Interview with Michael R. Jaff, DO The leading edge
As a patient-focused, technology-driven specialty, interventional radiology has always valued the role that innovation and business acumen play in improving patient care.
In this series, IRQ speaks with physicians who hold corporate leadership positions to learn more about their career paths and why they felt pulled to the C-suite.
Can you tell us a little about your background and current position? Michael R. Jaff, DO: I’m a vascular medicine specialist and was trained at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. I practiced in various private practice environments for about 10 years before I was recruited by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to run their noninvasive vascular lab and then ultimately be the first medical director of a multispecialty, horizontally integrated vascular center within MGH.
In the late 1990s, I established a clinical trials research unit for peripheral vascular devices and ended up running that core laboratory for about 20 years. The lab became very prolific, running over 200 multicenter clinical trials in 66 countries. It participated in the research of many of the vascular products that IRs use every day.
After working at MGH for about a dozen years I was asked to become president and CEO of the largest
Name: Michael R. Jaff, DO
Position: Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Clinical Affairs, Technology and Innovation, Peripheral Interventions at Boston Scientific Corporation
What initially drew you to industry and clinical trials? MJ: I was very interested in the evolution of surgical-based treatment for peripheral vascular diseases to minimally invasive treatments. It was such an incredible shift in thought, and the impact potential was so massive that it struck me as an amazing moment in medical history. I figured two components had to be successful for that strategy to evolve: doctors had to want to innovate, and industry had to want to put the muscle and engine behind those innovations. My initial involvement with industry was in the clinical trials unit I established and ran, where industry reached out to my lab and said, “Hey, we want to do a trial of this device. Can you help us do that?” That’s essentially how the vast majority of my interaction with industry started— and was maintained—through my career until I joined BSC.
community hospital within the Mass General Brigham health system, Newton Wellesley Hospital. I worked there for about 3 ½ years. In January 2020, I began my current position as part-time chief medical officer for peripheral interventions at Boston Scientific.
During my career, I’ve had the privilege to work with every medical device manufacturer that was interested in the peripheral vascular medical device arena. It was interesting because these are bright, highly motivated groups that have an amazing ability to take a concept and make it real.
12 IRQ | SUMMER 2022
What about Boston Scientific appealed to you? MJ: During my career, I’ve had the privilege to work with every medical device manufacturer that was interested in the peripheral vascular medical device arena. It was interesting because these are bright, highly motivated groups that have an amazing ability to take a concept and make it real. I got to watch how everyone worked and participated in clinical research, and one thing that impressed me about Boston Scientific was the level of clinical trials that they performed. As opposed to performing clinical trials solely for device approval, where the lowest common denominator was often used, they were willing to put their devices to the test against competitive technologies. In the coronary space, that was commonplace, but in the peripheral vascular space no one did clinical head-to-head trials of one technology vs. another. Boston
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