Richard Rapoza began his career with the company as a materials engineer at Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., now part of Abbott Vascular through the acquisition of Guidant. From there, his career progressed through several manager and director roles in research, marketing and quality systems, both in coronary and peripheral areas.
Richard was promoted to Vice President of Operations for Endovascular Solutions in March 2000. He was appointed to his current role, Divisional Vice President and General Manager for Bioabsorvable Vascular Solutions at Abbott Vascular in March 2007.
Richard is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and a M.B.A. He also received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle.
One year results on the ABSORB trial (a first-in-man, 30 patient feasibility trial for Abbott Vascular's bioabsorbable coronary stent) show results comparable to metallic DES in simple lesions. Further development is underway for larger scale human trials. A review of Abbott Vascular's efforts, both technical and clinical, will be presented.
