Three Life-Saving Medical Technologies Named Finalists for the Second Annual Thomas J. Fogarty Innovation Prize

Winner of $100,000 Award Honoring Transformative Medical Technology Innovation to be Announced at San Diego Gala on October 30

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Therapies that have transformed the treatment of cancer, postpartum hemorrhage, and calcified artery disease have been selected as finalists for the second annual Thomas J. Fogarty Innovation Prize (Fogarty Prize), made possible by the Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation. This prestigious recognition honors an innovator or team who has developed and successfully commercialized a life-changing medical technology. The finalists will be celebrated, and the winner announced, at a black-tie gala in San Diego on October 30. The winner(s) will receive an unrestricted $100,000 cash prize and a custom-cast bronze medal.

"The Fogarty Prize celebrates bold innovation and the relentless dedication it takes to make a lasting difference in patients’ lives,” said Mike Mussallem, co-founder of the Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation. “People often imagine innovation as a light switch, but that is simply not the case. It's long, arduous work that carries a great deal of failure with it. I’d wager that every finalist this year was told at some point that their idea wouldn't work, but they kept going, and patients are alive because they did."

“For years, I described Tom Fogarty as an innovator, an icon, and an iconoclast—and I was always fondest of the last one,” said Andrew Cleeland, CEO of Fogarty Innovation, the nonprofit organization administering the prize. “He challenged assumptions that others treated as untouchable, usually to provoke progress, sometimes just to stir the pot. Every technology we’re honoring this year began with someone refusing to accept the status quo. This is the first Fogarty Prize since he passed away in December 2025, and I can’t think of a more fitting tribute.”

Innovation and Impact – The Three Finalists

• Frameless Image-Guided Radiosurgery: John Adler, MD
  Cancer patients worldwide have benefited from two groundbreaking radiosurgery technologies pioneered by Dr. John R. Adler, which together have treated more than one million patients. His first invention, the CyberKnife®, introduced the world's first frameless robotic stereotactic radiosurgery system. FDA cleared in 1999, it redefined radiosurgery by combining a compact linear accelerator with a robotic arm that moves freely around the patient, and by pioneering real-time image guidance to detect movement during treatment and correct targeting automatically. These innovations ushered in a new era of image-guided, robotic medicine and expanded radiosurgery beyond the brain to targets throughout the body.
  
  His latest innovation, the ZAP-X® Gyroscopic Radiosurgery® platform, is the first vault-free, cobalt-free system dedicated to cranial radiosurgery. Designed specifically for the brain, head, and neck, ZAP-X employs unique gyroscopic mobility to deliver radiosurgical beams from thousands of potential angles, precisely concentrating radiation on the intended target while minimizing exposure to healthy brain tissue and critical structures.

• The JADA® System: Jessie Becker Alexander, Nathan Bair, Amelia Degenkolb
  Postpartum hemorrhage — severe bleeding after childbirth — is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, affecting roughly 14 million women and claiming about 70,000 lives each year. In most cases the uterus simply fails to contract after delivery, leaving the vessels that fed the placenta open and bleeding. The JADA® System is a postpartum hemorrhage management technology that uses low-level vacuum to stimulate the uterus's natural contraction process, enabling rapid control of abnormal postpartum bleeding.
  
  Begun as a student engineering project at Cal Poly, JADA earned FDA clearance in 2020 after a pivotal trial showed it controlled bleeding in 94% of patients in a median of about three minutes. The device now sits on emergency hemorrhage carts in more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and has treated more than 136,000 mothers in over 20 countries, making suction-based treatment a standard of care. The founding company, Alydia Health, was acquired by Organon in 2021, and Laborie acquired JADA in early 2026.

• Shockwave Intravascular Lithotripsy: Daniel Hawkins, Todd Brinton, MD, John Adams
  Atherosclerosis hardens arteries throughout the body. Coronary artery disease affects more than 20 million American adults; peripheral artery disease affects another 12 million and can lead to disabling pain, ulcers, and amputation. In advanced disease the plaque calcifies, stiffening the vessel until it is nearly as rigid as bone and defeating the balloons and stents used to reopen it. Shockwave’s first-of-its-kind Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) technology transformed treatment by safely using ultrasonic acoustic pressure waves to crack the calcium, both at the surface and deep within the artery wall, without harming the surrounding soft tissue.
  
  IVL was cleared in the U.S. for peripheral artery disease in 2016 and approved for the coronary arteries in 2021. Shockwave Medical went public in 2019 and grew quarterly revenue from $12.2 million to $218.8 million by the first quarter of 2024, before the company was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in May 2024. To date, more than one million patients have been treated with Shockwave IVL.

About Thomas J. Fogarty, MD (1934–2025)

Tom Fogarty’s balloon embolectomy catheter, invented when he was still in medical school, revolutionized vascular surgery and launched an era of minimally invasive device innovation that has improved and saved the lives of millions. Fogarty acquired over 190 patents during his career and left the industry with a pragmatic philosophy of innovation that defines this prize:

“An idea by itself has no importance whatsoever. It’s the implementation of that idea and its acceptance by others that brings true benefit to our patients.”

About the Fogarty Prize

The Fogarty Prize recognizes a singular, clinically impactful technology that has achieved broad adoption and use. An independent selection committee reviews nominations and selects each year's recipient.

The inaugural prize was awarded in 2025 to the team behind the FARAPULSE™ PFA Platform, an advanced treatment for atrial fibrillation, at a gala attended by more than 300 leaders from medtech, venture, academia, healthcare, and local government.

"It was an extraordinary honor to accept an award bearing Tom Fogarty's name," said Allan Zingeler, co-founder and CEO of Farapulse (now co-founder of ALPFA, which is applying pulsed-field ablation to prostate disease). "Standing in front of 300 leaders in my industry, all of whom have dedicated their careers to improving patient care, was a moment we'll carry with us for a long time."

The Fogarty Prize Gala will take place October 30 at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. To purchase a ticket or become a sponsor, visit www.fogartyinnovation.org/the-fogarty-prize/.

About Fogarty Innovation

Fogarty Innovation, part of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, is a nonprofit organization that advances human health worldwide by accelerating medtech innovation through incubation, education, and alliances. Founded by the late Thomas J. Fogarty, MD, a world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon, inventor, and entrepreneur, Fogarty Innovation is headquartered on the El Camino Health campus in Mountain View, California. Learn more: www.fogartyinnovation.org.

About the Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation

After decades of philanthropic commitments, Linda and Mike officially unveiled the Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation in 2024. The Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation aims to harness the power of innovation and integrative health solutions to address complex health care challenges and create meaningful, long-lasting change for overlooked populations in need. Learn more at www.mussallemfoundation.org.