Dominick Joseph Angiolillo, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Cardiology

College of Medicine – Jacksonville

2017 Awardee

Dominick Angiolillo’s research interests center around the field of interventional cardiology, which focuses on using both devices and medication to treat blockages in the arteries of the heart, which can lead to deadly heart attacks.

“My research derives from questions that emerge from my daily clinical practice and tries to address areas that can improve patient outcomes,” Angiolillo said.

His work has been integral to the development of a variety of drugs that reduce the formation of dangerous blood clots. Angiolillo’s specialized interest in the behavior of platelets (cells used to form clots and stop bleeding) in patients with diabetes was the impetus behind OPTIMUS (Optimizing Antiplatelet Therapy in Diabetes Mellitus), a series of investigations seeking to improve platelet inhibition. He is currently continuing on the OPTIMUS-5 series of this line of research.

Angiolillo’s extensive work in antiplatelet therapy for patients with conditions complicating blood supply to the heart and those undergoing stent implantation procedures has also resulted in the development of recommendations for the use of blood thinning medications in various clinical settings as well as how to implement platelet function and genetic testing in clinical practice.

“Hopefully, one day we will be able to identify the optimal “cocktail” of blood-thinning medications for each individual patient in order to reduce the risk of future heart attacks/stroke and minimize the risk of bleeding complications,” Angiolillo said.

His work has provided him with opportunities for collaboration with drug regulating agencies in the United States and abroad.

Currently, Angiolillo serves as the program director of the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program, director of cardiovascular research as well as the director of the Center for Thrombosis Research, one of the leading centers for thrombosis research in the world. He has also appeared on the Reuters list of The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds, which identifies those researchers most cited during an 11-year period. As of 2017, Angiolillo has authored over 400 peer-reviewed articles with nearly 25,000 citations.