Casscells Intended Presidential Nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense
|  S. Ward Casscells, MD
|
HOUSTON (February 23, 2007)—President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate S. Ward Casscells III, M.D., associate director for cardiology research at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
In this position, Dr. Casscells would be responsible for overall supervision of the health and medical affairs of the Department of Defense (DoD). The Secretary serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all DoD health policies, programs, and activities, and exercises oversight of all DoD health resources.
"We are very proud of Dr. Casscells' nomination by the President, as we are proud of all of his efforts that have been so very helpful to the Texas Medical Center and the citizens of Texas,” said James T. Willerson, M.D., president-elect and medical director of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Dr. Willerson is also president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Dr. Casscells is the vice president for biotechnology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is also the John Edward Tyson Distinguished Professor of Medicine and a professor of cardiology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
“Dr. Casscells is one of the most creative physician-scientists in our country today. He is a dedicated public servant and patriot who will bring his creativity, compassion and dedication to serve our men and women in uniform, our retired military, and their families,” said Dr. Willerson.
Dr. Casscells, who also is a U.S. Army Reserve colonel, returned last December from a three-month tour of duty in Iraq, where he served as a liaison to the U.S. ambassador to Iraq and the Iraqi health minister to create a protocol for health policy and medical administration in the region. In June 2005, at the age of 53, Dr. Casscells was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps.
Dr. Casscells has been deployed to both the Middle East and Asia and to study the avian flu and assess the possibility of a world-wide pandemic. As a result of his work as the U.S. Army Medical Command’s senior medical advisor for avian influenza and pandemic influenza, Dr. Casscells was awarded the U. S. Army’s Meritorious Service Medal. Last November, while in Iraq, Dr. Casscells received the Joint Service Commendation Medal.
Dr. Casscells began studying influenza seven years ago after he saw a connection between heart attacks and recent bouts of flu or colds in his cardiac patients.
“One third or so of our heart attack patients said they recently had the flu or a cold so we began to urge them to get flu vaccinations. The medical residents asked me to prove the link, so by 1999 we had data that flu shots reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke,” said Dr. Casscells. “We’ve had a hard time getting people to understand the importance of vaccination but we just keep at it. We’ve just been stubborn about it.”
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The Texas Heart Institute, founded by world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley in 1962, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the devastating toll of cardiovascular disease through innovative and progressive programs in research, education and improved patient care. Together with its clinical partner, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, it has been ranked among the top ten cardiovascular centers in the United States by U.S. News & World Report’s annual guide to “America’s Best Hospitals” for the past 16 years. The Texas Heart Institute is also affiliated with the University of Texas (UT) System, which promotes collaboration in cardiovascular research and education among UT and THI faculty at the Texas Heart Institute and other UT components. For more information about the Institute, please visit www.texasheart.org.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System comprises the flagship St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke’s Community Medical Center–The Woodlands, opened in 2003; St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, a charity devoted to assessing and enhancing community health, especially among the underserved; and Kelsey-Seybold Management, LLP, overseeing 21 area clinic locations. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is home to the Texas Heart® Institute, founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD, and is consistently ranked among the top 10 cardiology and heart surgery centers in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Affiliated with several nursing schools and two medical schools, St. Luke’s serves as the primary adult teaching hospital for Baylor College of Medicine. St. Luke’s was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, and the Health System has been recognized by FORTUNE as among“100 Best Companies to Work For” and by Houston Business Journal as a top employer in Houston. For more information about St. Luke’s, please visit www.stlukestexas.com.
