Joseph Stokes III, MD Award
History of the Award:
Presented annually, the Stokes Award commemorates Joseph Stokes III, MD (1924–1989), the famed cardiologist and epidemiologist who contributed so much to the field as well as to the ASPC. The award is bestowed on individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime achievement in preventive cardiology and/or those who have profoundly impacted cardiovascular disease prevention by taking the field in a whole new direction.
2025 Joseph Stokes III, MD Pioneer in Prevention Award Recipient
Roger S. Blumenthal, MD
Kenneth Jay Pollin Professor of Cardiology
Professor of Medicine
Director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Roger S. Blumenthal graduated with honors from both the Landon School in Bethesda and the Johns Hopkins University. He received his medical degree from Cornell Medical College, where he was awarded the Weiss Prize for Excellence in Clinical Medicine.
He did his Internal Medicine and Cardiology fellowship training at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before joining the Hopkins Cardiology faculty. Dr. Blumenthal was the 2018 recipient of the Landon School Anthony Kupka Distinguished Alumnus Award. He was the 2019 recipient of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) Arthur S. Agatston Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Award for his work in selective use of cardiac CT to improve cardiovascular risk assessment.
His principal clinical and research interests involve 1) strategies to improve cardiovascular risk assessment to identify those adults at elevated risk for their age and those at very low risk of future cardiovascular disease & 2) the optimal management of atherosclerotic vascular disease. He is an expert in the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Blumenthal was the principal developer of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Blumenthal is on the official national spokesperson panel for the American Heart Association (AHA). He has co-written more than 1,000 scientific publications dealing with many aspects of cardiovascular disease management.
Together with Dr. Mariell Jessup, he was the co-chair of the ACC/AHA Guideline Task Force subcommittee that oversaw the updates of all of the Prevention related guidelines (Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Risk Assessment). Dr. Blumenthal & Dr. Donna Arnett were co-chairs of the 2019 ACC/AHA Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Guideline. He was a co-author the 2018 AHA/ACC/Multi-society Guideline on Cholesterol Management and the senior author on the 2019 AHA/ACC Special Report on the Use of Risk Assessment Tools to Guide Decision Making in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Currently, he is actively involved in updates of national Prevention related Guidelines.
An experienced writer, Dr. Blumenthal is on the editorial board of Circulation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention Council, the American Society of Preventive Cardiology (ASPC), the National Lipid Association (NLA), and the Society of Cardiovascular CT (SCCT). He was co-editor-in-chief of the textbook Preventive Cardiology – A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease and the ASPC Manual of Preventive Cardiology.
Dr. Blumenthal is very proud of helping to propel the careers of many leaders in Preventive Cardiology who trained at Hopkins such as Drs. Khurram Nasir, Michael Blaha, Seth Martin, J. Bill McEvoy, Chiadi Ndumele, Erin Michos, Ty Gluckman, Samia Mora, Seamus Whelton, Parag Joshi, Garima Sharma, Kiran Musunuru, Haitham Ahmed, Lili Barouch, Ramzi Dudum, Alex Razavi, and Jelani Grant. Dr. Blumenthal is a highly cited researcher with an h-index of 133 on Google Scholar.
He has been named to the Stanford University-Elsevier List of the Top 2% most cited scientists worldwide as well as the 2024 Clarivate List of Most Highly Cited Researchers. In 2007, he was selected as one of the country’s Top 20 Cardiologists by Men’s Health Magazine and in 2017 he was named one of the nation’s Top 27 Cardiologists by Forbes.com. In 2024, he was selected by Medipocketusa.com as one of the Top 10 Best Cardiologists.
In 2010, Dr. Blumenthal received the David M. Levine Excellence in Mentoring Award. In 2021, The Osler house staff voted him the Outstanding Faculty Mentor. The following year, he received the Department of Medicine Task Force on Women’s Academic Careers in Medicine Susan M. MacDonald, MD Sponsorship Award for promoting career advancement of faculty and fellows. Dr. Blumenthal is also a member of the American Clinical and Climatological Association and the Association of University Cardiologists.
Dr. Blumenthal previously served as President of the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the American Heart Association and the Southeast Lipid Association. He was also Vice-President of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology and he is currently on its Board of Directors. For four years, he was Chair of the American College of Cardiology Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Committee.
Previous Winners of the Joseph Stokes Pioneer in Prevention Award:
2024 Sergio Fazio, MD, PhD
2023 William C. Roberts, MD, MACC
2023 Larry Sperling, MD, FASPC
2022 Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD
2022 Donna K. Arnett, PhD, MSPH, BSN
2021 Nathan Wong, PhD, MPH, FASPC
2021 Suzanne Oparil, MD
2020 Arthur Agatston, MD
2020 Paul Ridker, MD, MPH
2019 Mark Sussman, PhD
2019 Daniel Levy, MD
2018 Neil Stone, MD
2017 Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM
2016 Aaron Folsom, MD
2015 Virgil Brown, MD
2014 Nanette Wenger, MD
2013 Sidney C. Smith Jr., MD
2012 Jeremiah Stamler, MD
2011 William B. Kannel, MD, MPH
2010 Ezra Amsterdam, MD
2009 Lewis Kuller, MD, PhD
2008 Robert Eckel, MD
2007 John Robin Crouse III, MD
2006 Darwin Labarthe, MD, MPH, PhD
2005 Stephen P. Fortmann, MD
2004 Curt Furberg, MD
2003 Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD
2002 Philip Greenland, MD
2001 Michael Criqui, MD, MPH
2000 Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD, MPH
1999 John W. Farquhar, MD & Russell V. Luepker, MD
1998 Gerald Berenson, MD
1997 Thomas A. Pearson, MD, PhD
1996 Elaine Stone, PhD, MPH