Charlottesville-based University of Virginia is mourning the loss of two trailblazing cardiologists: Carlos Ayers, MD, who died July 26, and Lawrence Burwell, MD, who died July 28.
Dr. Ayers was an early proponent of preventive measures to avoid heart disease. Joining the UVA medical facility in 1964, Dr. Ayers conducted research on a new technique, radioimmunoassay, which measures renin to determine its role in regulating blood pressure, and may have been one of the first to focus on prevention of heart disease by reducing risk factors, colleague George Beller, MD, said in the UVAToday memorial.
Dr. Burwell pioneered the use of coronary balloon angioplasty at the UVA Medical Center. Dr. Burwell became the first Black faculty member in the School of Medicine in 1975 and later the first African American to receive tenure.
"Both were pioneers in their fields and were instrumental in propelling our cardiology program and the field of cardiology in our state into a new era," Dr. Beller wrote in the news release.