Dr. Wei, a trained interventional cardiologist, unrelenting researcher and newly appointed assistant research professor of medicine, was honored on August 21 at the annual meeting of the Florida Chapter of the American College of Cardiology held in Kissimmee.

"The future in cardiovascular medicine relies on the highest quality of innovative scientific research," Kathleen DuCasse, CEO of the institute, said in presenting the organization's eighth such award, which she said is given to a Florida researcher whose work is "felt to have had the broadest impact on the advancement of knowledge in the diagnosis and/or treatment of cardiovascular disease."

The award is accompanied by $25,000 to be applied toward future cardiac research in the state, and Dr. Wei plans to use the money to continue his work on a wide range of molecular biology techniques.

"I am honored that my work has been recognized as an important contribution to cardiovascular science," Dr. Wei said. "I look forward to continuing my research with the hope that future results will hold enormous benefits for patients with cardiovascular disease."

Paul Kurlansky, M.D., director of research for the institute, noted that Dr. Wei's "seminal work is advancing our understanding of cardiac hypertrophy and congestive heart failure, a disease which has a devastating impact on over five million Americans."

Describing Dr. Wei as "hardworking and persistent in the face of difficulty," Nanette Hahr Bishopric, M.D., professor of medicine, said his award is very much deserved. "Dr. Wei has developed and characterized an innovative mouse model of heart failure that faithfully mimics the human disease," Dr. Bishopric said. "He has used this model to gain novel insights into how adaptive heart growth can become heart failure, and others have used it to find a large number of new molecular leads for potential therapy.''

Dr. Bishopric was honored with the "Stop Heart Disease Researcher of the Year" award in 2005 and Joy Lincoln, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology, was awarded the title in 2007.

To be considered for the award, researchers must be "nominated by a colleague, conduct research within and be a resident of Florida, be active in the arena of clinical and/or basic science, and have reported the results of the work in a peer review arena such as scientific meetings or publications."