About Me

I am the inaugural Fred M. Parrish Professor of Cardiology and Molecular Medicine at Wake Forest University where I am faculty in the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine. After completing a cardiology fellowship, I spent two additional years in a clinical and research fellowship focused on advanced cardiovascular imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.  After training, I was on the faculty in the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. There, I was able to combine my interests in atherosclerosis imaging and prevention of cardiovascular disease. I was Director of Atherosclerosis imaging and Associate Director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology. My clinical interests focus on genetic and acquired disorders of cholesterol and triglycerides, atherosclerosis Imaging, genetic predisposition to early heart attacks, and cardiovascular risk assessment in apparently healthy individuals. I am now Director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health.
                 
My work has been published extensively in the areas of atherosclerosis imaging, lipid disorders, and preventive cardiology. My current investigative research focuses on PCSK9 physiology and its impact on lipoprotein metabolism. Additionally, I am engaged in clinical trials testing novel lipid modulating therapeutics.