# Vallerie V. McLaughlin
**Vallerie Victoria McLaughlin** is an American cardiologist who specializes in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a form of high blood pressure in the lung arteries. Her research spans the modern history of PAH drug therapy, from the long-term intravenous prostacyclin studies of the late 1990s to the 2015 selexipag trial and the 2025 sotatercept trial in newly diagnosed patients.[3](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199801293380501) • [4](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1503184) • [5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2508170)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Cardiology; pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension[6](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/1205912268/vallerie-victoria-mclaughlin) |
| Position | Kim A. Eagle Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine (since 2014); Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Program (since 2003); Associate Chief Clinical Officer for Cardiovascular Services, University of Michigan Medical Group[7](https://people.equilar.com/bio/person/vallerie-mclaughlin-clene-inc/40141334) • [2](https://corvista.com/team/vallerie-v-mclaughlin-m-d/) |
| Training | Northwestern University Medical School (MD, 1989); internal medicine residency, University of Michigan (1992); cardiology fellowship, Northwestern Memorial Hospital McGaw Medical Center (1995)[6](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/1205912268/vallerie-victoria-mclaughlin) |
| Signature work | Lead investigator of the 2025 HYPERION sotatercept trial; senior author of the 2015 NEJM selexipag trial[5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2508170) • [8](https://www.newswise.com/articles/study-positive-results-for-new-oral-drug-for-pulmonary-hypertension) |
| Guidelines | First author of the ACCF/AHA 2009 Expert Consensus Document on Pulmonary Hypertension[9](https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.124.070104) |
## Education and early career
McLaughlin graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in 1989, completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Michigan Health System in 1992, and finished a cardiology fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital McGaw Medical Center in 1995.[6](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/1205912268/vallerie-victoria-mclaughlin) According to a January 2000 letter in *Annals of Internal Medicine*, she was at the Rush Heart Institute in Chicago, where her early pulmonary hypertension publications appeared in the late 1990s.[10](https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-132-2-200001180-00020)
## Career at the University of Michigan
She was appointed Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at the University of Michigan in 2003 and to the [Kim A. Eagle](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-a-eagle), M.D. Endowed Professorship of Cardiovascular Medicine in 2014.[7](https://people.equilar.com/bio/person/vallerie-mclaughlin-clene-inc/40141334) She practices at the Frankel Cardiovascular Center in Ann Arbor and also serves as Associate Chief Clinical Officer for Cardiovascular Services of the University of Michigan Medical Group.[6](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/1205912268/vallerie-victoria-mclaughlin) • [2](https://corvista.com/team/vallerie-v-mclaughlin-m-d/) She has been principal investigator of several major clinical trials of drug therapies for PAH and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the [American Heart Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-heart-association).[1](https://primeinc.org/faculty-biography/vallerie-v-mclaughlin-md-1259)
## Representative work
Her 1998 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated long-term intravenous epoprostenol in 27 patients with primary pulmonary hypertension over a mean follow-up of more than a year. More than 25 of the 27 patients improved in symptoms and hemodynamic measures, and pulmonary vascular resistance fell by about 40 percent to below 8 resistance units (P<0.001), a reduction beyond the short-term response to intravenous adenosine.[3](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199801293380501) Epoprostenol was the first therapy approved for PAH and the first pharmacological therapy shown to reduce mortality in these patients.[11](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9489058/)
In 2015 she was senior author of the phase 3 selexipag trial, which randomized more than 900 PAH patients to placebo or individualized-dose selexipag, an oral selective prostacyclin IP receptor agonist.[4](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1503184) • [12](https://doi.org/10.1080/14656566.2025.2480764) A primary end-point event (death or a PAH complication) occurred in 41.6 percent of placebo patients versus 27.0 percent of selexipag patients (hazard ratio 0.60; 99% CI 0.46 to 0.78; P<0.001).[4](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1503184) She noted that patients had delayed prostacyclin-pathway therapy because infusions and injections were cumbersome, which an oral option addressed; according to a review in Expert Opinion on [Pharmacotherapy](https://www.edgepedia.org/pharmacotherapy), the FDA approved selexipag in December 2015.[8](https://www.newswise.com/articles/study-positive-results-for-new-oral-drug-for-pulmonary-hypertension) • [12](https://doi.org/10.1080/14656566.2025.2480764)
In 2025 she was first author and lead investigator of HYPERION, a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial of sotatercept in newly diagnosed PAH. It enrolled about 260 adults diagnosed less than a year earlier (about 60 percent female; median age 60; about 50 percent with idiopathic PAH), randomized equally to subcutaneous sotatercept or placebo added to background therapy, with median follow-up of about 11 months. Clinical worsening occurred in 10.6 percent of sotatercept patients versus 36.9 percent of placebo patients (hazard ratio 0.24; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.41; P<0.001).[5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2508170) • [13](https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.congress-2025.rct5340) The most common adverse events with sotatercept were epistaxis (31.9 percent) and telangiectasia (26.2 percent).[5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2508170)
Her reviews include [Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension](https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.104.503540) (Circulation, 2006) and [Risk stratification and medical therapy of pulmonary arterial hypertension](https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01889-2018) (European Respiratory Journal, 2018).
