BUFFALO, N.Y. -- John M. Canty Jr., MD, the Albert and Elizabeth Rekate Professor of Medicine in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and UB's chief of cardiovascular medicine, has been named president of the Association of Professors of Cardiology (APC) for 2012 - 13.

The APC is the preeminent professional organization for directors of academic divisions of cardiology and cardiovascular medicine representing academic health care centers throughout the United States. Its mission is to promote the professional development of its members, to lead the effort to train the next generation of cardiovascular specialists and to be the voice of academic cardiology faculty. The organization provides a forum for chiefs of cardiology to regularly meet and discuss issues related to the tripartite mission of academic cardiology divisions.

Canty has been a faculty member of the UB Department of Medicine since 1983 and became the head of the division of cardiovascular medicine in 2006. Since then, he has led UB's cardiovascular medicine faculty, fostered expansion of programs in education, research and clinical care and integrated the university's cardiology sections at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Erie County Medical Center and Kaleida Health.

Canty was one of the earliest occupants in the new UB Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC). Located above Kaleida Health's Gates Vascular Institute (GVI), this unique 170,000-square-foot research facility on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus allows UB's physician scientists to perform cutting-edge research in the CTRC while providing state-of-the-art care for patients in the GVI.

Canty's own research has focused on developing bench-to-bedside personalized treatments for heart disease patients, a prime example of the translational research that results from fostering interactions among cardiovascular specialists, basic scientists and biomedical engineers.

Canty was elected to membership in the prestigious Association of University Cardiologists in 2003. He received the UB medical school's Stockton Kimball Award in 2005, which honors a faculty member's academic accomplishments and worldwide recognition as an investigator and researcher.

In 2010, Canty received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the American College of Physicians, he has served on numerous peer review and data safety monitoring committees for the National Institutes of Health. He also serves on the editorial boards of several leading cardiovascular journals.

Canty is a physician member of UBMD, a staff cardiologist at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center and has been recognized by Best Doctors in America since 1998.

A Buffalo native and a graduate of the UB medical school, Canty lives with his family in Snyder.