A tribute to Dr. Charles Richard Conti
UF Professor Emeritus Charles Richard Conti, M.D., MACC, H.C., F.C.P, leaves a legacy of leadership and teaching
Charles Richard Conti, M.D., MACC, H.C., F.C.P
Feb. 22, 2022 – UF Professor Emeritus Charles Richard Conti, M.D., MACC, H.C., F.C.P, an internationally recognized cardiologist whose esteemed career influenced physicians across the world and helped improve the quality of life for countless people through his skillful and compassionate care, has died.
Conti’s honored career as a physician, researcher, teacher, administrator and prolific writer and editor spanned six decades, with nearly 50 years at the UF College of Medicine. He joined the UF faculty in 1974 as a professor of medicine and chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine, a position he served in for 24 years until he stepped down in 1998. His arrival at UF from Johns Hopkins University had an immediate impact on the reputation of the College of the Medicine’s cardiovascular medicine program due to the pioneering randomized clinical trial he brought with him, which was the first of its kind that investigated coronary bypass surgery as a treatment for coronary artery disease. Conti’s expertise in coronary artery disease and his staunch devotion to the professional development of his faculty played a significant role in building the division into one of the leading cardiovascular medicine programs in the nation.
When Conti first arrived at UF, there were four cardiology fellows and six faculty physicians. Today, the division trains 30 fellows and comprises 30 faculty members. His reach in clinical cardiology training extends beyond any other at UF, having been involved with the education of thousands of medical students, residents and cardiology fellows during his career.
Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1934, Conti grew up in Bethlehem and graduated from Lehigh University in 1956 and from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1960 as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He trained in internal medicine with the Osler Medical Service of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and completed a fellowship in cardiology at the same institution. Conti’s training was interrupted for two years when he served in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1964. He was named chief resident of the Osler Medical Service in 1967, and in 1968, he joined the Johns Hopkins faculty as an assistant professor of medicine, rising to associate professor and medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory before leaving for the University of Florida.
His leadership, both nationally and internationally, was unmatched. He served as president of the American College of Cardiology from 1989 to 1990 and was an elected member of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, the Association of University Cardiologists and the Association of Professors in Cardiology. In 1991, Conti received an honorary fellowship from the College of Medicine of South Africa (FCP-SA), and in 1996, he was elected to the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. He was awarded the Gifted Teacher Award from the Florida Chapter of the American College of Cardiology in 1999 and from the American College of Cardiology in 2002. In June 2000, he received a “Docteur Honoris Causa” from the University of Marseilles, and in 2004, he was named China Honorary Chair of the Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology (GW-ICC), Beijing.
Conti had a passion for teaching, and he shared his knowledge through his work as a writer and editor. He served as editor-in-chief for Educational Program Highlights of the American College of Cardiology for 14 years, for Clinical Cardiology for 13 years and for American College of Cardiology Extended Learning for 10 years. He was an editorial board member for the American Journal of Cardiology, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the European Heart Journal and numerous others. He authored or co-authored more than 700 scientific papers, book chapters and abstracts, and he edited six books and wrote two.
Throughout his career, Conti was awarded several grants from the National Institutes of Health. From 1990-97, he was chair of the Asymptomatic Cardiac Ischemia Pilot, or ACIP, Trial, an NHLBI-funded multicenter, multinational study. He also served as principal investigator for the Medtronic Inc. Stimulation Therapy for Angina Refractory to Standard Therapies, Interventions and Medications study, or STARTSTIM, and for the PILOT Research Project on EECP, Azithromycin and Coronary Events Study, or ACES.
After stepping down as chief of cardiovascular medicine, Conti devoted much of his time to teaching clinical cardiology to students, residents and fellows. He also served as a mentor to encourage scholarly work from young faculty and fellows. He received the UF College of Medicine Exemplary Teaching Award in 2005 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the UF College of Medicine Faculty Council in 2015.
His most important role was that of father to his four children. His daughter, Jamie Conti, M.D. ‘87, FACC, has said that her dad’s dedication to the medical profession influenced her decision to attend medical school at the University of Florida and inspired her to follow in his footsteps, as she served as chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine at UF for nearly 10 years before becoming chair of the department of medicine in 2019.
“It is impossible to list all of Dr. Conti’s achievements or to describe the impact he had on the success of our college and the careers of so many, said Dean Colleen Koch, M.D., M.S., M.B.A. “We will be forever grateful to him for his numerous contributions to our institution, the field of cardiology, his students and colleagues and to patient care in general. The College of Medicine community, especially the faculty and staff in the department of medicine, extend our deepest condolences.”
A visitation will be held at Williams-Thomas Funeral Homes, 404 N. Main St., Gainesville, from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25. Flowers can be delivered Friday before 3 p.m. A funeral mass is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at Holy Faith Catholic Church, 747 NW 43rd St., Gainesville, with burial immediately following at Evergreen Cemetery, 401 SE 21st Ave., then a reception at 7900 SW 43rd Drive, Gainesville.
