Celebrating Innovation and Excellence: The Mussallem Innovation Center
“Edwards’ “Mussallem Innovation Center” brings Mike’s vision to transform patient care to life. We are humbled by this recognition and thrilled that the center will serve as a place where ideas are nurtured, partnerships thrive and breakthroughs happen.”
During Mike’s 24 years at Edwards Lifesciences, including as CEO for 23 of those years, he had the privilege of experiencing firsthand the transformative power of innovation – leading the company in its exploration and development of a therapy that revolutionized the treatment of a debilitating and deadly structural heart disease from an invasive, open-chest surgical procedure to one that could be done on a closed chest while the heart continued to beat. This groundbreaking advancement in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has to date benefitted more than a million patients around the world, providing life-saving and life-enhancing treatment and forever changing the practice of medicine. It has also inspired the next generation of transcatheter therapies for other areas and diseases of the structures of the heart. Mike has always believed that innovation is the driving force that pushes us to constantly challenge the status quo, embrace new ideas, and strive for impactful solutions that can change lives for the better.
To honor Mike’s legacy as an innovator, Edwards Lifesciences established the Mussallem Innovation Center as a hub of creativity and advancement that embodies the company’s vision for the future of healthcare innovation. Mike and I are humbled by this recognition and thrilled that the center will serve as a place where ideas are nurtured, partnerships thrive and breakthroughs happen. The center stands as a testament to the “patients first” philosophy and the relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence that defined Mike’s leadership, and Edwards’ mission for decades. At the Mussallem Center, engineers, scientists, and clinicians can come together, leveraging diverse perspectives and cutting-edge technology to pioneer new therapies and solutions that address the most pressing structural heart challenges of our time.
As Mike said during the dedication ceremony, Edwards and The Mussallem Foundation have a shared belief “that as good as our healthcare is today…it could be better.” Mike and I are excited to devote the next chapter of our lives to improving patient care through The Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation. We hope that by harnessing the power of innovation, we can make a significant impact on health care and well-being for deserving populations, leaving a legacy of compassion, innovation and equity for years to come.
Linda Mussallem
July 24, 2024