A press release reports that the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) will present the 2020 Gold Medal Award to John Lesser (Minneapolis Heart Institute/Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, USA) at the SCCT 15th Annual Scientific Virtual Meeting on July 17. The press release adds that the SCCT Gold Medal Award recognises “outstanding leaders who have made landmark contributions to the field of cardiovascular computed tomography and to the society”.
John R Lesser graduated with a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MD from the University of Florida. He was a resident in internal medicine and chief medicine resident at the University of Wisconsin. He completed his training as a fellow and chief fellow in cardiology and had an additional interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. Previously, he has been the director of the cardiac catheterisation lab at Abbott Northwestern hospital.
His clinical interests include adult and paediatric cardiac and vascular computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR). Research interests include the clinical application of cardiac CT angiography techniques in adult and paediatric clinical practice as well as cardiovascular MR imaging with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Lesser has published more than 100 related articles, abstracts and book chapters.
He was teacher of the year 2005–2006 and 2008–2009 at the University of Minnesota and won the Robert Hauser Award for Leadership in 2015 from the Minneapolis Heart Institute. Lesser is an SCCT past president. He has been on the Board of Directors for the Intersocietal Commission for CT Accreditation of Laboratories and the board of the Credentialing and Certification Board for Cardiovascular CT.
SCCT president Ron Blankstein comments: “Dr Lesser exemplifies the highest commitment to the advancement of cardiovascular computed tomography through clinical excellence, leadership, teaching, and dedicated research. Dr Lesser is a true giant in our field. He is known by all to be a thoughtful, balanced, and skilled clinician and imager. It is with great pleasure that we recognize Dr. Lesser with the 2020 Gold Medal Award—the highest honour bestowed by SCCT.”
