The Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise granted to Dr. Valentín Fuster
This award rewards individuals and legal entities and both Spanish and foreign entities that have distinguished themselves by the merits acquired in the fields of education, science, culture, teaching and research or that have rendered outstanding services in any of these fields in Spain or internationally
The Council of Ministers, at the request of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, has awarded the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise to Dr. Valentín Fuster, General Director of the Carlos III National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC). This award rewards individuals and legal entities and both Spanish and foreign entities that have distinguished themselves by the merits acquired in the fields of education, science, culture, teaching and research or that have rendered outstanding services in any of these fields in Spain or internationally.
Dr. Fuster currently combines his functions at the CNIC with that of Director of the Cardiovascular Institute and "Physician-in-Chief" at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Recently he has also accepted the responsibility of serving as President of the Health Advisory Council of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality and is also the Chief Editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
As a scientist, Dr. Fuster has been named Doctor Honoris Causa of thirty-four prestigious universities and has received three of the most important NIH (National Institutes of Health) scholarships. He has published more than 900 scientific articles in international medical journals, and two of the most prestigious books devoted to clinical cardiology and research: The Heart and Atherothrombosis and Coronary Artery Disease. The contributions to cardiovascular medicine made by Dr. Fuster have had an enormous impact on the improvement of the treatment of patients with cardiac diseases. His research on the origin of cardiovascular accidents, which have contributed to improve the prevention and treatment of heart attacks earned him the Prince of Asturias Award for Research in 1996 and more recently the title of Marquess (2014) awarded by the King of Spain for his "outstanding and constant work in cardiovascular research and his commendable teaching work".
Among the acknowledgments to his work it is worth mentioning that Dr. Fuster is the only cardiologist who has received the highest research awards from the four main international organizations of Cardiology: the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology, Cardiology and the Interamerican Society of Cardiology.
