Clinical Trials, Registries Awardee demonstrates value of CCTA, AI-CPA team

ARLINGTON, VA (July 8, 2025) — The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) honors Cian McCarthy, MB, BCh, BAO, FACC as recipient of the 2025 SCCT Clinical Trials and Registries Award (CTRA), supported by Cleerly.

The award recognizes clinical trials that use computed tomography coronary angiography (CCTA) and/or CCTA-based analyses to detect atherosclerotic burden in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD), as well as demonstrate a positive impact on patient outcomes.

"We are honored to support the 2025 SCCT Clinical Trials and Registries Award and celebrate the contributions of thought-leading clinical trialists," stated James K. Min, MD, MSCCT, founder and CEO of Cleerly. "Through our support of this award, we recognize the impactful contributions in cardiovascular care through innovative research and we commend Dr. McCarthy’s dedication to advancing both knowledge and equality with his work."

Dr. McCarthy’s winning submission – “Guiding implementation of preventive care strategies for patients with atherosclerotic plaque on coronary computed tomographic angiography: Primary outcomes of the DECIDE (Artificial Intelligence-DErived Plaque Quantification: CCTA and AI-QCPA for Determining Effective CAD Management) Registry” – investigates the influence of artificial intelligence-derived quantitative coronary plaque assessment (AI-CPA) on patient management decisions in patients with atherosclerotic plaque.

Dr. McCarthy is a cardiologist and cardiovascular imager at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

SCCT will present Dr. McCarthy with the award at the opening session of the Society’s 20th Annual Scientific Meeting (SCCT2025) on Friday, July 18 at Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Canada, followed by a presentation of his study.

“SCCT offers our congratulations to Dr. McCarthy for his study with the DECIDE Registry, a submission which stood out for its strong study design and methodology, as well as its potential for impact on the field of cardiovascular CT,” said ASM Program Committee Chair and President-Elect Kavitha Chinnaiyan, MD, MSCCT. “We’re thrilled to recognize the impact his research will have on the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease and look forward to his presentation next month.”

The judging panel named Jorge Dahdal, MD as runner-up for his submission, “CCTA outperforms coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring for cardiovascular risk prediction in young patients,” which used the Amsterdam-Turku Cohort registry to compare the prognostic value of CAC scoring with CCTA-derived plaque quantification across different age groups.

Dr. Dahdal is a research associate at Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC). He will present his study and receive this award at the Best Original Science session of SCCT2025, which will take place 11:30am-12:45pm on Saturday, July 19, 2025.

In addition to the spotlighted presentations, the CTRA comes with a $10,000 prize for first place and $5,000 prize for runner-up; one year of membership in SCCT; complimentary Annual Meeting registration; travel support to Montréal; 3 nights’ accommodation and a plaque.

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About the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
Founded in 2005, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) is the international professional society devoted to improving health outcomes through effective use of cardiovascular computed tomography (CCT), with members from over 85 countries. SCCT is a community of physicians, scientists and technologists advocating for access, research, education and clinical excellence in the use of CCT. For more information, please visit https://scct.org.

About Cleerly
Cleerly is the company on a mission to eliminate heart attacks by creating a new standard of care for heart disease. Through its FDA-cleared solutions driven by artificial intelligence, Cleerly supports comprehensive phenotyping of coronary artery disease, as determined from advanced noninvasive CT imaging. Cleerly’s approach is grounded in science, based on millions of images from over 40,000 patients. Led by a world-class clinical and technical team, Cleerly enhances health literacy for each and every stakeholder in the coronary care pathway. For more information, please visit: cleerlyhealth.com.

About the 20th Annual Scientific Meeting of SCCT (SCCT2025)
SCCT2025 – the preeminent meeting focused on cardiovascular CT – will be held July 17 - 20, 2025 in Montréal, Canada. The SCCT Annual Scientific Meeting is designed to engage physicians, trainees, technologists and healthcare professionals in a complete overview of the cardiovascular CT field. Planned sessions are targeted for all levels, from new practitioners to experienced providers. Sessions range from general overviews to state-of-the-art research and expert discussions. For more information, please visit https://scct.org/SCCT2025.

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