About Us: Awards

John P. Cooke, MD, PhD, Receives P.A.D. Coalition’s Best PAD Research Award in Vascular Medicine

 

The P.A.D. Coalition  presented the Coalition’s second annual Best P.A.D. Research Award in Vascular Medicine to John P. Cooke, MD, PhD, at the organization’s Fifth Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The Best P.A.D. Research Award honors the work of investigators and acknowledges the creation of new clinical research relevant to the understanding and/or treatment of peripheral arterial disease.  

Dr. Cooke is Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, at Stanford University in Stanford, California.  He and his colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study, “β2-Microglobulin as a Biomarker in Peripheral Arterial Disease, Proteomic Profiling and Clinical Studies,” published in the journal, Circulation (Circulation, Journal of the AHA, Sept. 18, 2007; 116: 1396-1403).  The study used high-throughput proteomic profiling to find P.A.D.-associated biomarkers that would aid clinicians in diagnosing unrecognized P.A.D.  Study co-authors include Andrew M. Wilson, MBBS, FRACP, PhD; Eiichiro Kimura, PhD; Randall K. Harada, MD; Nandini Nair, MD, PhD; Balasubramanian Narasimhan, PhD; Xiao-Ying Meng, MS; Fujun Zhang, MS; Kendall R. Beck, BA; Jeffrey W. Olin, DO; and Eric T. Fung, MD, PhD.

Plasma was collected from 45 P.A.D. patients (ankle brachial index of 0.90) and 45 subjects with risk factors but without P.A.D. Plasma was analyzed with surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry to quantify 1,619 protein peaks. The peak intensity of a 12-kDa protein was higher in P.A.D. patients. Western blot analyses and immunoaffinity studies confirmed that this protein was β2-microglobulin (B2M). In a validation study, B2M was measured by ELISA in plasma in 20 age- and gender-matched PAD subjects and 20 non-PAD subjects. In addition, Dr. Cooke and colleagues studied a larger cohort of 237 subjects referred for coronary angiography but without known PAD.  In this population, too, plasma B2M levels were higher in PAD patients than in non-PAD patients with coronary artery disease. Plasma B2M correlated with ankle brachial index and functional capacity. Independent predictors of P.A.D. were diabetes mellitus, age, and the combination of B2M and C-reactive protein level. 

"Peripheral arterial disease is a common disease, but it is often overlooked.  A blood test for P.A.D. could be a useful clinical test, which might improve the chance of detection and initiation of life and limb saving treatment," stated Dr. Cooke.

"On behalf of the P.A.D. Coalition, we are delighted to present this prestigious award to Dr. Cooke," said Alan T. Hirsch, M.D., Chair of the P.A.D. Coalition, Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Director of the Vascular Medicine Program at the Minneapolis Heart Institute.  “This landmark study is a major step forward in developing a biomarker panel for identifying unrecognized P.A.D.,” said Dr. Hirsch. 

The Peripheral Arterial Disease (P.A.D.) Coalition is an alliance of leading health organiza.tions, vascular health professional societies, and government agencies united to raise public and health professional awareness about lower extremity P.A.D.  Established in 2004, the P.A.D. Coalition is coordinated by the Vascular Disease Foundation (www.vdf.org), a national, not-for-profit section 501(c)(3) organization and is supported by the following national sponsors:  the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership; Cordis Endovascular, a division of Cordis Corporation; Abbott Vascular; AnGes, Inc.; AstraZeneca; Bard Peripheral Vascular; Baxter Healthcare; BioMedix; Cook, Inc; W.L. Gore & Associates; Medtronic; Novo Nordisk; Omron; and Summit Doppler.