- Fellowship - UT Southwestern Medical Center (1994-1998), Cardiology
- Residency - Parkland Health & Hospital System (1992-1994), Medicine
- Internship - Parkland Health & Hospital System (1991-1992), Medicine
- Medical School - Chulalongkorn Hospital (1984-1990)

Wanpen Vongpatanasin, M.D.
Program Director, Hypertension Fellowship Program
- Norman and Audrey Kaplan Chair in Hypertension
- Fredric L. Coe Professorship in Nephrolithiasis Research in Mineral Metabolism
- Internal Medicine - Hypertension
- High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
New Patient Appointment Accepting Virtual Visits or 214-645-8300
Biography
Wanpen Vongpatanasin, M.D., is a Professor in the UT Southwestern Department of Internal Medicine. She directs UTSW’s Hypertension Section and its Hypertension Fellowship Program and serves as an attending physician in internal medicine and cardiology at Parkland Hospital and Zale Lipshy University Hospital.
She earned her medical degree with first-class honors at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Vongpatanasin then completed her internship and residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology, all at UT Southwestern.
Among the recognition and awards Dr. Vongpatanasin has received for her work are the William F. Keating Career Development Award for Hypertension and Peripheral Vascular Disease and the International Award of Excellence in Published Clinical Research from the Endocrine Society. In 2010 she was named the Norman and Audrey Kaplan Chair in Hypertension Research at UT Southwestern Medical School.
Dr. Vongpatanasin serves as Associate Editor of the medical journal Circulation and has published numerous original research articles and scholarly reviews in professional publications including Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, Hypertension, Circulation Research, and American Journal of Medicine. She has authored textbook chapters on the diagnosis and management of hypertension, and has presented on hypertension and related topics at annual conferences and meetings of organizations including the American Society of Hypertension and the American College of Cardiology.
Meet Dr. Vongpatanasin
Hypertension Specialist in Dallas
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to high blood pressure: Controlling it can help prevent debilitating, sometimes deadly events such as heart attack and stroke.
Wanpen Vongpatanasin, M.D, the Norman and Audrey Kaplan Chair in Hypertension at UT Southwestern Medical Center, specializes in caring for people with persistent high blood pressure, also known as resistant hypertension.
Persistent high blood pressure is often closely associated with other medical conditions such as sleep apnea, high salt intake, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes. Some patients with Parkinson’s disease and autonomic system disorders not only have high blood pressure, but also have spells of low blood pressure when standing up, known as orthostatic hypotension, that can be quite difficult to treat. High blood pressure also may be the result of an adrenal condition known as Conn’s syndrome, which is more common than previously thought but somewhat challenging to diagnose.
Diagnosing Hypertension
To pinpoint the precise reason for a patient’s difficulties in controlling high blood pressure, Dr. Vongpatanasin and her colleagues collaborate closely with the patient’s primary care provider and her UT Southwestern colleagues.
Sometimes what appears to be resistant hypertension turns out to be caused by a patient’s difficulty in keeping up with his or her prescribed medications.
“We often see people who have been told to take six or seven pills four times a day,” Dr. Vongpatanasin says. “That’s a very hard regimen to follow. Or a patient may not be taking the pills because of unpleasant side effects and has been reluctant to tell the physician.
“So we need to have an open conversation and find out what is really going on, and then we can address it,” Dr. Vongpatanasin continues. “It may be a matter of getting family members to help the patient remember to take the pills, or of adjusting the medication to minimize the side effects.”
Taking steps to simplify prescriptions whenever possible is another key tactic.
“We often can help people manage their blood pressure more effectively with perhaps just two or three pills twice a day,” Dr. Vongpatanasin says. “That’s a big improvement.”
Improving Quality of Life
Helping her patients gain better control of their blood pressure greatly improves their quality of life as well as their long-term health outlook.
“They can enjoy daily life, as well as special activities such as exercise competitions and travel, without worrying about their blood pressure all the time,” Dr. Vongpatanasin says.
Some of her patients even report that their personality has changed for the better under her care.
“They tell me that they are much more relaxed because they don’t have to worry about their blood pressure as much,” she says. “That is very rewarding.”
Education & Training
Professional Associations & Affiliations
- American Society of Hypertension
- American Physiological Society
- American Heart Association
- American College of Physician
- American College of Cardiology
Honors & Awards
- American College of Cardiology/ William F. Keating award 2000, Career Development Award for Hypertension and Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Fellow of the American Heart Association, Clinical Cardiology Council 2001
- Fellow of the American Heart Association, High Blood pressure Council 2002
- Norman & Audrey Kaplan Chair in Hypertension Research 2010
- The Endocrine Society’s International Award of Excellence in Published Clinical Research 2011
- Fredric L. Coe Professorship in Nephrolithiasis and Mineral Metabolism Research 2016, UT Southwestern Medical Center
- Best Doctor in Hypertension 2016, D Magazine
Books & Publications
-
Publications
-
Central sympatholysis as a novel countermeasure for cocaine-induced sympathetic activation and vasoconstriction in humans.
