Suresh Vedantham honored for innovation in interventional radiology

Suresh Vedantham, MD, a professor of radiology and of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded the 2024 Leader in Innovation Award by the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation.

Vedantham was recognized for his advances in image-guided therapies for venous blood clots, known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), and their complications, according to a university media release.

Vedantham’s work in refining new treatments and in leading clinical trials has influenced clinical guidelines for VTE and post-thrombotic syndrome, which can cause lifelong pain or disability in patients who have experienced VTE.

He leads national, multisite trials funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that are focused on the use of optimal catheter therapies for patients with post-thrombotic syndrome and pulmonary embolism, including the Chronic Venous Thrombosis: Relief with Adjunctive Catheter Based Therapy (C-TRACT) trial.

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He is the director of the Trial-CARE clinical trial support service at the School of Medicine and an assistant dean for clinical research.

The award acknowledges Vedantham’s approach to clinical research and interdisciplinary leadership. His success in leading large-scale NIH-funded projects has created a model for interventional radiologists and others to follow in their own research.

Vedantham completed medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (1992), medical internship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (1993), radiology residency at UCLA Medical Center (1997), and interventional radiology (IR) fellowship at Stanford University (1998).

In 1998, Vedantham joined the faculty of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, In 2008, he was publicly thanked by the US Surgeon General for his leadership in bringing together diverse stakeholders around VTE awareness. He is the recipient of more than $30 million in grant funding, including over $22 million from the NIH.

Vedantham has authored more than 165 articles and has given hundreds of educational presentations. He has received a Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award (Clinical Research Forum, 2018), Distinguished Investigator Award (Academy of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research, 2018), Venous Educator Innovator and National Statesman (VEINS) Award (VIVA Physicians, 2019), Charles T. Dotter Memorial Lecturer Award (American Heart Association, 2021), and multiple Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology awards.