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Vasan Ramachandran, MD, FACC, FAHA, dean of the University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio, captivated attendees at the Cardiovascular Health Study Symposium on May 28, with his presentation titled “Power of Cohort Studies: From Framingham to RURAL.” The event, held at the University of Washington, honored epidemiologist Bruce M. Psaty, MD, MPH, whose decades of work have shaped cardiovascular research.

Ramachandran, a former co-Principal Investigator of the iconic underscored the transformative impact of long-term cohort research in understanding cardiovascular disease. He traced the legacy of Framingham—a study foundational to identifying risk factors like hypertension and cholesterol—and highlighted a modern counterpart, the . The RURAL Study aims to address critical gaps in the knowledge of heart and lung disorders in rural counties in the southeastern US.

The symposium recognized Psaty’s contributions as a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Services at the University of Washington; co-director of its Cardiovascular Health Research Unit; and Investigator at the Group Health Research Institute and Group Health Cooperative. He practices as a general internist at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center and serves as principal investigator for major epidemiologic studies, including the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Women’s Health Initiative. He has also been a key cardiovascular disease epidemiologist for NIH-funded multi-center studies.