A Chat with Guidant Corporation's Deborah Kilpatrick 
by Andrew Kerr
Deborah L. Kilpatrick, Ph.D.
Director, Research and Technology
Guidant Corporation
dkilpatr@guidant.com
Deborah L. Kilpatrick received her B.S. in Engineering Science and Mechanics (1989) and both her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering (1994, 1996) from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her early career was spent in the aerospace industry working on the advanced tactical fighter program before she returned to graduate school to focus on human arterial biomechanics in vascular disease. Since joining Guidant Corporation in 1998, Dr. Kilpatrick has led internal and external investigations of disease-dependent lesion behavior and is now responsible for directing the company's market and therapy development efforts in vulnerable plaque and acute coronary syndromes.
In recent years she has been a visiting lecturer at Stanford University for the medical device design curriculum of the Biomechanical Engineering Division. Dr. Kilpatrick currently chairs the Advisory Board for the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Tech and also serves on the College of Engineering Advisory Board. In 1999, she was inducted into the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni at Georgia Tech, and in 2002, the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association gave her a Rising Star award for her contributions in the healthcare industry. In 2006, Dr. Kilpatrick will be inducted as a Fellow into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in Washington, DC.
Where did you grow up?
I attended Bleckley County High School in Cochran, Georgia. My dad was the football coach at the high school there, and my mom was a preschool teacher. I was unusual (for a coach's kid) in that I spent all my school years there--first grade through high school. I have distinct memories of always wanting to go to Georgia Tech. I realized after enough school that I was good at math and science, and I was always very interested in engineering. My skills have been more on the analytical, problem-solving side than the hands-on "fix-it" side.
I don't really remember others around me who wanted to do what I wanted to do. But I knew that to do them I would need more education [than just a high school degree]. I graduated in 1985 as valedictorian of my class. I was one of the first recipients of the Governor's Scholarship, which would later become the HOPE Scholarship.
So I sank my teeth in for four years a Georgia Tech, which proved to be a pretty critical decision point in my life.
How did you find that you were interested in mechanical engineering? I presume there's no good analog for that in high school, and so you found an interest while you were at Tech?
I can't really tell you why engineering was in my head. I was interested in finding a fusion of science and mathematics someplace, and the only place that fusion existed so strongly was in engineering.
You began life in the "real world" working on advanced tactical fighters. Can you tell me what you worked on, or would you have to kill me afterward? ;-)
Back then it was classified, but not today. My first job out of GA Tech was at Pratt & Whitney out of Florida. At that time I had an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics. I was assigned to be the structural analyst for the high pressure turbine of the F-22 Raptor. The turbine is where the action is.
Now you focus on curing disease. It's as if you decided to go from working on machines that kill to saving lives.
In my early 20s, there was a very conscious decision on my part to focus my skills in medicine, to see what I could contribute in that arena.
What prompted you to return to grad school to focus on biomechanical applications in vascular disease?
I was just very interested in finding out if there was a place for me in what was a very new emerging field. GA Tech was one of a handful of places that had already made a national name for themselves in what was becoming known as "bioengineering." I was very interested in doing that, and made a decision that this was where I wanted to take my career. So I picked up the phone and called [Georgia Tech Professor] Bill Wepfer, who was then in charge of the graduate program in the Woodruff School.
I got a research assistanceship to work in the lab of [Georgia Tech Professor] Ray Vito. I was very interested in studying arteries, and I was going to study them with the same kind of tools that I used in the aerospace industry. Physics is true whether you are a cell or a piece of concrete. So much of engineering that has historically been applied to traditional applications can also be applied to the human body.
Could you describe your current work?
No two days are alike. I am currently the Director of Research and Technology Development for Guidant's Vascular Intervention Division in California. My responsibilities revolve around the prevention of heart attacks. I oversee research in diagnostics, new therapy technologies, clinical trials, etc. all aimed at the ultimate prevention of heart attacks.
I have spent essentially 15 years of my life working on the same fundamental problem of unstable vascular disease. But my role now is much more on the strategic side. (I don't get to do much hands-on research myself anymore.) Today my team is responsible for creating the strategic vision and planning for unmet clinical needs related to heart attacks--which remains the most serious health problem in our society in terms of mortality.
The type of disease that is most responsible for heart attacks is not detectable with current diagnostic tools. So many cardiologists end up treating the symptoms instead of being able to prevent them from happening. Drugs will always get better, but how good they'll get we don't know. Where Guidant and my team come in is in the area of medical device technologies to augment traditional drug-based therapies to more effectively treat high risk cardiovascular patients.
What is the future of biomechanics in medicine? What sorts of advances do you think today's kids will see by the time they reach middle age?
I think the biggest change is that the coming wave of diagnostics will better allow physicians to actually "see" the types of disease their patients have long before the symptoms appear. That's actually going to open the door for companies like Guidant to work on prevention.
Cardiovascular disease kills more people than all the different types of cancers put together. But there is a constraint in the system that's pretty serious, and that's cost. The problem is, the ultimate impact of cost constraints is in the area of technology development. How are we going to continue to pay for the best medical technology within the healthcare system in the U.S.?
Medicare is the largest payer into the system. You have probably heard about the debates regarding fixing Medicare vs. fixing Social Security. A lot of people believe that fixing Medicare is a much more serious socioeconomic problem. I think a lot of the ethical questions reside in cost constraints and their ultimate impact on the distribution of healthcare in this country.
[Former teacher and Professional Learning Coordinator and Science Consultant for Heart of Georgia RESA] Ron Bryant compliments you as both an athlete and artist.
I played basketball and softball in high school. My dad was a football coach, so I grew up around a lot of athletic activity. These days I mostly cycle, and I still jog a bit. As far as art--I can't believe he remembers that! I did a lot of art in high school. I did a lot of stuff for the local library, hospital, etc.
What advice would you give to students out there reading this?
I think that the thing that I really want to stress, especially to students who might not be thinking of a college education as top priority, is that higher education really is the key to your future. I can look back upon my undergraduate years at Georgia Tech, my successes in graduate school, and my successes in business--there is unquestionably a one to one correlation to it all being built on a solid foundation of education.
Georgia Performance Standards (-- Show --)
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