Leadership Bios
President J. Michael Bacharach, MD
Dr. J. Michael Bacharach received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin and served fellowships in cardiology and vascular medicine and peripheral vascular intervention at Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic respectively. He currently is the Section Head of Vascular Medicine and Peripheral Vascular Intervention at North Central Heart Institute in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Dr. Bacharach received faculty appointments as an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and an assistant professor of surgery at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Bacharach has obtained several board certifications including internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, vascular medicine and endovascular medicine.
He has also served on the board of trustees of the Society for Vascular Medicine since 1998, including roles as treasurer and now president. He also participates on numerous committees at the North Central Heart Institute and Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota as well as maintaining fellow status at the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
Dr. Bacharach serves as the primary investigator in multiple peripheral vascular drug and device studies and has received national and international recognition as a lecturer for his expertise in vascular medicine and peripheral vascular intervention.
President Elect Thom W. Rooke, MD
Dr. Thom W. Rooke obtained a BS in physiology at the University of Michigan and an MD at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. After completing internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine residencies at Mayo Clinic, he joined the Vascular Medicine section at Mayo. He is currently head of the section and Krehbiel Professor of Vascular Medicine, and he founded the Mayo Clinic Wound Care Center.
Dr. Rooke serves on a number of national boards, committees and societies. He has a long history of service to SVM. He successfully organized the 2005 and 2006 Board Review Course in Vascular Medicine. These courses were highly lauded by the participants. His major area of interest remains non-invasive vascular testing; and toward that end, he is also president of the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL).
Dr. Rooke's interests include medical writing — fact and fiction, peripheral vascular medicine, varicose veins, swollen limbs and the art of the medical lecture.
Past President John P. Cooke, MD
Currently, Dr. John P. Cooke is professor of medicine and director of the Program in Vascular Medicine and Biology at Stanford. He received his training in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic and obtained a PhD in physiology there. Subsequently, he was recruited to Harvard Medical School as an assistant professor of medicine. In 1990, he was recruited to Stanford University to spearhead the program in Vascular Biology and Medicine. He directs a translational research program in vascular biology from molecule to man, focused on endothelial biology and angiogenesis. The Cooke research group is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Heart Association (AHA) and industry. Dr. Cooke has published more than 300 manuscripts, book chapters and patents in the arena of vascular medicine and biology. He has served on numerous national and international committees that deal with cardiovascular diseases, including those of the AHA, ACC, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He is past president of SVM, a director of the American Board of Vascular Medicine (ABVM), and associate editor of Vascular Medicine.
Secretary Joshua A. Beckman, MD
Dr. Joshua A. Beckman is assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, and director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. After earning his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in New York City, he completed an internship and residency in internal medicine and postgraduate fellowships in cardiovascular medicine and vascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for SVM and is active in numerous other professional organizations, including ACC and AHA. Dr. Beckman sits on the editorial boards of the journals Vascular Medicine and Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders and is a reviewer for several other peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and Diabetes. His primary research interests include the mechanisms by which diabetes mellitus impairs endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation, and the relationship of chronic inflammation to atherosclerotic disease. His findings have been published in more than two dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Circulation, Circulation Research and JACC, and he has authored or coauthored chapters in more than a dozen textbooks. Dr. Beckman is the recipient of the Daniel D. Federman Outstanding Clinical Educator award at Harvard Medical School, as well as the inaugural "Thanks for Listening" Cardiovascular Fellows Award at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Treasurer James B. Froehlich, MD, MPH
Dr. James Froehlich received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Dartmouth College, after which he completed three years of a general surgical residency at the University of Massachusetts. He then completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the New England Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Froehlich was a fellow in cardiology at the University of Michigan from 1993-1996, and a trainee there under the National Institutes of Health Vascular Medicine Training Program Grant in 1994. After completing a master’s degree in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health, (while serving as director of Vascular Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), he went to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, with a joint appointment in vascular surgery and cardiology, before returning to Michigan and his current position as director of Vascular Medicine, director of Anticoagulation Services and associate professor of medicine at University of Michigan Medical School.
Dr. Froehlich has an interest in the clinical epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and risk factor treatment. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis and the Cardiosource Review Journal, and is an ad hoc reviewer for Journal of the American Medical Association, NEJM, Vascular Medicine, the Journal of Vascular Surgery and Circulation. He is serving as treasurer of SVM, and also as a member of the AHA/ACC Perioperative Guidelines Committee. He has published more than 40 articles, book chapters and abstracts. He and his wife Christine, an internal medicine faculty member at the University of Michigan, and their three sons, are ardent supporters of the Boston Red Sox.
