Cooper University Hospital will take part in a clinical trial of the first medical device designed to specifically treat aortic dissections, an often-fatal condition that affects tens of thousands in the U.S. and claimed the life of actor John Ritter. Recognized as a preferred treatment center for the minimally invasive treatment of aortic diseases, Cooper was approved by the hospital’s institutional review board (IRB) for its involvement in the study. This approval follows the recent appointment of the trial’s global principal investigator, Joseph V. Lombardi, M.D., FACS, as chief of vascular and endovascular surgery at Cooper and associate professor of surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.