Top research papers on venous disease receive VDC Research Awards

The Venous Disease Coalition (VDC) presented the Coalition's second annual Research Awards to the top three research papers on venous disease published in 2009 at the organization's Seventh Annual Meeting in Alexandria, VA. The VDC Research Awards recognize important research relevant to the understanding and/or treatment of venous disease in three categories, Basic Science, Clinical outcomes and Implementation of quality improvement, or public awareness of the impact of venous disease

The Coalition seeks to identify exceptional contributions to venous disease research. These annual awards assist health care practitioners, medical journals, the media, and the public by featuring important new knowledge in the field of venous disease.

The VDC Research award in the category of Basic Science as presented to Peter J. Pappas, MD, Professor of Surgery and Director for New Jersey Medical School. He and his colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study Regulation of Matrix Contraction in Chronic Venous Disease, published in the European Journal of Vascular Surgery (14:203-13, 2009). The study explored the role of TGF-beta(1) in venous ulcer healing and the signalling cascades regulating dermal fibroblast function.

The VDC Research Awards in the category of Research Related to Quality Improvement and Implementation of Best Practices was presented to Alpesh N. Amin, MD, Professor of Medicine for the University of California School of Medicine. He and his colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study Inpatient thromboprophylaxis use in U.S. hospitals: Adherence to the seventh American College of Chest Physician's recommendations for at-risk medical and surgical patients published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine (2009 Oct;4(8):E15-21). This study assesses the real-world rate of appropriate inpatient VTE prophylaxis in hospitalized U.S. medical and surgical patients at risk of VTE, in accordance with the seventh American College of Chest Physicians, (ACCP) guidelines.

The VDC Research Award in the category of Clinical Outcomes Research was presented to Russell D. Hull, MBBS, MSc, Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He and his colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study published in the American Journal of Medicine (2009 Aug;122(8):762-769.e3). This study compared long-term treatment at home with tinzaparin or usual care in terms of efficacy, safety, patients' treatment satisfaction, incidence of post-thrombotic syndrome, and associated venous leg ulcers.