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Douglas Named New Cardiology Chief At Duke University Medical Center

Douglas Named New Cardiology Chief At Duke University Medical Center
Douglas Named New Cardiology Chief At Duke University Medical Center

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DURHAM, N.C. -- Pamela S. Douglas, M.D., head of the section of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Wisconsin, has been named the new chief of the division of cardiology at Duke University Medical Center.

Douglas, 49, who specializes in non-invasive cardiovascular imaging with special interests in heart disease in athletes and women, officially begins her duties at Duke Aug. 16. Her appointment was announced by Pascal Goldschmidt, M.D., chairman of the department of medicine, after a national search that began last year.

She will also serve as the Ursula Geller Professor for Research in Cardiovascular Diseases, as well as director of cardiovascular research strategies at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

At Duke, Douglas will oversee the clinical enterprises and direct the research activities of one of the largest and most active cardiology divisions in the country. Douglas replaces Goldschmidt, who was promoted to his current position in March 2003. Thomas Ryan, M.D., director of The Heart Center at Duke, served as interim division chief.

"Pam is an outstanding leader with tremendous vision, easily bridging the basic and clinical sciences and clinical practice," Goldschmidt said. "She has demonstrated success in building innovative research programs and an efficient clinical enterprise. We had the choice of some of the best possible cardiologists in the world to be the new chief at Duke -- we are very fortunate to have recruited Dr. Douglas. She was our top choice."

Douglas has conducted pioneering research using echocardiography to better understand the function and dysfunction of the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart. She serves as the president of the American Society of Echocardiography and will serve as the president of the American College of Cardiology in 2005-06. She also is active on the national health-care scene advocating for more research into heart disease and women.

"Cardiology at Duke has had such a history of excellence," Douglas said. "Very few programs can match Duke's strengths in patient care, education and research. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, and I am looking forward to working with my new Duke colleagues to better understand heart disease so we can be more successful in preventing and treating it."

Douglas received her undergraduate education at Princeton University and completed medical school at the Medical College of Virginia. She then completed a three-year residency in internal medicine and a three-year cardiology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

From 1984 to 1990 Douglas served as assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, then spent the next 10 years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. She started her current position as cardiology head and Dr. Herman & Ailene Tuchman Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Wisconsin in 2000.

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