Andrew Glatz, MD, MSCE, was installed as the Louis Larrick Ward Chair in Pediatric Cardiology for the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. At a ceremony celebrating the event on April 4, 2024, Glatz, a professor of Pediatrics, presented the talk titled, “Collaborative Multi-Center Clinical Research in Pediatric Cardiovascular Diseases: My Version of the Story.”
Glatz received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University (summa cum laude), his medical degree with highest distinction from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and then completed his pediatric residency, pediatric cardiology and advanced pediatric interventional cardiology fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Along the way, he received a Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2012. He was appointed as an assistant professor in 2010 with a promotion to associate professor in 2017, and a promotion to full professor pending provost approval at the time of his announced departure in the fall of 2021. While at CHOP and the University of Pennsylvania, Glatz distinguished himself as an interventional cardiologist and clinical researcher, serving as the associate chief for Research in the Division of Cardiology and as the founding cirector of the Cardiac Center’s Clinical Research Core.
Glatz is one of the most prolific clinical researchers in his field with over 180 peer-reviewed publications. He has made seminal contributions in the areas of outcomes research, cost-effectiveness analyses, radiation safety, defining pediatric cardiac catheterization lab quality and multi-center registry- and administrative-based research. He is one of four founding members of the Congenital Cardiac Research Collaborative (CCRC) and is the current scientific committee chair. The CCRC has published research that has changed practice in the areas of palliation of neonates with ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow and symptomatic tetralogy of Fallot. More recently, Glatz has led two multi-center prospective randomized clinical trials through the NIH/NHLBI’s Pediatric Heart Network (the SAXOPHONE study) and the ongoing COMPASS trial — the first ever randomized trial comparing a trans-catheter intervention to a surgical intervention in children with congenital heart disease. In addition to NIH support, his research program has been supported by a number of foundational, institutional and philanthropic sources.
Glatz has held national leadership positions in a number of professional organizations and clinical registries, including the IMPACT Registry, PC4 Registry, Cardiac Networks United, the American Heart Association, the Society for Cardiovascular Intervention and Angiography and the CCRC. He has mentored a generation of interventional cardiologists and clinical researchers.
In 2022, Glatz assumed the position of chief of the Division of Cardiology and professor of Pediatrics at the Washington University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Most recently, Glatz successfully led the application for Washington University (as part of a two-center consortium with University of Colorado) to become one of the nine core sites in the next seven-year funding cycle of the Pediatric Heart Network. This is a distinguishing accomplishment in the history of clinical research in the Division of Cardiology and ensures that Washington University will have a leading role in clinical investigation in the field for the foreseeable future.
Glatz’s career goals, in the near term, focus on the ongoing growth of the clinical and research programs in the Division of Cardiology at Washington University and the creation of innovative new programs.
About Louis Larrick Ward
Louis Larrick Ward was an American businessman born in Lenora, Kansas. He attended the University of Kansas before transferring to Stanford University where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He was employed by several companies in the chemical industry before starting a box-making company in 1952. He married Adelaide Selby Cobb in 1955, and together they had three children, Linda, Thomas and Scott.
Over his time at the box-making company, Ward became fascinated with one of his customers and his candy business. The man’s name was Russell Stover. Ward purchased a controlling interest in Russell Stover Candies in 1960 for $7.5 million.
“There are only so many ways you can put chocolate, butter, cream, eggs, milk, fruit and nuts together,” said Ward. “The real competition is in the packaging.”
Ward built Russell Stover Candies, Inc. into the nation’s largest manufacturer and distributor of packaged candy. He ran the business until an illness in 1993 led him to retire and turn over the company to his two sons. Ward passed away three years later in February 1996.
Adelaide Ward served as chair of the Ward Family Foundation and demonstrated her commitment to the community through her work with several organizations, including St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
The Louis Larrick Ward Chair in Pediatric Cardiology was established with the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation by Adelaide Ward in honor of her husband in 2001. This endowed chair will help ensure that the latest technology and research will be utilized to improve the outcomes for pediatric cardiology patients.