Valentín Fuster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Most Excellent
The Marquess of Fuster
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Valentín Fuster Carulla
20 January 1943 Barcelona, Spain
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| Nationality | Spanish, American |
| Alma mater | University of Barcelona University of Edinburgh Medical School |
| Occupation | Cardiologist |
| Parent(s) | Joaquín Fuster, Father |
| Relatives | Marquess of Carulla, grandmother Joaquín Fuster, brother |
Valentín Fuster Carulla (born January 20, 1943) is a famous Spanish cardiologist, which means he is a doctor who specializes in the heart. He is also known as the Marquess of Fuster, a special title given to him by the King of Spain.
Dr. Fuster is a very important leader in heart health around the world. He is the main editor of a major science magazine called the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has also led big groups like the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation. He helps guide important health research and projects, including one called the SHE Foundation, which focuses on science for health and education.
In 2014, King Juan Carlos I of Spain gave him the title of Marquess. This was to honor his amazing and continuous work in research and teaching people about health.
Contents
About Dr. Fuster's Life and Work
Dr. Fuster was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was a psychiatrist (a doctor who helps with mental health), and his brother is a neuroscientist (a scientist who studies the brain). When he was younger, Dr. Fuster was a very good tennis player and competed at a national level in Spain. A famous doctor named Pedro Farreras Valenti encouraged him to study the heart.
Dr. Fuster went to the University of Barcelona and graduated as the top student in 1967. He then studied at the University of Edinburgh Medical School in Scotland. There, he earned a special degree called a PhD. His research was about how tiny parts of blood called platelets are involved in myocardial infarction, which is another name for a heart attack.
After his studies, Dr. Fuster worked at the Mayo Clinic in the United States. He started as a resident and later became a professor and a heart doctor there. In 1981, he became the head of cardiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He also worked at Harvard Medical School and was the Chief of Cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1994, he returned to Mount Sinai, where he now leads Mount Sinai Heart, a major heart center. In October 2023, this center was even renamed the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in his honor.
Dr. Fuster also works in Madrid, Spain. He is the General Director of the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC). This center does important research to understand and treat heart diseases.
He has received many special awards and honors. He has also been given thirty-four honorary doctorates from different universities. This shows how much his work is respected around the world.
You might even know Dr. Fuster from TV! He inspired a character named "Valentin Ruster" on the Spanish version of Sesame Street. This character taught children about healthy living through exercise and good food.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Dr. Fuster has received many important awards for his work, including:
- 1992 Andreas Gruntzig Award
- 1993 Distinguished Scientist Award
- 1996 Principe de Asturias Award of Science and Technology
- 2001 James B. Herrick Award
- 2008 Polzer Prize
- 2011 The LeFoulon Delalande Grand Prize
- 2012 AHA Research Achievement Award
- 2014 Created Marquess of Fuster by King Juan Carlos I of Spain
- 2017 Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise
- 2020 Prince Mahidol Award in Medicine
How Dr. Fuster Helps Science
Dr. Fuster is a great scientific investigator. He has made many important discoveries that help doctors treat heart problems.
Helping People with Heart Disease
Dr. Fuster's research has helped change how doctors prevent and treat heart disease. Here are some of his key contributions:
- 1980s: He showed how platelets (tiny blood cells) play a role in blocking blood vessels after heart bypass surgery. His work helped doctors understand that giving patients aspirin could prevent these blockages.
- 1990s: He discovered that many sudden heart problems come from small, hidden plaques in blood vessels. He also helped develop ways to see these "vulnerable plaques" using special imaging. His work also led to the use of drug-eluting stents, which are tiny tubes placed in blood vessels to keep them open and prevent them from narrowing again.
- 2000s: His research helped create new guidelines for treating patients with diabetes and multiple blocked heart arteries. These guidelines changed how doctors in America and Europe treat these conditions.
- 2010s: He noticed that many people didn't take their heart medicines regularly. To help with this, he helped create a "polypill" – one pill that combines several important medicines (like aspirin, ramipril, and a statin). This made it easier for patients to take their medication, and it's now approved in many countries.
- 2015 to present: He showed that doctors can predict heart disease risk by looking at how much plaque is in the arteries using special scans. He also worked with Sesame Street to create health education programs for children. These programs, tested in Colombia, Spain, and Harlem (New York), taught thousands of children, parents, and teachers about healthy eating and exercise. The results showed that these programs significantly improved health knowledge, habits, and even helped with weight.
Books Written by Dr. Fuster
Dr. Fuster has written and edited many books about heart health and science. Some of his books include:
- Hurst's the Heart Manual of Cardiology (with others)
- The Heart Manual: My Scientific Advice for Eating Better, Feeling Better, and Living a Stress-Free Life Now
- Atherothrombosis and Coronary Artery Disease (with others)
- Platelets in Thrombotic and Non-Thrombotic Disorders (with others)
- La Ciencia de la Salud: Mis consejos para una vida sana (The Science of Health: My Advice for a Healthy Life)
- Monstruos supersanos (Super Healthy Monsters) – This book is likely related to his work with Sesame Street.
- La cocina de la salud (The Kitchen of Health) (with Ferran Adrià and Josep Corbella)
Books Edited by Dr. Fuster
He has also been an editor for many important medical books and journals, such as:
- The Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque: Understanding, Identification and Modification
- Promoting Cardiovascular Health in the Developing World: A Critical Challenge to Achieve Global Health
- Editor-in-chief of Nature Reviews Cardiology
See also
In Spanish: Valentín Fuster para niños
