Clinical Investigators
Gary J. Balady, M.D.
A professor of medicine, he is the Director of Preventive Cardiology and Co-Director of the Non Invasive Cardiac Laboratories. Dr. Balady is a fellow of the American Heart Association , the American College of Cardiology, and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Dr.Balady serves the American Heart Association both nationally and locally by leading and/or participating on several key committees involved with exercise, physical activity and preventive cardiology. He is currently the Chairman of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, the largest scientific council of the AHA. He has been a member of several writing groups of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, which generate guidelines regarding exercise testing and training. Dr. Balady’s research interests focus on exercise testing and training of cardiac patients, with a particular emphasis on the physiologic changes that occur in the cardiovascular system with regular exercise. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, and serves on the Editorial board of the American Journal of Cardiology and the Journal of Noninvasive Cardiology.
Ravin Davidoff, M.B., BCh
An associate professor of medicine, he is Director of Clinical Cardiology, Director of Echocardiography and Co-Director of Non-Invasive Cardiology. Dr. Davidoff has received numerous teaching awards including the Stanley L. Robbins in 1994 from Boston University School of Medicine, and has twice received the “Excellence in Teaching Award” from the Department of Medicine. His research interests relate to the interaction between LV geometry and function, and he has utilized echocardiography to explore these features in multicenter studies of myocarditis and cardiogenic shock. He is presently using echocardiographic techniques to evaluate diastolic function in patients with cardiac amyloidosis as well as in patients after cardiac surgery. He is Chair of the Education Steering Committee of the American Society of Echocardiography.
Robert T. Eberhardt, M.D.
An assistant professor of medicine, is the Co-Director of the Non-invasive Vascular Laboratory at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Eberhardt is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology. His research interests include the evaluation of vascular function and vasomotor regulation in health and disease. He has authored scientific publications and book chapters, as well as co-edited a book, Peripheral Arterial Disease: Its Diagnosis, Manifestations and Treatment.
Noyan Gokce, M.D.
An assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, is a current recipient of a NIH Research Career Development Award that examines the link between vascular endothelial dysfunction and clinical cardiovascular events. Dr. Gokce is a past recipient of a NIH Individual National Service Award and an AHA New England Affiliate Award examining mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction. Dr. Gokce is a member of the AHA Young Clinician –Investigator Committee, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography. Current research interests include investigating mechanisms of vascular dysfunction in patients with atherosclerosis and obesity.
Alice K. Jacobs, M.D.
A professor of medicine and the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Interventional Cardiology at Boston Medical Center, has been very involved in the American Heart Association. On a national level at the AHA, she is currently President –Elect, chair of the Professional Education Committee, a member of the Science Advisory Coordinating Committee and chair of the Council on Clinical Cardiology Program Committee. She is also involved in local AHA activities and currently serves as President of the Northeast Affiliate. In addition, Dr. Jacobs plays an active role in the American College of Cardiology. She has been a member of several ACC writing groups establishing training criteria in interventional cardiology, assessing and maintaining competence in interventional cardiology and updating guidelines for the performance of percutaneous coronary intervention. In addition, she is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine Interventional Cardiology Test Committee and the ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Dr. Jacobs’ major research activities are in the area of invasive cardiology and revascularization strategies. Currently she is the site principal investigator of several multi-center trials including the NHLBI funded BARI 2-D, SHOCK, and OAT trials and the NHLBI Dynamic Registry. She is also active in the area of heart disease in women and has evaluated the acute and long-term outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in women in comparison to men.
Michael D. Klein, M.D.
A clinical professor of medicine, is Medical Director of the Heart Station at Boston Medical Center. He is a fellow of the AHA’s Council of Clinical Cardiology, American College of Cardiology, and American College of Physicians. His research interests include new drug algorithims for treatment of acute coronary syndromes, congestive heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. Current research projects include the expanded use of antithrombotics in acute MI patients transitioning to the catheter laboratory for coronary stents; novel anti-oxidant treatment for advanced congestive heart failure; and an NIH study seeking the link between coronary and periodontal disease.
Harold L. Lazar, M.D.
