Eric Topol
Eric J. Topol, M.D., is an American cardiologist, geneticist, and researcher. Much of Topol's career was spent at the Cleveland Clinic, where he served as chairman of cardiovascular medicine and founded the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Topol was one of the first researchers to question the cardiovascular safety of rofecoxib (Vioxx), culminating in the drug's ultimate withdrawal from the market. Topol's advocacy on the subject led to what the New York Times described as an "unusually public dispute" with the Cleveland Clinic's leadership over ties between the academic institution and the pharmaceutical industry, ultimately leading to Topol's departure from the Clinic after his academic position was abolished. Topol currently serves as Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla, California. He also serves as the Chief Academic Officer for Scripps Health, a professor of Translational Genomics at The Scripps Research Institute, and The Gary and Mary West Chair of Innovative Medicine. He is editor-in-chief of Medscape and theheart.org. In January 2012 he published a popular book called The Creative Destruction of Medicine which examined the impact of both the genomic and wireless revolutions on the health care system. On March 26, 2013 he appeared on the Colbert Report and examined the host Stephen Colbert using several devices featured in his book.