Mehmet Cilingiroglu, M.D., a two-year interventional fellow in the department of medicine’s division of cardiology, has won a major award for his work to image plaque in arteries and predict heart attacks before they occur.
Dr. Cilingiroglu, a native of Turkey, is studying the detection and analysis of vulnerable plaques in mice. His fellowship supervisors are Marc D. Feldman, M.D., and Steven Bailey, M.D., both professors of medicine, division of cardiology, at the Health Science Center.
GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Co., and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) presented Dr. Cilingiroglu with a $20,000 grant for his research, which utilizes a light imaging technology called optical coherence tomography. Dr. Cilingiroglu was recognized during the SCAI’s Annual Scientific Sessions in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The SCAI/GE Healthcare Fellows Grant Program awarded grants to the Health Science Center and Washington University in St. Louis. “Dr. Cilingiroglu’s project received the highest score among the 27 national applicants,” Dr. Feldman said. “This is good recognition that we are on the right track to improving our patients’ care.”
On July 1, Dr. Cilingiroglu will begin an interventional cardiology clinical fellowship under the supervision of Drs. Bailey and Feldman; Devang Patel, M.B.Ch.B., and Robert Chilton, D.O., both professors of medicine; and Umesh Arora, M.D., assistant professor of medicine. These individuals are also affiliated with the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.