A professor of cardiothoracic surgery and Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgical Laboratories at the Boston University School of Medicine, he is the author of over 130 peer review articles and has edited a book on Current Therapy for Acute Coronary Ischemia. He has served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Consortium for Lung Transplantation, Secretary of the Section on Cardiac Surgery for The American College of Chest Physicians, and the Merit Review Committee for Surgery in the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He is currently a member of the National Peer Review Committee for Surgery for The American Heart Association and serves on The Editorial Boards of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Journal of Cardiac Surgery, and Cardiology Review. His research interests include myocardial protection during cardiac surgery, reversal of reperfusion injury during acute coronary revascularization, and mechanisms to alter inflammatory injury during cardiac surgery. He is the recipient of a grant from The American Diabetic Association to study the effects of Glucose-insulin-potassium solutions during CABG surgery in diabetic patients.
Paul A. LeLorier, M.D.
An assistant professor of medicine, is the Director of the Cardiac Device Clinic. His research interests include developing novel diagnostic strategies for neurocardiogenic syncope, developing pacemaker algorithms for the recognition and treatment of neurocardiogenic syncope, and outcomes research.
Thomas J. Ryan, M.D.
A professor of medicine and former chief of the Section of Cardiology (1971-1994), has long served the cardiology community nationally and regionally. Dr. Ryan is past president of the American Heart Association (1984-86), past president of the InterAmerican Society of Cardiology (1993-96), served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology and the Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is an elected member of the Association of University Cardiologists and the American Clinical and Climatological Society. An early contributor to the development of coronary arteriography, Dr. Ryan is an internationally recognized authority on ischemic heart disease. He has been a leader in the development and conduct of numerous NHLBI sponsored clinical trials addressing the role of bypass surgery, thrombolytic therapy and angioplasty in patients with coronary artery disease. He has long been involved in the development of practice guidelines serving as Chairman of the ACC/AHA Subcommittee that generated the original Guidelines for PTCA in 1988 and their revision in 1993. Most recently, he chaired the ACC/AHA Subcommittee that has revised the Guidelines for the Management of Acute Myocardial Infarction. He has been a member of the Cardiology Advisory Committee of NHLBI and has served on the Editorial boards of the New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy. In 1991, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and served as a Fogarty Senior International Fellow at Oxford University. Dr. Ryan is a recipient of the AHA’s Gold Heart Award (1991) and was the 1996 recipient of the James B. Herrick award of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the AHA. In 1997 he received the Distinguished Fellowship Award of the American College of Cardiology and was elevated to Master status in the American College of Physicians/American Society of Internal Medicine in 2001. This same year an Endowed Chair was named in his honor at Boston University Medical School. He received the Chairman’s Award of the American Heart Association in 2001 and has been made a Master of the American College of Cardiology in 2003.
Flora Sam, M.D.
An associate professor of medicine. She is a current recipient of a NIH R01 to study the role of aldosterone in cardiac remodeling. She is also a past recipient of a Clinical Investigator Development Award from the NIH to study the role of oxidative stress in human heart failure. She also received a Beginning Grant-in-Aid from the American Heart Association. Her basic research interests focuses on mechanisms of ventricular remodeling in the failing heart, especially pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic mechanisms that mediate cardiac remodeling in heart failure and hypertension.
Joseph A. Vita, M.D.
A Professor of Medicine, is a senior staff cardiologist in the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine/Department of Medicine at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Vita is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of University Cardiologists. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and of the American Heart Association’s Councils on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, and Clinical Cardiology. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and a member of the Society for Free Radical Research and Medicine and the Cardiovascular Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Vita serves as the Deputy Editor of Circulation. He has served as the research advisor for more than 30 fellows and junior faculty members, and the Department of Medicine recently awarded him the Robert Dawson Evans Research Mentoring Award. Dr. Vita is the principal investigator of a Specialized Center of Clinical Research (SCCOR) grant from the NIH entitled “Vascular Consequences of Insulin Resistance and Obesity” and three other RO1 level grants. His research focuses on mechanisms and clinical consequences of endothelial dysfunction in atherogenesis and vascular disease.
