Dr. Richard Browne, MD, a former clinical cardiologist with over 20 years of experience, has taken on a new role as a medical director at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicines. Dr. Browne’s primary focus is peripheral artery disease (PAD), a cardiovascular condition that affects millions of Americans, particularly Black Americans, through initiatives like Save Legs. Change Lives™.
Dr. Browne spoke to rolling out about his aims to raise awareness, provide education, and improve the health outcomes of individuals at risk of PAD and amputations.
How did you get into the medical industry?
I did my medical school training in Boston, my residency at Harvard Medical School, and our cardiology fellowship. Then, I moved to Charlotte, NC, where I practiced clinical cardiology for over 20 years. In June 2021, I left clinical practice to become a medical director at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicines. The main reason that I am connected to peripheral artery disease, or PAD for short, is because PAD affected my father-in-law in a devastating way. I hoped that by coming to a company like Johnson & Johnson, I would have the opportunity to positively affect the health of many patients.
In layman’s terms, what is PAD?
Well, it’s peripheral artery disease or PAD for short. It’s a serious and often underdiagnosed cardiovascular condition where there is a narrowing of the blood vessels to both the arms or legs, but mostly the legs. When that happens, it can cause an increased risk of someone having an amputation. We also know that having blockages in the blood vessels to your legs or PAD significantly increases your chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or dying because of a cardiovascular cause. PAD is estimated to affect up to 12 million Americans, yet Black Americans are more affected than any other race.
What do you do in your day-to-day position?
As a senior medical executive at Johnson & Johnson, my job involves several things. I’m involved in research projects that look at patients with cardiovascular disease and try to figure out innovative ways to improve their health. I spend a lot of my time interfacing with health systems. We know that a lot of the care in the United States that patients receive is administered by health systems. My team interfaces with leaders at health systems to work with them on improving what we call the quintuple aim.
What is the Save Legs, Change Lives initiative?
Save Legs, Change Lives is a multi-year initiative that was started at Johnson & Johnson. [It began in 2022 when] we attempted to create urgency and action to help address the hidden threat of PAD and PAD-related amputations, primarily among Black Americans. This initiative is focused on helping those at risk of PAD… One of those communities is in Atlanta. We come to those communities like we’ve done several times in 2023 to provide education.
