Dr. Amit Khera, director of preventive cardiology and clinical chief of cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, will receive the 2025 Chairman's Award at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in November. This recognition comes for his distinguished accomplishments and service to the organization, particularly his leadership in strengthening the annual Scientific Sessions during his tenure as chair in 2023 and the Association's Centennial year 2024.
Lee A. Shapiro, J.D., the 2025-2026 volunteer chairperson of the National Board of Directors for the American Heart Association, emphasized Dr. Khera's exceptional volunteer leadership and significant contributions to strengthening the Association at both national and local levels. As chair of the Scientific Sessions Program Committee, Dr. Khera facilitated greater collaboration among the Association's councils and committees to provide multidisciplinary educational content appealing to a broad range of healthcare professionals and scientists.
Dr. Khera's professional career has transformed the field of preventive cardiology through several groundbreaking clinical studies. His work in cardiovascular risk assessment includes impactful observations from the Dallas Heart Study on applications of coronary artery calcium scanning. Notably, he was funded by NASA to develop the Astro-CHARM calculator, currently used to screen astronauts for heart disease risks. This tool represents a significant advancement in preventive medicine with potential applications beyond space medicine.
His commitment to improving care for those with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) includes leading an innovative study evaluating the use of the blood donation system to screen blood donors for FH. This approach could revolutionize early detection of genetic heart conditions through existing healthcare infrastructure. Dr. Khera's clinical interests were sparked during his residency in Boston when caring for a 45-year-old man hospitalized for his seventh heart procedure, which inspired his focus on preventing coronary artery disease through risk assessment and modification.
As an author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and serving on the writing committee for the "2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease," Dr. Khera has helped shape modern cardiovascular prevention standards. His work extends to the Association's Cardiovascular Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Health Scientific Advisory Group, an initiative to harmonize gaps in clinical care and establish new roadmaps for patients with CKM syndrome through prevention and management of existing disease.
Dr. Khera founded the UT Southwestern Preventive Cardiology program in 2004 and led the Cardiology Fellowship Program at UT Southwestern for 15 years, winning numerous teaching awards. He was named a Master of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology in 2023 and is an NIH-funded investigator. He serves as associate editor for both Circulation and the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, which he helped found in 2020. Additional information about the American Heart Association can be found at https://www.heart.org.
