Dr. Derek Angus’ Research Paper Receives Top Award from Clinical Research Forum

A scientific paper published in 2014 in the New England Journal of Medicine by McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Derek Angus, MD, MPH , Distinguished Professor and Mitchell P. Fink Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, has been selected to receive a Clinical Research Forum Annual Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award.

“A Randomized Trial of Protocol-Based Care for Early Septic Shock” published May 1, 2014, showed that a structured, standardized approach to diagnose and treat sepsis in its early stages did not change patient survival rates. Project investigators included Dr. Angus and Donald M. Yealy, MD, professor and chair of Pitt’s Department of Emergency Medicine. Watch Dr. Angus explain the study here.

Dr. Angus will be honored along with two other University of Pittsburgh researchers. The awards were announced recently at the Forum’s annual meeting in Washington, DC. The winning papers from Pitt and UPMC were chosen based on their degree of innovation from a pool of more than 50 nominations from 30 research and academic health centers nationwide. The Forum and its supporters believe these and other top ten papers represent the best and brightest work in the field, and will lead to advancements in medicine that will change lives and patient outcomes worldwide.

“It is extraordinary to have three University of Pittsburgh projects in a variety of disciplines recognized by the Forum for their clinical impact and rigorous science,” said Arthur S. Levine, MD, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and the John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of Medicine. “This impressive showing reflects the commitment and caliber of the researchers on our campus, and is a tribute to the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which facilitates and supports these endeavors.”

“I applaud the researchers recognized for their groundbreaking clinical research that will advance new treatments to reduce suffering and bring hope to millions of people,” said National Institutes of Health director, Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD. “And I’m especially proud that NIH funding makes these advances possible.”

Other awardees include scientists from Harvard Medical School, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, and other leading institutions.

The Clinical Research Forum was formed in 1996 to discuss the unique and complex challenges to clinical research in academic health centers. The mission of the Forum is to provide leadership to the national clinical and translational research enterprise and promote understanding and support for clinical research and its impact on health and health care.