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Dr. Elliott Antman is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Samuel A. Levine Cardiac Unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. His major research interests center on the clinical pharmacology of agents used in managing patients with ischemic heart disease. Notable among these include his earlier efforts with nifedipine, intravenous nitroglycerin, and esmolol. Subsequently, through his efforts as a senior investigator in the TIMI Study Group, he has led multicenter trials investigating novel antiplatelet, anticoagulant, and fibrinolytic strategies. The unifying theme of his research is identification of optimal combinations of new therapies for patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

Through his research efforts in the TIMI Study Group, he developed the TIMI Risk Score for UA/NSTEMI, a simple risk score for evaluation of patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes, using baseline characteristics. This risk score is important, not only for providing clinicians with prognostic information about a patient with an acute coronary syndrome, but also for selecting those patients who will derive particular benefit from LMWHs, GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors, and an early invasive strategy. He has also been involved in research efforts to identify therapies for which the data no longer support their use (e.g., lidocaine for prophylaxis against primary ventricular fibrillation in the CCU) or suggests the potential for adverse outcome (e.g., quinidine for atrial fibrillation).

As an outgrowth of his involvement in research on acute coronary syndromes, Dr. Antman played a pivotal role in establishing the importance of the cardiac specific troponins for both diagnosis of MI and prognostication in ACS patients. His research on the troponins has included both cardiac troponin I and cardiac troponin T, assessed quantitatively in a chemistry laboratory, and at the bedside via rapid assay methodology. Based on the above research efforts with cardiac troponin I (cTnI), the FDA-approved modification of the package insert indicating that assays for cTnI (e.g. Dade Stratus) may be used for prognostication of patients with an acute coronary syndrome. Current investigative efforts include establishing the relative contribution of the troponins alone and in conjunction with other serum cardiac markers, such as C-reactive protein,serum amyloid A(SAA), von Willebrand factor (vWF) and d-dimer.

A direct outgrowth of his research activities is his leadership role in guidelines activities of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Assocation (AHA), as well as participation in strategic planning committees of a number of organizations (AHA, ESC, NIH, American Thoracic Society). Notable among these is his chairmanship of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines (2003-2005) and his continued chairmanship of the ACC/AHA STEMI Guidelines. Related to his work on the STEMI guidelines is the ‘Mission: Lifeline' program of the AHA. The clinical impact of his work on guidelines includes not only contemporary recommendations for care of patients, but also the primary source for Performance Measures and Quality Improvements projects, such as Get With the Guidelines (AHA) and Guidelines Applied in Practice (ACC).

A fellow of the ACC, AHA and the American College of Physicians, Dr. Antman is a member of the board of trustees for the ACC. He has served as a visiting professor at institutions across the United States, most recently as the J.K. Alexander Visiting Professor at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He is also a senior associate editor for the journal Circulation.

Dr. Antman earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed his residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. He finished his fellowship in cardiology at (then) Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.