TRUSTEES
Jerry Bartholomew, MD
John R. Bartholomew, MD, is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Penn State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and adjunct faculty clinician at the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also a session leader for Communication Skills at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He has an interest in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and hypercoagulable states in general. In addition, venous thromboembolism is another area of interest. Dr. Bartholomew was a fellow at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Hematology. He has been at the Cleveland Clinic since 1988. He is currently section head for vascular medicine in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. He holds a joint appointment with the Department of Hematology & Oncology. His other major clinical interests are peripheral arterial disease, atheromatous embolization, chronic venous insufficiency and lymphedema. He is a Fellow in the Society of Vascular Medicine and Biology, a Fellow in the International Academy of Clinical & Applied Thrombosis and Hemostasis, and a Fellow in the American College of Cardiology. He is also a Member of the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Hematology, and the Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical Society. Dr. Bartholomew has been voted one of Cleveland’s Best Doctors by Cleveland Magazine in 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Susan M. Begelman, MD
Dr. Susan M. Begelman was recently elected to the SVM Board of Trustees and has chaired the Policies, Procedures, and Bylaws Committee as well as served as a member of the Communications Committee. Dr. Begelman received a BA in biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a MD from Hahnemann University School of Medicine (now known as Drexel University School of Medicine) in Philadelphia, Pa. She completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in vascular medicine, both at the Cleveland Clinic. After spending several years as staff in the Section of Vascular Medicine and medical director of the Noninvasive Vascular Laboratory at the Cleveland Clinic, she decided to change the focus her career to the clinical development of novel therapies for cardiovascular diseases. Currently, Dr. Begelman is the associate director, medical sciences/cardiovascular at Nuvelo, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in the San Francisco bay area. She is board certified in internal medicine, vascular medicine, and is a Registered Vascular Technologist. In addition to SVM, Dr. Begelman is a member of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and is a fellow of ACC.
Christopher J. Cooper, MD
Dr. Christopher Cooper obtained a B.S. in biology at Wittenberg University and his M.D. at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. After completing his cardiology fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, he joined the Cardiovascular Medicine Division at the University of Toledo Medical Center. Dr. Cooper currently serves as chief of the Cardiovascular Medicine Division and professor of medicine. He founded the cardiovascular medicine research program and the Heart and Vascular Center at UTMC.
Dr. Cooper is a member of several regional and national societies. Currently he serves as Principal Investigator of the NIH funded International Multi-Center CORAL Trial that compares medical therapy against medical therapy with stenting for renal artery stenosis. His major area of interest remains cardiovascular research.
Robert T. Eberhardt, MD
Dr. Robert Eberhardt is an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of Medical Vascular Services at Boston Medical Center. He is a fellow of ACC, Council on Clinical Cardiology of the AHA and SVM. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and vascular medicine. He joined the faculty of the section of Peripheral Vascular Medicine at Boston Medical Center in 1999 and of Cardiovascular Medicine in 2001.
Dr. Eberhardt’s clinical practice includes vascular medicine and general cardiology. He has an interest in non-invasive vascular imaging. In this regard, he is a Registered Vascular Technologist, Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation and co-director of the Vascular Laboratories at Boston Medical Center and Quincy Medical Center. He is on the Board of Directors for the ICAVL. He is interested in vascular medicine training, serving on the Item Writing Committee for the ABVM and Chair for the Emerging Leadership Committee of SVM. He is also the co-director of the Leadership Program in Vascular Medicine at Boston University Medical Center — one of the several centers recently awarded a Research Career Development Program in Vascular Medicine by the NIH.
Dr. Eberhardt’s research interests include studying the mechanisms and contribution of vascular dysfunction and impairment in nitric oxide bioactivity to the pathophysiology of disease. He has studied the effects of hyperhomocysteinemia, sickle cell disease, and coronary heart disease on endothelial function and oxidant burden. His recent focus has been in peripheral arterial disease — studying the predictive value and potential clinical utility of modifying endothelial function.
Scott Kinlay, MD
Dr. Scott Kinlay received his medical degree (MBBS) from the University of Sydney and PhD from the University of Newcastle in Australia. After completing fellowships in internal medicine and cardiology at John Hunter Hospital in Australia and interventional cardiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, he joined the Cardiology and Vascular Medicine sections at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Boston VA Hospital in West Roxbury. He is currently director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Vascular Medicine at the Boston VA.
Dr. Kinlay is a fellow of a number of national and international societies and contributed to a number of society meetings including the Society of Vascular Medicine. His major interests are peripheral and coronary percutaneous revascularization, vascular dysfunction and inflammation, and clinical risk assessment and management.
Suman W. Rathbun, MD
Currently, Dr. Suman W, Rathbun holds the position of Associate Professor and Director of Non-invasive Vascular Laboratories at Oklahoma University Medical Center and Veterans Administration Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Dr. Rathbun is a member of ACP, chair of the Education Committee for the Venous Disease Coalition and serves on the editorial board for Vascular Medicine.
Over the past ten years, Dr. Rathbun has published numerous articles including her most recent article on the prevention of central venous catheter-associated thrombosis in the American Journal of Medicine. She has completed several research studies and is currently the principal investigator on treatment protocols for upper extremity deep-vein thrombosis and the management of superficial thrombophlebitis.