Healthcare Professionals Committed to the Mission

The Society's Board — made up of 27 highly recognized and well-known cardiovascular and emergency physicians — helps strategically address heart health process improvement issues from any viewpoint: science, best practices, hands-on consulting. It's more than just expertise, the world's smartest group of cardiologists committed to the mission.

Executive Board

Each year, a new President presides over the members, who are among the world's elite cardiologists and have built the Society and marked its leadership for 15 years.

L. Kristin Newby, MD, MHS, FACC (President) 
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Duke Clinic Research Institute

As part of the Duke University School of Medicine, the Duke Clinical Research Institute is known for conducting groundbreaking multinational clinical trials, managing major national patient registries, and performing landmark outcomes research.

DCRI research spans multiple disciplines, from pediatrics to geriatrics, primary care to subspecialty medicine, and genomics to proteomics. The DCRI also is home to the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Diseases, the largest and oldest institutional cardiovascular database in the world, which continues to inform clinical decision-making 40 years after its founding.

Richard V. Aghababian, MD, FACEP (Vice President)
Past Associate Dean
University of Massachusetts Medical Center

UMass Memorial Medical Center is the advanced tertiary care referral center for central New England. The Medical Center offers a full complement of sophisticated technology and support services necessary to provide the region with specialists renowned for their work in areas such as cardiology, cancer, diabetes and orthopedics. UMass Memorial Medical Center has been given the top rank in the Worcester region for the second year in a row according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2012-13 Best Hospitals rankings.

J. Douglas Kirk, MD, FACEP (Secretary/Treasurer)
Professor & Vice-Chair for Clinical Operations Dept. of Emergency Medicine
Medical Director, Chest Pain Evaluation Unit
University of California, Davis Medical Center

UC Davis Medical Center serves a 65,000-square-mile area that includes 33 counties and 6 million residents across northern and central California. The 619-bed acute-care teaching hospital maintains an annual budget of roughly $1 billion.

With more than 8,000 employees, UC Davis provides vital care to more than 200,000 patients every year, admitting 25,000 patients for extended care and handling more than 900,000 visits. The medical center’s emergency room sees an average of 150 patients every day.

W. Frank Peacock IV, MD, FACEP (Chief Medical Director & Immediate Past President) 
Vice Chief of Emergency Medicine
Baylor

Founded as a Christian ministry of healing, Baylor Health Care System exists to serve all people through exemplary health care, education, research and community service.

Raymond D. Bahr, MD, FACC (President Emeritus)
Immediate Past Medical Director, Coronary Care Unit
St. Agnes Healthcare

For more than 150 years, Saint Agnes Hospital has been dedicated to the art of healing by providing exceptional care to the greater Baltimore area. Built on a strong foundation of excellent medical care and compassion, Saint Agnes and the physicians who practice here are committed to providing the best care for their patients for many years to come

Board of Directors

For more than 15 years, the Society has attracted and retained the best minds in cardiology and the best people for the cause. It remains a breathtakingly talented, committed and unprecedented group that no other accreditation body can match. They are not simply teachers, or experts … they drive the Society’s vision and strategy.

L. Kristin Newby, MD, MHS, FACC (President)
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Duke Clinic Research Institute

 

Richard V. Aghababian, MD, FACEP (Vice President)
Past Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education
University of Massachusetts Medical Center

 

J. Douglas Kirk, MD, FACEP (Secretary/Treasurer)
Professor & Vice-Chair for Clinical Operations Dept. of Emergency Medicine
Medical Director, Chest Pain Evaluation Unit
University of California, Davis Medical Center

 

W. Frank Peacock IV, MD, FACEP (Immediate Past President and Chief Medical Director)
Vice Chief of Emergency Medicine Research
Baylor

 

Raymond D. Bahr, MD, FACC (President Emeritus)
Director, Coronary Care Unit
St. Agnes Healthcare

Alpesh Amin, MD, MBA, FACP, SFHM
Professor & Chair, Department of Medicine, Executive Director, Hospitalist Program
University of California

 

Ezra Amsterdam, MD, FACC
Professor of Medicine, Director, Coronary Care Unit
University of California, Davis Medical Center

 

Steven M. Berkowitz, MD
President
SMB Health Consulting

 

Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAl, FESC, FACP, FCCP
Chief of Cardiology
VA Boston Healthcare System

 

David R. Burt, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of Virginia Health System

 

Robert H. Christenson, PhD, DABCC, FACB
Professor of Pathology, Professor of Medical and Research Technology University of Maryland, School of Medicine

 

Jamie Beth Conti, MD
Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Florida

 

James DeLamos, MD, FACC
Professor of Medicine, Distinguished Chair in Cardiology
UT Southwestern Medical Center and Medical School