## Professional leadership and guidelines
McLaughlin was first author of the ACCF/AHA 2009 Expert Consensus Document on Pulmonary Hypertension, published in Circulation.[9](https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.124.070104) She has been involved with the World Symposium since the 1998 edition in Evian, later serving as a task force chairman and steering committee member, and is a founding member of the World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension Association.[14](https://www.wsphassociation.org/2019/07/05/an-interview-with-professor-vallerie-mclaughlin/) She is a member of the adult sotatercept (Winrevair) steering committee and an investigator in the ZENITH and HYPERION trials.[15](https://pulmonaryhypertensionnews.com/news/winrevair-cuts-pah-worsening-newly-diagnosed-patients-data/)
## The sotatercept era
Fourteen PAH therapies approved in the United States from the mid-1990s onward targeted vascular tone through three pathways: prostacyclin, endothelin, and nitric oxide. Despite this, five-year mortality for newly diagnosed patients remained approximately 40 percent.[16](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2024.09.021) [Sotatercept](https://www.edgepedia.org/sotatercept) acts differently, on bone morphogenetic protein/activin signaling, making it the first PAH treatment on a completely novel pathway in nearly two decades; maximal medical therapy is now four-drug therapy, with most patients candidates for combination treatment from diagnosis.[17](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11525349/) In the earlier STELLAR trial, sotatercept produced a placebo-corrected 6-minute walk distance improvement of about 30 m at 24 weeks and roughly a 70 percent lower hazard of clinical worsening.[17](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11525349/) In ZENITH, a trial of 172 patients with PAH at high risk for death stopped early at a prespecified interim analysis, a primary end-point event occurred in 17.4 percent of sotatercept patients versus 54.7 percent of placebo patients (hazard ratio 0.24; P<0.001).[18](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2415160) Sotatercept was approved to treat PAH in multiple countries in 2024.[16](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2024.09.021)
The NEJM paper and the University of Michigan release describe HYPERION's early stoppage as loss of clinical equipoise (genuine uncertainty whether a treatment is better) after positive results from previous sotatercept trials;[5](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2508170) • [19](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1100144) Pulmonary Hypertension News reports that Merck ended the trial early to allow participants to join the open-label SOTERIA extension study.[15](https://pulmonaryhypertensionnews.com/news/winrevair-cuts-pah-worsening-newly-diagnosed-patients-data/)
## References
1. [PRIME Faculty Biography, Vallerie V McLaughlin, MD](https://primeinc.org/faculty-biography/vallerie-v-mclaughlin-md-1259)
2. [Vallerie V. McLaughlin, M.D., CorVista team page](https://corvista.com/team/vallerie-v-mclaughlin-m-d/)
3. [Reduction in Pulmonary Vascular Resistance with Long-Term Epoprostenol (Prostacyclin) Therapy in Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, NEJM 1998](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199801293380501)
4. [Selexipag for the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, NEJM 2015](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1503184)
5. [Sotatercept for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension within the First Year after Diagnosis (HYPERION), NEJM 2025](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2508170)
6. [Vallerie Victoria McLaughlin, MD, Michigan Medicine profile](https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/1205912268/vallerie-victoria-mclaughlin)
7. [Vallerie V. McLaughlin MD, Equilar ExecAtlas executive bio](https://people.equilar.com/bio/person/vallerie-mclaughlin-clene-inc/40141334)
8. [Study: Positive Results for New Oral Drug for Pulmonary Hypertension (Michigan Medicine)](https://www.newswise.com/articles/study-positive-results-for-new-oral-drug-for-pulmonary-hypertension)
9. [Pulmonary Hypertension: From Therapeutic Nihilism to Multiple Therapeutic Interventions, Circulation 2024](https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.124.070104)
10. [Prostacyclin for Secondary Pulmonary Hypertension (letter), Annals of Internal Medicine 2000](https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-132-2-200001180-00020)
11. [Epoprostenol and pulmonary arterial hypertension: 20 years of clinical experience (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9489058/)
12. [Historical milestones and future horizons: diagnosis and treatment evolution of PAH in adults, Expert Opin Pharmacother 2025](https://doi.org/10.1080/14656566.2025.2480764)
13. [Phase 3 HYPERION study results (ERS Congress 2025 abstract)](https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.congress-2025.rct5340)
14. [WSPHA founders portraits: An interview with Professor Vallerie McLaughlin](https://www.wsphassociation.org/2019/07/05/an-interview-with-professor-vallerie-mclaughlin/)
15. [Winrevair reduces clinical worsening events in PAH: Trial data, Pulmonary Hypertension News](https://pulmonaryhypertensionnews.com/news/winrevair-cuts-pah-worsening-newly-diagnosed-patients-data/)
16. [A new day has come: Sotatercept for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, J Heart Lung Transplant 2024](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2024.09.021)
17. [Treatment algorithm for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11525349/)
18. [Sotatercept in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension at High Risk for Death (ZENITH), NEJM](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2415160)
19. [Biologic drug reduces symptoms, hospitalization for severe pulmonary hypertension after diagnosis (University of Michigan release)](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1100144)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine research › Hypertension research*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license