Daniel P. Kelly, M.D., director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research and co-director of the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named the Alumni Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases. Kelly also is a professor of medicine, of molecular biology and pharmacology and of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and a cardiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Alumni professorships combine unrestricted gifts from medical alumni and former house staff with gifts from friends of the School of Medicine.
“The medical school is extremely grateful for the generosity of its alumni and friends in helping us attract and retain renowned physician-scientists like Dan Kelly,” says Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “Dr. Kelly’s distinguished research accomplishments and his superb efforts to foster collaborations within the medical school and with the Hilltop Campus have helped establish our institution’s respected reputation in cardiology.”
Kelly is internationally known for his research on the molecular basis of the heart’s metabolism, or how the heart obtains energy to function. As director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research, he has helped establish an interdisciplinary effort in which University researchers from a wide range of disciplines combine their expertise to investigate the biologic processes underlying heart disease.
Most recently, he launched an initiative to plan a center for researching the cardiovascular effects of metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Roadmap for Medical Research, the project brings together 13 departments at the university as well as experts from elsewhere in Missouri. It reflects the School of Medicine’s strategic initiative called BioMed 21, which is dedicated to rapidly bringing advances in basic science to the patient’s bedside.
“Dr. Kelly is an extraordinary physician-scientist who is nationally and internationally recognized as a genuine authority in the field of molecular genetics of cardiac metabolism and who epitomizes the power of bench-to-bedside research,” says Michael E. Cain, M.D., the Tobias and Hortense Lewin Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases and director of the Cardiovascular Division. “He has exhibited outstanding leadership, recruited talented faculty and created a unique multidisciplinary research environment that integrates faculty from diverse divisions and departments.”
Kelly joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1989, having completed his postgraduate research and clinical training at the University and Barnes Hospital. His numerous awards and honors include the Midwest American Federation of Medical Research Outstanding Investigator Award and the American Heart Association’s Established Investigator Award. He also has been elected into several prestigious organizations, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the Association of University Cardiologists.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.