Research & Publications †
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Biographical Sketch
Brian P. Griffin, MD, FACC, is a staff cardiologist in the Section of Cardiovascular Imaging in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic . He is currently the holder of the John and Rosemary Brown Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine. His clinical interests include valvular heart disease, cardiac imaging, and ultrasound imaging through the esophagus.
His research interests include studying heart valve diseases, and he is currently seeking to determine if cholesterol-lowering drugs may slow the rate of progression of narrowing aortic valves. Dr. Griffin also is actively studying mitral valve prolapse. He is working with a group of physicians and scientists to try and understand the reasons why these valves prolapse. Dr. Griffin's research has been funded by a number of organizations including the American Heart Association, the MAREB Foundation and Pfizer.
Board-certified in internal medicine with a subspecialty in cardiovascular diseases, Dr. Griffin is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He also is a member of numerous national and international professional societies including the American Society of Echocardiography, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and the Council of Clinical Cardiology for the American Heart Association.
Dr Griffin is Director of The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training program at Cleveland Clinic (the largest in the country), is currently the Chair of the Laennec Committee of American Heart Association, a member of the Workforce and Training committee and of the Workforce Taskforce of American College of Cardiology, and is the U.S. Editor of Heart, the official Journal of the British Cardiac Society. He is Editor of the "Manual of Cardiovascular Medicine," a widely used handbook that is written by staff and fellows of Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Medicine. He has published widely on valve disease and cardiac imaging.
After receiving his medical degree from the National University of Ireland in Galway, Dr. Griffin completed his internship and residencies in medicine and surgery at University College Hospital in Galway. He completed fellowships in cardiology at Guy's Hospital, London; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Boston University Medical Center, and he completed a fellowship in cardiac ultrasound at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In addition, Dr. Griffin completed research fellowships at the Irish Heart Foundation in Dublin, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Specialty Interests
Heart Valve Disease, Endocarditis, Pericardial Disease, Thoracic Aorta Aneurysm, Cardiovascular Imaging, Echocardiogram, Transesophageal Echocardiogram
Industry Relationships
Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists may collaborate with the pharmaceutical or medical device industries to help develop medical breakthroughs or provide medical expertise or education. Cleveland Clinic strives to make scientific advances that will benefit patient care and support outside relationships that promise public benefit. In order for the discoveries of Cleveland Clinic physicians' and scientists' laboratories and investigations to benefit the public, these discoveries must be commercialized in partnership with industry. As experts in their fields, Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists are often sought after by industry to consult, provide expertise and education.
To assure professional and commercial integrity in such matters, Cleveland Clinic maintains a program that reviews these collaborations and, when appropriate, puts measures in place to minimize bias that may result from ties to industry. The Cleveland Clinic publicly discloses the names of companies when (i) its physicians/scientists receive $5,000 or more per year (or, in rare cases, equity or stock options) for speaking and consulting, (ii) its physicians/scientists serve as a fiduciary, (iii) its physicians/scientists
receive or have the right to receive royalties or (iv) its physicians/scientists hold any equity interest for the physician's/scientist's role as inventor, discoverer, developer, founder or consultant.* In publicly disclosing this information, the Cleveland Clinic tries to provide information as accurately as possible about its physicians' and scientists' connections with industry.
As of 5/4/2012, Dr. Griffin has reported no financial relationship with industry that is applicable to this listing. In general, patients should feel free to contact their doctor about any of the relationships and how the relationships are overseen by the Cleveland Clinic. To learn more about the Cleveland Clinic's policies on collaborations with industry and innovation management, go to our Integrity in Innovation page.
Public Health Service-Reportable Financial Conflicts of Interest. Cleveland Clinic scientists and physicians engage in basic, translational and clinical research activities, working to solve health problems, enhance patient care and improve quality of life for patients. Interactions with industry are essential to bringing the researchers’ discoveries to the public, but can present the potential for conflicts of interest related to their research activities. Click here to view a listing of instances where Cleveland Clinic has identified a Public Health Service (PHS)-Reportable Financial Conflict of Interest and has put measures in place to ensure that, to the extent possible, the design, conduct and reporting of the research is free from bias.
* Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists subscribe to the guidance presented in the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals and the AdvaMed Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. As such, gifts of substantial value are generally prohibited.