 

John Childs, Esq
Brennan, Manna and Diamond

Deborah B. Diercks, MD s
Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, Davis Medical Center

 

Steven B. Deitelzweig, MD, MMM, SFHM, FACP, RVT
Vice President of Medical Affairs
Ochsner Medical Center

 

Chris Ghaemmaghami, MD, FACEP
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine 
Director, Emergency Medicine Residency Program 
Dept. of Emergency Medicine
University of Virginia

 

Mary Hand
Public Health Advisor
Division for the Application of Research Discoveries
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Timothy Henry, MD, FACC
Interventional Cardiologist
Director of Research Minneapolis Heart Institute
University of Minneapolis School of Medicine

Michael C. Kontos, MD, FACC
Associate Director, Acute Cardiac Care; Assistant Professor, Dept(s) of Internal Medicine (Cardiology); Emergency Medicine and Radiology
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center

Phillip D. Levy, MD, MPH, FACEP
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Associate Director of Clinical Research
Dept. of Emergency Medicine
Wayne State University

Drexdal Pratt
Director of the Division of Health & Human Services 
State of North Carolina

Gary L. Schaer, MD, FACC
Professor of Medicine, Director, Cardiology Research and Strategic Development
Rush University

Shahriar Dadkhah, MD, MBA, FACP, FACC, FCCP (Ex-Officio)
Director of Cardiology Research
Saint Francis Hospital

J. Lee Garvey, MD (Ex-Offico)
Medical Director, Chest Pain Evaluation Center
Department of Emergency Medicine
Carolinas Medical Center

Louis G. Graff, MD, FACEP (Ex-Offico)
Medical Director, Chest Pain Unit
New Britain General Hospital

James McCord, MD (Ex-Offico)
Cardiology Director
Henry Ford Health System, Cardiac Observation Units

Michael A. Ross, MD, FACEP (Ex-Offico)
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Medical Director of Observation Medicine 
Emory University School of Medicine

Christopher P. Cannon, MD, FACC (Advisor)
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School

Robert L. Jesse, PhD, MD, FACC (Advisor)
Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Health

Founding Members

From the beginning, these physicians saw the need for early heart attack education and opportunity for bringing better processes, science and innovation to the hospital facilities we serve.

Richard Aghababian, MD Worcester, Massachusetts Ezra Amsterdam, MD Sacramento, California Robert Andelman, MD Dallas, Texas Thomas Aufderheide, MD Milwaukee, Wisconsin Raymond D. Bahr, MD Baltimore, Maryland Brian Browne, MD Baltimore, Maryland Robert H. Christenson, PhD Baltimore, Maryland C.M. “Sam” Copeland, RN Baltimore, Maryland Shahriar Dadkhah, MD Chicago, Illinois Jack Diamond Akron, Ohio Kim Eagle, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan James Espinosa, MD Voorhees, New Jersey James L. Field Washington, DC John Field, MD Hershey, Pennsylvania J. Lee Garvey, MD Charlotte, North Carolina W. Brian Gibler, MD Cincinnati, Ohio Louis Graff, MD New Britain, Connecticut Arthur Halle, MD St. Louis, Missouri Patrick Hayes, MD Dublin, Ohio James Hoekstra, MD Columbus, Ohio Robert Jesse, MD Richmond, Virginia Anthony Joseph, MD Columbus, Ohio Linda Kosnik, RN Summit, New Jersey Sharon Mace, MD Cleveland, Ohio

James McCord, MD Detroit, Michigan Michael McDermott, MD Chicago, Illinois Kraig Melville, MD Baltimore, Maryland Michael Mikhail, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan John C. Moorhead, MD Portland, Oregon L. Kristin Newby, MD Durham, North Carolina Thomas Noeller, MD Cleveland, Ohio Joseph P. Ornato, MD Richmond, Virginia Frank Peacock, MD Cleveland, Ohio Rebecca Roberts, MD Chicago, Illinois David Robinson, MD Baltimore, Maryland Michael Ross, MD Royal Oak, Michigan Harry Severance, MD Durham, North Carolina Kevin Scruggs, MD Baltimore, Maryland Joseph A. Shoaff Akron, Ohio Stephen Sigal, MD Tyler, Texas Ethan Spiegler, MD Baltimore, Maryland Helen Stemler, PhD Baltimore, Maryland Robert Stomel, MD Farmington Hills, Michigan Alan Storrow, MD Cincinnati, Ohio Stephen Stowers, MD Jacksonville, Florida Jane Strong, RN Baltimore, Maryland Brian Tiffany, MD Scottsdale, Arizona Robert Welch, MD Detroit, Michigan Robert Zalenski, MD Detroit, Michigan