Judith S. Hochman, M.D., FAHA, senior associate dean for clinical sciences and founding director of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, will be recognized with the 2025 Research Achievement Award at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025. The meeting, to be held Nov. 7-10, 2025, in New Orleans, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. Dr. Hochman will be presented with this award during the opening session on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025.
Dr. Judith Hochman's additional roles are founding co-director of NYU Langone Health's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Harold Snyder Family Professor of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine, the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology at NYU Langone. Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Hochman has served as principal investigator and study chair for several pivotal National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-funded international trials that have directly influenced global clinical practice guidelines in cardiology.
"It's my privilege to present Dr. Judith Hochman with the 2025 Research Achievement Award," said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, the American Heart Association's 2025-2026 volunteer president, executive director for Northwell's Katz Institute for Women's Health, senior vice president of Women's Health at Northwell, the Partners Council Professor of Women's Health and professor of cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. "Her research has directly impacted patient care across the full spectrum of ischemic heart disease. She is a visionary leader, unafraid to tackle complex questions, and her relentless commitment to improving patient outcomes has been a driving force in numerous cardiology advances available today."
Dr. Hochman was the principal investigator for several highly impactful studies, including the Occluded Artery Trial (OAT), the SHOCK Trial and the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA Trial). OAT built on Dr. Hochman's experimental research work in a rodent model that demonstrated a reduction in adverse, global left ventricle remodeling by late reperfusion after myocardial infarction (MI). Despite promising animal model findings, OAT demonstrated no clinical benefit for late angioplasty in stable, post-MI patients. The SHOCK Trial established the clear survival advantage for early revascularization in patients with cardiogenic shock due to left ventricular failure after acute MI. This landmark study demonstrated that emergency revascularization reduced mortality rates by 13 absolute percentage points at one-year and long-term. This finding led to increased use of early revascularization in cardiogenic shock with improved survival in community settings. Her most recent clinical trial, the NHLBI-funded international ISCHEMIA trial compared initial invasive versus conservative treatment strategies for stable coronary artery disease. The trial found no significant difference in all-cause mortality. However, it identified a substantial quality-of-life improvement among patients with angina who received invasive treatment (coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting).
These three trials led to new/revised recommendations regarding the role of revascularization in the joint clinical guidelines from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology as we well guidelines from other international medical organizations. Dr. Hochman's scientific findings and her role as a member of multiple guideline writing committees have been instrumental in shaping clinical practice guidelines.
In addition to important research on revascularization, Dr. Hochman is also recognized as a trailblazer in women's cardiovascular health. In the Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction IIIb (TIMI IIIb) trial, she was one of the first to study sex differences in women with acute coronary syndromes and to recognize the substantial incidence of women with these syndromes having no obstructive coronary disease, a concept that has since gained substantial attention. Her leadership roles for the National Institutes of Health's Women's Health Initiative Advisory Committee reflects her enduring commitment to advancing women's health and her roles on multiple NIH Data and Safety Monitoring Boards (DSMBs) reflect her dedication to ensuring rigor and safety in clinical trials.
"It's a true honor to be recognized by the American Heart Association," said Dr. Hochman. "I have been fortunate to collaborate with an extraordinary community of investigators, and together, we have contributed to evidence-based care. My passion has always been improving outcomes for patients through rigorous science. I am indebted to the Heart Association for the important work it does and for my first grant, and to the NIH for its past critical support of randomized clinical trials."
Dr. Hochman's decades-long commitment to the Heart Association includes service on the Science Advisory Coordinating Committee, local and national research committees, the Scientific Sessions Planning Committee and the Women in Cardiology Committee. She has previously been recognized by the Heart Association in 2023 with the American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist Award and the Council on Clinical Cardiology (CLCD) Distinguished Achievement Award, the James B. Herrick Award in 2018, the 2014 Clinical Research Prize and the Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award in 2008. She was also the inaugural director of the Heart Association-funded Soter Center for Women's Cardiovascular Research in New York.
Dr. Hochman earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and her master's degree in cellular and developmental biology, also at Harvard. She completed her residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has served on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee and on the NHLBI Board of External Experts. She has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications and currently serves on editorial boards for several peer-reviewed scientific journals, including Circulation, JAMA Cardiology and the European Heart Journal.
