Cardiology at UT Southwestern: A Year of Achievement

By Joseph A. Hill, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Biology
Chief of Cardiology
Editor-in-Chief, Circulation

This has been a momentous year for Cardiology at UT Southwestern, a year marked by many proud achievements! Our clinical programs are ranked #1 in Texas and #11 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. We are pleased that our efforts to conquer cardiovascular disease extend very far beyond our walls.

Our faculty continue to assume important leadership roles around the nation. Just this year, Dr. Mark Drazner, Clinical Chief of the Division, assumed the role of President of the Heart Failure Society of America, and Dr. Amit Khera assumed the role of Co-Chair of AHA Scientific Sessions 2021. Our faculty continue to receive awards nationally and internationally, as well as teaching awards and clinical recognitions on campus.

This year, we launched our second five-year term leading Circulation, the premier cardiovascular journal in the world. From the start, we pledged never to cater to impact factor but rather to solicit and publish the very best science. With this strategy of integrity and rigor, the impact factor of Circulation has skyrocketed to 30.

Drs. James de Lemos and Sandeep Das conceived and launched the AHA COVID-19 CVD Registry, pivoting rapidly in the course of the pandemic to leverage existing infrastructure within the AHA to derive insights during a time of anxiety and uncertainty and receiving AHA's prestigious Award of Meritorious Achievement as a result.

Our clinical, educational, and investigative programs continue to grow robustly. This year, we recruited 15 new faculty members and have more on the way.

Our Division is diverse, arguably with more women faculty than any Division of Cardiology in the country. In the U.S., 15% of cardiologists are women; at UT Southwestern, that percentage is 30%. Here, women are role models at all ranks, from fellows to faculty, and across all facets of our myriad activities: leaders, investigators, care providers, and educators.

In the UT Southwestern Cardiology Division, we abide by our longstanding mission statement: We are a community of cardiologists, cardiovascular scientists, and allied professionals dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in cardiovascular biology, the provision of state-of-the-art clinical care, and the training of the next generations of like-minded professionals. This year, marked by great success, has been no exception!

Email: joseph.hill@utsouthwestern.edu

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