This morning, AtheroNova Inc. (AHRO-OTC) announced that it expanded its clinical expertise by adding Dr. Stephen Nicholls as Chair of the Company's Clinical Advisory Board. AtheroNova expects to launch its first Phase I clinical trial in the next few months for a drug called AHRO-001 to combat the accumulation of plaque in the arteries, thus the appointment of Dr. Nicholls--who has completed a postdoctoral fellowship in plaque imaging at the Cleveland Clinic and is the current heart disease Theme Leader at the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute--is extremely well-timed. Dr. Nicholls will serve as a co-principal investigator in the upcoming clinical trial.
For more information about plaque deposits and how they ultimately block the arteries, leading to dangerous cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral artery disease (PAD), please refer to the Quarterly Update published April 5, 2013, on AtheroNova. It is available for download here. AtheroNova seeks to commercialize a treatment that could actually reverse plaque accumulations, rather than simply slow them as most medicines today do.
About Stephen Nicholls, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
Dr. Nicholls brings to AtheroNova a wealth of experience in the imaging and analysis of cardiovascular plaque. His research emphasis includes the functional properties of HDL, the role of inflammation and oxidative stress in atherogenesis, and the development of new imaging modalities to assess factors that influence the natural history of atherosclerosis. He has had a lead role in clinical trials that employ intravascular ultrasound to investigate the impact of novel anti-atherosclerotic therapies, and is a Professor of Cardiology at the University of Adelaide (Australia) as well as a Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Dr. Nicholls was appointed heart disease Theme Leader at the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in May 2012 in conjunction with the Heart Foundation as a direct effort of the Australian government to provide research in one of the leading causes of death in Australia and around the world. As part of this position, he has overseen a major building initiative to unite SAHMRI's various research efforts currently conducted in numerous locations.
Prior to joining SAHMRI, he served as Medical Director of Intravascular Ultrasound and Angiography Core Laboratories at the Cleveland Clinic and Clinical Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention. Dr. Nicholls was also Associate Director of the Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Center for Clinical Research and Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. He held dual faculty appointments in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, and the Department of Cell Biology in the Learner Research Institute.
His clinical trial expertise includes investigating the impact of novel anti-atherosclerotic therapies and serving as the principal investigator of the SATURN (high dose statins for evaluating plaque regression), AQUARIUS (renin inhibition), ASSERT (apoA-I induction) and ASSURE (apoA-I induction), and ACCELERATE (CETP inhibition) studies; study chair of VISTA-16 (sPLA2 inhibition); and member of the steering committees of the DalOutcomes (CETP inhibition) and ALECARDIO (PPAR a/g agonist) studies. He has also authored more than 400 original manuscripts, meeting abstracts, and book chapters.
Dr. Nicholls received his medical degree from the University of Adelaide in Australia. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and American College of Cardiology and a member of the American Heart Association. He received the Helen May Davies Research Award from the National Heart Foundation of Australia, the Young Investigator Award at the 13th International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, and was a finalist for the Samuel A. Levine Clinical Young Investigator Award at the 2005 Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association.