LA BioMed Researcher Honored for Distinguished Teaching

LOS ANGELES – John Michael Criley, MD, a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) researcher, will receive the 2016 Distinguished Teacher Award from the American College of Cardiology on April 4 at the organization’s 65th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago, IL.

In notifying Dr. Criley of the award, the American College of Cardiology said he was being recognized for his “innovative, outstanding teaching characteristics and compassionate qualities. Because of these attributes, you have made major contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine.”

“Congratulations to Dr. Criley for this recognition of the training and education he’s provided to more than 200 cardiologists who are improving the lives of patients around the country,” said David I. Meyer, PhD, LA BioMed president and CEO. “Dr. Criley is an LA BioMed legend, a leader in the field of cardiology for more than 50 years and an example of the institute’s physician-researchers who translate science and transform lives.”

In addition to the more than 200 cardiologists he has helped train, Dr. Criley has taught cardiology to over 6,000 medical students, residents and nurses throughout his career. He has developed interactive multimedia programs in three languages that are used for medical and nursing education programs around the world.

Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Criley has served on the faculty of two of the nation's most prestigious medical institutions. After serving as director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he returned to his native California to join the faculty at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Criley also served as the chief of cardiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for 20 years, and he has been on Harbor’s faculty for almost 50 years.

Dr. Criley was a driving force behind the concept of using firefighters in the U.S. to provide medical care at the scene of an emergency. He helped found the Los Angeles County Paramedic program in 1969, and the concept of using firefighters to provide medical care grew into a model for training paramedics all over the country. As a result, the Los Angeles County Paramedic Training Institute is named in his honor.

Dr. Criley has also made a number of pioneering contributions to the field of cardiology and medical education of the physical examination. He is an authority on cardiac hemodynamics, cardiac auscultation, cardiac catheterization, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and valvar heart disease. He first explained the functional anatomy of Mitral Valve Prolapse, giving it its name. 

Dr. Criley founded Blaufuss Medical Multimedia with his two sons, Stuart and David Criley, and shares his teaching duties at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine with his daughter-in-law, Dr. Jasminka M. Criley. In addition, he discovered cough Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and, with Drs. James Niemann and John Rosborough, defined the unique mechanisms by which both cough and manual CPR circulate blood selectively to the brain. He has published over 100 research papers and authored or co-authored two textbooks on cardiology. He also has submitted chapters to 29 textbooks.