Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Massie investigated imaging modalities for the diagnosis and characterization of heart failure and myocardial ischemia, the role of arrhythmias and anticoagulation in heart failure, and novel pharmacologic approaches to the treatment of hypertension and heart failure. He performed one of the first studies examining the role of hydralazine and nitrates in refractory heart failure and another that demonstrated the benefits of an ACE-inhibitor (captopril) on cardiac ejection fraction and ventricular pressures. He also helped elucidate differences in the therapeutic response for heart failure with reduced vs. preserved ejection fraction – the latter entity was relatively unknown at the time.

In addition to his own research, Dr. Massie played a leadership role in many of the clinical trials that led to contemporary approaches to the treatment of heart failure. This included 5 NIH-sponsored trials and 6 VA cooperative studies, the results of which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Circulation, and Annals of Internal Medicine. He wrote over 300 scholarly articles and 50 book chapters and was an author on numerous guidelines.

Dr. Massie was a founding member and president of the Heart Failure Society of America, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiac Failure, and served on the editorial boards of many other cardiology journals. In 2013 he received the Veterans Administration’s Barnwell Award for lifetime achievement in clinical research. Throughout his career he mentored scores of cardiology fellows and faculty members, and served as consultant to the FDA.