Dear Colleagues:
After an extensive national search, I am pleased to announce that Dr. James de Lemos has been appointed as Chief of the Division of Cardiology, effective March 1, 2023. He will be the fourth individual to lead this historic division since 1977, which has included prior division chiefs James Willerson, M.D., Sanders Williams, M.D., and Joseph Hill, M.D., Ph.D..
Dr. de Lemos received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed internal medicine residency training at UT Southwestern, where he served as Chief Resident. He then obtained advanced training in cardiovascular medicine and served on the faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before returning to join the UT Southwestern faculty in 2000.
Dr. de Lemos is a leading clinical investigator who focuses on early detection, risk assessment, and management of cardiovascular disease, with a particular interest in the role of cardiovascular biomarkers. He currently serves as Principal Investigator for the Dallas Heart Study, a multiethnic population-based study of more than 6,000 adults and has played a major leadership role in this study for more than 20 years. He has mentored more than 30 postdoctoral research trainees and has authored or co-authored more than 400 original research articles. He was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in 2014 and the Association of American Physicians (AAP) in 2017.
Dr. de Lemos has also served our profession beyond UT Southwestern, holding positions on multiple committees of the AHA and ACC, including the STEMI Guideline Committee, and as Chair of the Research and Publications Committee for the NCDR ACTION-GWTG registry. Most recently, he served as PI for the AHA’s COVID 19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry. He has been a standing member of the FDA’s Cardiorenal Advisory Panel and is currently serving on the FDA’s Endocrine and Metabolic Panel. Additionally, he is the Executive Editor for Circulation, and he has previously served on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the American Journal of Cardiology, and the American Heart Journal.
On behalf of the department, I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to Dr. Joseph Hill for his outstanding service as Chief of Cardiology since 2001. During his tenure, he helped steward the growth of the division in every dimension, advancing its renowned clinical, training, and research programs. Dr. Hill will continue in his role as Director of the Harry S. Moss Heart Center.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. de Lemos on his new appointment.
Best,
Thomas J. Wang, M.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Internal Medicine
Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine
UT Southwestern Medical Center
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