Robert Myerburg Receives American Heart Association's Inaugural Cor Vitae Award

6/10/2008

When the medical committee for the American Heart Association’s 40th annual Miami-Dade Heart Ball assembled to select a worthy recipient of the first Cor Vitae award, the members were looking for "an individual who, through their professional accomplishments and commitments, significantly influenced advancement in the field of cardiovascular diseases."

Myerberg award.
Robert Myerburg, M.D., (left) was honored with Miami-Dade Heart Ball’s inaugural Cor Vitae award. The award was presented by Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D.

With the bar set so high, the committee members decided the award should go to Robert Myerburg, M.D., professor of medicine and physiology and a Miller School faculty member since 1970. Dr. Myerburg picked up the inaugural award Saturday night at the Heart Ball, held at the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove.

Dozens of colleagues from the University, supporters from regional institutions, friends and philanthropists, cheered Dr. Myerburg’s success. The award was announced by William O’Neill, M.D., executive dean for clinical affairs, and presented by Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D.

In presenting the award, Dean Goldschmidt reflected on Dr. Myerburg’s career at UM.  Dr. Myerburg served as the director of the Division of Cardiology for 31 years and holds the American Heart Association Chair in Cardiovascular Research. He has served as principal investigator in multiple NIH grants on the mechanisms and clinical profiles of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

Currently, Dr. Myerburg is the principal investigator for the UM site of an international multi-site consortium on sudden cardiac death funded by the Leduq Foundation in France.