Alexandra Lansky

My clinical research interests are primarily in evaluating clinical outcomes of patients undergoing minimally invasive cardiovascular interventions and the premarket evaluation of CV medical devices.

My most recent contributions have been to establish the prevalence and clinical implications of ischemic brain injury after endovascular procedures and the need for neuro protection. Through a series of prospective clinical trials (registry and randomized) I established the high prevalence of cerebral embolic complications after trans-aortic valve replacement (>95%) and their neurocognitive and neurologic clinical correlates. I have been investigating several neuroprotection devices to reduce this complication as an adjunct to TAVR. I have served as the principle investigator in all these studies and led an international consensus including FDA for definitions and data standards of neurologic endpoints in clinical trials.

I have also made significant scientific contributions to our understanding of sex-based outcomes in the treatment of coronary artery disease. I led the first AHA sex-specific statement on revascularization in 2004 and last year led a position statements “Sex Disparities in Cardiovascular Device Evaluations: Strategies for Recruitment and Retention of Female Patients in Clinical Device Trials,” proposing strategies to increase the enrollment of women in cardiovascular device trials. I have made numerous original contributions to our understanding of sex-based outcome differences and emphasized the necessity for more enrollment of women in clinical trials.

In addition, I have investigated the role of diabetes in the outcomes of patients with coronary artery disease and plaque vulnerability. I was a lead co-investigator in the landmark Strategies for multivessel revascularization in patients with diabetes FREEDOM Trial, establishing the benefit of bypass surgery in diabetic patients.