ARLINGTON, VA (April 17, 2025) — The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) Board of Directors is proud to announce that Ron Blankstein, MD, MSCCT, has been named the recipient of the 2025 SCCT Arthur S. Agatston Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Award for his many contributions to the field of preventive cardiology.
The Agatston Award honors individuals whose pioneering efforts have saved lives from coronary artery disease — the leading cause of death worldwide.
Dr. Blankstein is recognized in particular for his dedication to improving patient outcomes through the use of cardiovascular CT.
“We are delighted to honor Dr. Ron Blankstein as the 2025 SCCT Arthur S. Agatston Award recipient,” said SCCT President Maros Ferencik, MD, PhD, MSCCT. “This award recognizes his profound impact on the field, like his key role in the 2021 Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain, which has significantly changed the landscape for cardiovascular CT and will lead to decreased CV-related mortality in the U.S. as it has in other countries.”
Dr. Blankstein is responsible for pioneering several initiatives that shape, educate and support the future of the field, including the SCCT Prevention Symposium, currently in its eighth year.
As president of SCCT, he launched the SCCT Future Leaders Program in 2019 to develop and strengthen the pipeline of committed early career cardiac CT imagers.
In addition, Ron has played a key role in improving patient access to cardiovascular CT by serving as the catalyst for what became a 7-year quest to achieve appropriate Medicare reimbursement, bringing in additional champions and regularly making himself available to educate stakeholders.
Dr. Blankstein is associate director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Program, director of cardiac computed tomography and a preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.
He is recognized as an expert in the use of multi-modality imaging for the assessment of cardiovascular disease, speaking at numerous SCCT events – including Annual Scientific and Global Meetings, and Knowledge Lab and Reading with the Experts workshops – on topics such as preventive cardiology and risk assessment, as well as determining to how to use the results of cardiovascular imaging in patient management decisions.
Dr. Blankstein is author of over 400 publications, such as the 2022 Coronary Artery Disease – Reporting and Data System, or CAD-RADSTM 2.0, a multi-society collaboration he co-led that provided an update to the standardized reporting system for patients undergoing coronary CT angiography (CCTA).
The Agatston Award is named after Dr. Arthur S. Agatston, a visionary and pioneer in the field of noninvasive cardiac imaging and one of the world’s leading preventive cardiologists. The award will be presented to Dr. Blankstein at the SCCT 20th Annual Scientific Meeting (SCCT2025) opening session on Friday, July 18 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal in Quebec, Canada.
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