A prominent cardiologist and researcher based in Rochester has died. Dr. Arthur Moss died on Wednesday at the age of 86.
Moss is credited with saving thousands of lives, during a career that spanned six decades.
Officials at the University of Rochester Medical Center say he made some of the most significant and long-lasting discoveries in the prevention and treatment of sudden cardiac death.
Moss spearheaded the research that led to the widespread use of the implantable defibrillator device that shocks the heart back into proper rhythm when a dangerous rhythm is detected.
He also did groundbreaking work into what is called “Long QT syndrome,“ which makes the heart susceptible to fatal arrhythmias.
Among those he mentored is Dr. Brad Berk, former CEO of the medical center who is still a professor there.
Berk notes that Dr. Moss did groundbreaking work in looking at the genetic factors behind Long QT syndrome. That research included creating a registry that Berk says helped identify certain risk factors.
“His registry was very useful for other scientists to look at those different mutations and to classify them. And so it sped up the work dramatically, by having that registry," Berk told WXXI News.
Berk also says Moss was a great teacher by doing a couple of things.
“He made you feel good, because he would guide you through a difficult set of questions, and help you get to the right answers, so you felt good, that you had done that and then he would point out where there were gaps in your knowledge.”
Dr. Moss was one of the creators of WXXI’s national health program Second Opinion.
In the early 2000s, Moss worked closely with WXXI to creating a television show that would improve doctor/patient communication and raise awareness of health issues.
He served as medical advisor for the show for all of its 15 seasons, and was a panelist on six Second Opinion episodes.
A memorial service for Dr. Arthur Moss will be held on Sunday, 11am, at Temple B’rith Kodesh.
