James Richard Spears MD

Adjunct Professor, Division of Cardiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine

3990 John R4 HudsonDetroit, MI 48201
Phone+1 313-745-2620
Fax+1 248-745-8643

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Summary

Dr. James Richard Spears has spent his career in academic settings, working as a cardiologist/interventional cardiologist, while simultaneously maintaining a research laboratory. Recently, he was the Director of the Cardiovascular Laboratory at Beaumont Hospital-Dearborn and the Associate Director of the Cath Lab and Cardiology Fellowship 2010-2025. He is currently on the adjunct cardiology faculty at Wayne State University.
After his last year in medical school (SUNY Downstate NY), devoted to hypoxia research, he spent two years at the CVRI, UCSF (surfactant research) & a year at USC/NASA-JPL (angiographic image processing). Clinical training included NY Cornell, Lenox Hill Hospital, and the Cleveland Clinic. Faculty appointments include Harvard Medical School (Assistant Professor of Medicine x 7 yrs) and WSU (tenured Professor of Medicine x 20 yrs). With many NIH grants, he pioneered new clinical methods- Densitometry; quantitative coronary angiographic analysis (QCA); lasers (Laser Balloon Angioplasty; Photodynamic Therapy); clinical coronary angioscopy; and the first clinical drug-coated balloon (heparin). After ten years of research, he discovered Aqueous Oxygen (AO)(co-founder Therox, Inc 1994) and SuperSaturated Oxygen (SSO2) and their local hyperbaric intracoronary infusion post STEMI reperfusion for reducing infarct size and improving LV function and clinical outcomes. The treatment is the first and only one approved by the FDA (2019) to reduce infarct size in the reperfusion era. At Beaumont-Dearborn, Dr. Spears performed the first SSO2 procedure in Michigan post FDA approval. The site led the US in its application for the next several years. Dr. Spears received a Certificate of Lifetime Achievement from Therox/Zoll on July 16, 2025, as the "Inventor and Pioneer of AO/SSO2 that has elevated the care of STEMI patients worldwide". Dr. Spears has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, review articles, and book chapters; and more than 40 US Patents.

Education & Training

Cleveland Clinic FoundationFellowship, Cardiovascular Disease, 1979 - 1980
University of Southern California/LAC+USC Medical CenterFellowship, Cardiovascular Disease, 1978 - 1979
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Lenox Hill HospitalFellowship, Cardiovascular Disease, 1974 - 1976
University of California San Francisco School of MedicineResidency, Cardiovascular Research (CVRI), 1972 - 1974
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Lenox Hill HospitalResidency, Internal Medicine, 1971 - 1972

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Certifications & Licensure

MI State Medical License 1987 - 2028
OH State Medical License 1980 - 1982
American Board of Internal Medicine Internal Medicine
American Board of Internal Medicine Cardiovascular Disease
American Board of Internal Medicine Interventional Cardiology

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

Lifetime Achievement Award to James Richard Spears,MD as Inventor and Pioneer of SSO2 for STEMI Zoll/Therox, 2025
DR. James Spears - Healthcare HEROES for Advancement in Care CRAIN'S Detroit Business, 2022
Marquis Who�s Who in Science and Engineering 2012

Publications & Presentations

PubMed

179 citations
Reperfusion Injury in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction: JACC Scientific Statement.
Frederick G P Welt, Wayne Batchelor, J Richard Spears, Claudia Penna, Pasquale Pagliaro
Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2024-06-04
39 citations
Update on Cardioprotective Strategies for STEMI: Focus on Supersaturated Oxygen Delivery
Robert A. Kloner, Jeffrey L. Creech, Gregg W. Stone, William W. O’Neil, Daniel Burkhoff
JACC. Basic to Translational Science. 2021-07-28
4 citations
National Trends of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug Use in Patients Admitted With Acute Myocardial Infarction
Amer N. Kadri, Sara Khodor, Ahmed Ali, Leen Nusairat, Asadullah Mahmood
Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine. 2021-05-01

