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STSI Director, Eric Topol: New Editor-in-Chief of Medscape
Feb 27, 2013
Medscape Medical News
Shelley Wood | Feb 20, 2013
World-renowned cardiologist and digital medicine pioneer Eric Topol, MD, is the new editor-in-chief of Medscape.
Dr. Topol has been the editor-in-chief of theheart.org since its launch in 1999, as well as the editor on Medscape Genomic Medicine since January 2007. He is now expanding his editorial oversight to the entire Medscape platform: 30 medical specialty areas offering news, perspectives, clinical point-of-care tools, and continuing medical education.
“I’m going to continue working with theheart.org and the genomic medicine web site, but I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be editor-in-chief of Medscape,” Dr. Topol said. “This provides a tremendous opportunity to help bring the latest in medicine to millions of physicians.”
Dr. Topol is a practicing cardiologist at Scripps in La Jolla, California; professor of genomics at the Scripps Research Institute; and chief academic officer of Scripps Health. He has led the National Institutes of Health–supported Scripps Translational Science Institute since 2006 and was also a cofounder of the West Wireless Health Institute in La Jolla.
In 2009, along with National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, and National Cancer Institute Director Harold Varmus, MD, Dr. Topol was selected to be one of the country’s 12 “Rock Stars of Science” in GQ Magazine. In 2012, he was voted the #1 Most Influential Physician Executive in the United States in a national poll conducted by Modern Healthcare.
In recent years, Dr. Topol has been a vocal proponent of individualized medicine, calling on physicians and patients alike to replace outmoded diagnostic tests and blanket treatments with digital/mobile technologies and genomics. His 2012 book The Creative Destruction of Medicine outlines just how these 2 worlds can — and must — be wired together to tailor healthcare to individual patients.
“This is the most exciting time in this history of medicine with the revolution that’s occurring in the digital and genomic space,” Dr. Topol said. “So being able to help bring Medscape into the future of medicine is a wonderful opportunity.”