J.L. Mehta, M.D., Ph.D., Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
| Cardiologist J.L. Mehta, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences.
Mehta is a distinguished professor of medicine and physiology and biophysics and holds the Stebbins Chair in Cardiology in the UAMS College of Medicine.
He received the award Sept. 14 in Serbia at the academy’s joint meeting for Europe and North America. The award recognizes his contributions to cardiovascular science, medicine and surgery.
Mehta received his medical degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, and his Ph.D. from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He completed his postgraduate education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Mehta joined the faculty at UAMS in 2000 to lead the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.
He is known for his original work on platelet biology and thrombosis in myocardial ischemia. This groundbreaking work led to trials of aspirin and other anti-platelet drugs in cardiac patients.
His research over the last 15 years has focused on the biology of LOX-1, a receptor for oxidized low-density lipoprotein, which has opened a new target for cardiovascular therapy. His research has been supported continuously for 36 years by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and several pharmaceutical companies.
Mehta serves or has served on the editorial boards of several major cardiology, physiology and pharmacology journals, including Circulation, Hypertension, the American Journal of Cardiology, European Heart Journal, Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the World Journal of Cardiology.
He has published over 1,300 papers, abstracts and book chapters. He has published seven books and has 11 patents. He has published in prestigious journals with a worldwide impact.
He is a member of several prestigious academic societies, including the Association of American Physicians, American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of University Cardiologists. Grateful patients have established a Mehta Chair in Cardiovascular Research at UAMS in his honor. Recently, the Jay and Paulette Mehta Lectureship in Internal Medicine was established to honor Mehta and his wife.
He has received major national and international awards. Recent major awards include the Pericle d’Oro International Prize from the Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, Italy, in 2014; the UAMS Dean’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award in 2015; and the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Mehta was named among the top 27 cardiologists in 2017 in the United States by Forbes magazine. He has been frequently listed among the Top Doctors in the US, and the Best Doctors in Arkansas.
Mehta has lectured in over 35 countries. He is an honorary professor in the University of Rome, Italy, and an adjunct professor for the Clinton School of Public School in Little Rock and serves as consultant to the University of Arkansas in Nanotechnology and Biomedical Engineering in Fayetteville.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###