COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Center has named Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, as recipient of the 2025 Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences.
Awarded biennially, the Schottenstein Prize honors those at the forefront of cardiovascular sciences. Recipients of the prize have made extraordinary and sustained leadership contributions to improving health care. The Schottenstein Prize is among the largest monetary prizes in the U.S. dedicated to cardiovascular research. Wu, the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology at the Stanford School of Medicine, will receive an honorarium of $100,000 and be honored during a ceremony on Nov. 18.
"I'm deeply honored and humbled to receive the Schottenstein Prize," Wu said. "I want to sincerely thank the Schottenstein Prize selection committee for this recognition. This honor truly belongs to the incredible staff, trainees and collaborators I've been fortunate to work with over the past 20 years at Stanford. Their dedication and creativity continue to inspire me every day. I'm hopeful that our collective efforts will help accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into new therapies that ultimately improve patients' lives."
Wu and his team focus on using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to better understand cardiovascular diseases and accelerate the discovery of drugs to treat them. Through a concept he calls "clinical trial in a dish," Wu and his team have created iPSCs from more than 2,500 patients. The process involves converting patients' blood or skin cells into iPSCs, which can then become any cell type in the body, including heart, brain, liver and muscle cells. Using this approach, Wu and his team have been able to model different types of diseases so they can understand how they affect patients and how to better treat them. His lab has also championed the adoption of "New Alternative Methods" (or NAMs) such as organoids, tissue-on-chips and microphysiological systems to reduce the reliance on traditional animal models.
"Dr. Wu is a pioneer in cardiovascular research, and his work has transformed how we understand and treat heart disease. His research with stem cells, organoids, genomics and artificial intelligence are laying the groundwork for more precise and personalized care," said John J. Warner, MD, CEO of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and executive vice president at Ohio State.
Wu has published more than 700 manuscripts and has been listed as one of the top 0.1% of highly cited researchers by the Web of Science for several years. He has received numerous awards, including the following: National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award, NIH Roadmap Transformative Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers awarded by President Obama at the White House, American Heart Association (AHA) Innovative Research Award, AHA Established Investigator Award, AHA Merit Award, AHA Distinguished Scientist Award and Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Innovation in Regulatory Science Award.
He serves on the FDA Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee and the board of directors for the Keystone Symposia. He is also co-founder of Greenstone Biosciences, a startup that uses clinical genomics, iPSCs and AI/ML to accelerate drug discovery.
Wu is past president of AHA (2023-2024) and an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigators, Association of University Cardiologists, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, American Association of Physicians, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering, National Academy of Inventors and National Academy of Medicine.
Wu earned his bachelor's degree in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and completed his medical degree at Yale School of Medicine. He moved back to California to complete his medicine residency, cardiology fellowship and a doctorate degree in molecular and medical pharmacology at UCLA.
While in Columbus, Wu will meet with several cardiovascular physicians and researchers at the Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute.
The Schottenstein Prize was established by a $2 million endowment from humanitarian philanthropists Jeanie and Jay Schottenstein, long-time supporters of The Ohio State University.
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