JT, Casscells SW. Thermography basket catheter: In vivo measurement of the temperature of atherosclerotic plaques for detection of vulnerable plaques. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2003 May;59(1):52-9.
Casscells W, Naghavi M, Willerson JT. Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque: a multifocal disease. Circulation. 2003 Apr 29;107(16):2072-5.
Litovsky S, Madjid M, Zarrabi A, Casscells SW, Willerson JT, Naghavi M. Superparamagnetic iron oxide-based method for quantifying recruitment of monocytes to mouse atherosclerotic lesions in vivo: enhancement by tissue necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta, and interferon-gamma. Circulation. 2003 Mar 25;107(11):1545-9.
Naghavi M, Wyde P, Litovsky S, Madjid M, Akhtar A, Naguib S, Siadaty MS, Sanati S, Casscells W. Influenza infection exerts prominent inflammatory and thrombotic effects on the atherosclerotic plaques of apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Circulation. 2003 Feb 11;107(5):762-8.
Naghavi M, Madjid M, Khan MR, Mohammadi RM, Willerson JT, Casscells SW. New developments in the detection of vulnerable plaque. Curr Atheroscler Rep 2001 Mar;3(2):125-35.
Naghavi M, John R, Naguib S, Siadaty MS, Grasu R, Kurian KC, van Winkle WB, Soller B, Litovsky S, Madjid M, Willerson JT, Casscells W. pH Heterogeneity of human and rabbit atherosclerotic plaques; a new insight into detection of vulnerable plaque. Atherosclerosis. 2002 Sep;164(1):27-35.
Naghavi M, Barlas Z, Siadaty S, Naguib S, Madjid M, Casscells W. Association of influenza vaccination and reduced risk of recurrent myocardial infarction. Circulation 2000; 102 (25): 3039-3045.