Journal Articles

First clinical report of echo left ventricular function during intracoronary SSO2 infusion after anterior STEMI stenting
Nallapati C, Kadri AN, Spears JR, Cardiac Interventions Today, 1/2023
Book review, Coronary Angioscopy by Yasumi Uchida, MD
Spears JR, Circulation, 1/1/2001
Association of left ventricular noncompaction with polycystic kidney disease
Katukuri NP, Finger J, Vaitkevicius P, Riba A, Spears JR, Texas Heart J, 1/1/2014

Books/Book Chapters

Urgent Interventional Therapies
Chapter: Aqueous Oxygen for Treatment of ST- Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Page 502 - 508Neelima Katukuri, Jeffrey L. Creech, James Richard SpearsEditors: Kipshidze N, Serruys P.John Wiley & Sons, Oxford, United Kingdom2015
Handbook of Cardiovascular Interventions
Chapter: Lasers and balloons
Page 705 - 714Spears JREditors: Sigwart U, Bertrand M, Serruys P.Churchill Livingstone, London, England, United Kingdom1996
Optical and Thermal Responses of Laser Irradiation on Tissue
Chapter: Laser balloon angioplasty
Page 831 - 858Cheong W-F, Crilly RJ, Spears JREditors: Welch AJ, Van Gemert MJC.Plenum Press, New York, NY1995

Abstracts/Posters

A case of "vanishing act" anterior STEMI anterior STEMI reperfusion injury and SSO2 therapy in an electrically unstable patient
Bangash N, Bonkowski T, Fogelsong et al, SCAI Scientific Sessions 2023, Phoenix, Arizona, 5/19/2023
TCT Challenging Case: Anterior STEMI cardiogenic shock post cardiac arrest CPR: Remarkable recovery LV recovery with SSO2 coronary delivery combined with Impella and P...
Lynch S, Chattahi J, Mand R et al., TCT Meeting, Orlando Florida, 11/5/2021
Anterior STEMI treatment with SSO2 post PCI for prolonged cardiac arrest and 16 DC shocks.
Spears JR, SCAI SHOCK Virtual Conference Cardiogenic Shock: Breaking the 50% Mortality Barrier. SCAI Scientific Sessions, Virtual, 10/7/2021

Lectures

Future Technologies: Aqueous Oxygen
Washington, DC - 1/1/2008
Why SSO2 Works
Washington, DC - 1/1/2007
AMIHOT II: update of clinical trial
1/1/2006

Other

Effects of gas diffusion on nucleation of gas-supersaturated liquids
Brereton GJ, Liu X, Garett S, Spears JR, Bulletin American Physical Society
1/1/2001
Nucleation in small capillary tubes
Brereton GJ, Crilly RJ, Spears JR, Bulletin of the American Physical Society
1/1/1998

Grant Support

Systemic Oxygenation by Liquid Infusion of Aqueous OxygenIlitch Charities2012–2025
Oxygenation by Liquid Infusion in Medicine/EnvironmentMichigan Life Science Corridor Award (WSU subcontract)2000–2001
Delivery Systems for Infusion of Oxygen-Supersaturated SolutionsTherox, Inc.1995–2001
Oxygenation of Blood by Liquid InfusionNIH1998–2000
OSPS Perfusion Guidewire-Phase I Clinical TrialNHLBI (STTR Program)1996–1997

Research History

Tenured Professor of Medicine, Wayne State University School of MedicineNumerous NIH grants, Industry grants. Numerous US Patents. See CV (publications, book chapters, patents, etc [>150])1987 - 2007
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Radiology, Harvard Medical SchoolRadiology and laser research. NIH Young Investigator Award, multiple NIH RO1 grants.1980 - 1987
AHA Advanced Research Fellowship, USCComputer Image Processing Research with NASA/JPL1978 - 1979
Research FellowResearch Fellowship UCSF, CVRI (John A. Clements)1972 - 1974