CLEVELAND – Marco Costa, MD, PhD, a world-renowned interventional cardiologist, has joined University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Heart & Vascular Institute. He also will serve on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Dr. Costa was recruited to serve as the director of both Invasive Services and the Center for Research & Innovation because of his expertise and outstanding track record in the development and clinical trial evaluation of minimally invasive treatments for heart and vascular disease.
“As the director of the Heart & Vascular Institute, I could not be more pleased with this strategic recruitment,” said Daniel I. Simon, MD, Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine. “Dr. Costa’s body of work in interventional cardiology is virtually unmatched. He is a unique combination of a masterful procedural operator, innovative clinical and translational researcher and gifted teacher.”
Dr. Costa’s responsibilities will include coordinating all clinical, research and education activities in the cardiac catheterization laboratories of University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s (UHCMC) Heart & Vascular Institute and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. He also will supervise the cutting-edge translational and clinical research programs of the Center for Research & Innovation.
Dr. Costa is one of the worldwide pioneers of drug-eluting stents, the revolutionary technology of drug-coated or medicated stents which has helped millions of people with heart disease throughout the world. He participated in the first-ever patient procedures in Brazil and is a leader in the application of stem cells to help regenerate new blood vessels in damaged hearts. His extensive experience and technical skills with the use of advanced catheter technology to map the heart muscle and deliver stem cells will be instrumental in advancing stem cell treatments throughout Ohio.
Dr Costa also is distinguished for his expertise in cardiovascular imaging. He devoted his Ph.D. thesis to intravascular ultrasound imaging, and currently focuses on the development of a novel imaging modality called optical coherence tomography (OCT) that provides images of blood vessels with 20-times higher resolution than ultrasound. The Center for Research & Innovation is serving as the central core lab for four clinical trials with OCT, and the Heart & Vascular Institute has acquired this unique technology, which will soon be available for patients in Northeast Ohio.
Dr Costa founded and served as the medical director of a cardiovascular imaging core laboratory at the University of Florida, which is among the top imaging centers for clinical trials and is likely the only multi-modality core lab in the United States, providing expertise not only in coronary angiography or ultrasound images, but also in cardiac MRI and OCT technologies. He has been a strong advocate for the importance of optimal operator skills and technique in the catheterization laboratory as the best way to improve clinical outcomes.
He is currently the national principal investigator of one of the largest multi-center trials involving patients treated with drug-eluting stents in 41 U.S. centers. He also serves as principal investigator of an international trial involving 10 centers in seven countries to define the most appropriate techniques to treat patients with bifurcation coronary disease. At UHCMC, Dr. Costa also will lead a multi-center clinical trial testing a new generation of drug-eluting stents, which is expected to start in 2008.
Dr. Costa’s career typifies a growing trend in medicine—the global physician. He trained and practiced in Brazil, the Netherlands, and the U.S. He is a protégée of two of the most prominent figures in interventional cardiology, Dr. Patrick Serruys and Dr. J. Eduardo Sousa. He is sought after as a speaker and live-case instructor for national and international education programs. Trainees from hospitals around the world vie for positions in his research laboratory.
Dr. Costa is a genuine innovator with multiple patent applications on novel cardiovascular technologies. The Northeast Ohio region will capitalize on his close interaction with the world-class biomedical engineering programs at Case Western Reserve University, which is likely to trigger new discoveries and inventions for patients with cardiac and vascular problems.
“I am thrilled to be a part of University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine,” said Dr. Costa. “These institutions combine cutting edge facilities, innovative technology and physician excellence with personalized patient care. These core values played a major role in my decision to join the faculty. It makes for an ideal environment to innovate, educate and inspire students and junior colleagues in their development as physicians and scientists.”
He is a trustee of the American Society of Cardiac Angiography and Intervention (SCAI) and has served as co-chair of the Annual Scientific Session of the SCAI. Dr. Costa is also the vascular biology section editor for the journal, Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions.
Dr. Costa earned his M.D. from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil and completed his cardiology and interventional cardiology training at Felicio Rocho Hospital in Brazil. In 2000, Dr. Costa completed advanced interventional cardiology training and earned his PhD from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Prior to joining UHCMC, he served as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida and was also the Director of Research and Cardiovascular Imaging Core Laboratories within the Division of Cardiology.
Dr. Costa is an avid soccer player. He and his family are residents of Hunting Valley, Ohio.