Steven Nissen

Steven Nissen (b.1949), a heart specialist, is chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

He first gained prominence when he developed techniques in 1987 to thread miniaturized ultrasound imaging devices into a patient's heart to reveal the exact composition of plaques causing the early stages of artery damage. This allowed much easier evaluation of anticholesterol medications.

His efforts in 2004 linked COX-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex and  Merck's Vioxx with heart attacks, and prevented Merck's similar product, Arcoxia, from being approved. In 2005, he attacked the experimental diabetes drug Pargluva, from Bristol-Myers Squibb, for its serious heart risks. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel had strongly recommended approval, but Pargluva was withdrawn.

In 2007, he found that the Avandia diabetes drug produced by GlaxoSmithKline carried high cardiovascular risks, leading to a warning by the Food and Drug Administration and a sales loss of about 30 percent for the drug.

In 2007, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world (Time 100) by Time Magazine.