Menon DV, Wang Z, Fadel PJ, Arbique D, Leonard D, Li JL, Victor RG, Vongpatanasin W Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2007 Aug 50 7 626-33 -
Dexmedetomidine as a Novel Countermeasure for Cocaine-Induced Central Sympathoexcitation in Cocaine-Addicted Humans.
Kontak AC, Victor RG, Vongpatanasin W Hypertension 2013 Jan -
Resistant hypertension: a review of diagnosis and management.
Vongpatanasin W JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association 2014 Jun 311 21 2216-24 -
Cocaine stimulates the human cardiovascular system via a central mechanism of action.
Vongpatanasin W, Mansour Y, Chavoshan B, Arbique D, Victor RG Circulation 1999 Aug 100 5 497-502 -
Spironolactone Prevents Chlorthalidone-Induced Sympathetic Activation and Insulin Resistance in Hypertensive Patients.
Raheja P, Price A, Wang Z, Arbique D, Adams-Huet B, Auchus RJ, Vongpatanasin W Hypertension 2012 Jun -
Differential Effects of Nebivolol Versus Metoprolol on Functional Sympatholysis in Hypertensive Humans.
Price A, Raheja P, Wang Z, Arbique D, Adams-Huet B, Mitchell JH, Victor RG, Thomas GD, Vongpatanasin W Hypertension 2013 Apr -
Aldosterone and Salt Loading Independently Exacerbate the Exercise Pressor Reflex in Rats.
Mizuno M, Downey RM, Mitchell JH, Auchus RJ, Smith SA, Vongpatanasin W Hypertension 2015 Jul -
Prosthetic heart valves.
Vongpatanasin W, Hillis LD, Lange RA The New England journal of medicine 1996 Aug 335 6 407-16 -
C-reactive protein causes downregulation of vascular angiotensin subtype 2 receptors and systolic hypertension in mice.
Vongpatanasin W, Thomas GD, Schwartz R, Cassis LA, Osborne-Lawrence S, Hahner L, Gibson LL, Black S, Samols D, Shaul PW Circulation 2007 Feb 115 8 1020-8 -
Therapeutic drug monitoring facilitates blood pressure control in resistant hypertension.
Brinker S, Pandey A, Ayers C, Price A, Raheja P, Arbique D, Das SR, Halm EA, Kaplan NM, Vongpatanasin W Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2014 Mar 63 8 834-5 -
Prognostic Value of Masked Uncontrolled Hypertension.
Pierdomenico SD, Pierdomenico AM, Coccina F, Clement DL, De Buyzere ML, De Bacquer DA, Ben-Dov IZ, Vongpatanasin W, Banegas JR, Ruilope LM, Thijs L, Staessen JA Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) 2018 Oct 72 4 862-869 -
High Dietary Phosphate Intake Induces Hypertension and Augments Exercise Pressor Reflex Function in Rats.
Mizuno M, Mitchell JH, Crawford S, Huang CL, Maalouf NM, Hu MC, Moe OW, Smith SA, Vongpatanasin W American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology 2016 May ajpregu.00124.2016 -
Diagnostic Thresholds for Blood Pressure Measured at Home in the Context of the 2017 Hypertension Guideline.
Vongpatanasin W, Ayers C, Lodhi H, Das SR, Berry JD, Khera A, Victor RG, Lin FC, Viera AJ, Yano Y, de Lemos JA Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) 2018 Dec 72 6 1312-1319 -
Hemodynamic and Mechanical Properties of the Proximal Aorta in Young and Middle-Aged Adults With Isolated Systolic Hypertension: The Dallas Heart Study.
Yano Y, Neeland IJ, Ayers C, Peshock R, Berry JD, Lloyd-Jones DM, Greenland P, Mitchell GF, Vongpatanasin W Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) 2017 May -
High-Phosphate Diet Induces Exercise Intolerance and Impairs Fatty Acid Metabolism in Mice.
Peri-Okonny PA, Baskin KK, Iwamoto G, Mitchell JH, Smith SA, Kim HK, Szweda LI, Bassel-Duby R, Fujikawa T, Castorena CM, Richardson J, Shelton JM, Ayers C, Berry JD, Malladi VS, Hu MC, Moe OW, Scherer PE, Vongpatanasin W Circulation 2019 Jan
-
Central sympatholysis as a novel countermeasure for cocaine-induced sympathetic activation and vasoconstriction in humans.
Clinical Focus
- High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
Q&A by Dr. Vongpatanasin
Showing 1 locations
Clinical Heart and Vascular Center
at West Campus Building 3 2001 Inwood Road, 5th FloorDallas, Texas 75390 214-645-8000 Directions Parking Info
New Patient Appointment Accepting Virtual Visits or 214-645-8300 or 817-882-2700