UT Southwestern Preventive Cardiologist Amit Khera Receives Prestigious 2025 Chairman's Award

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 2025. This prestigious recognition acknowledges Dr. Khera's distinguished accomplishments and service to the American Heart Association, particularly his exceptional volunteer leadership that has strengthened the organization at both national and local levels. 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 significant contributions, noting his tireless efforts in reinforcing and strengthening the annual Scientific Sessions during his service as chair in 2023 and the Association's Centennial year 2024, and as vice chair in 2021 and 2022.

Dr. Khera's professional career has transformed the field of preventive cardiology through groundbreaking clinical studies and significant contributions to cardiovascular risk assessment. His work with the Dallas Heart Study has produced impactful observations on applications of coronary artery calcium scanning, advancing our understanding of cardiovascular risk evaluation. One of his notable achievements includes developing the Astro-CHARM calculator for NASA, which is currently used to screen astronauts for heart disease risks. This innovative approach to risk assessment demonstrates the practical applications of his research beyond traditional clinical settings. Dr. Khera's commitment to improving care for those with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is evident in his leadership of an innovative study evaluating the use of the blood donation system to screen blood donors for FH, potentially creating new pathways for early detection and intervention.

The cardiologist's clinical and research interests were shaped during his residency in Boston, where caring for a 45-year-old man hospitalized for his seventh heart procedure sparked his passion for coronary artery disease prevention. This experience drove his focus on risk assessment and risk factor modification in people with premature and family histories of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Khera has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and served on the writing committee for the influential "2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease," establishing him as a leading voice in cardiovascular prevention guidelines. His work extends beyond research into practical clinical implementation, as demonstrated by his founding of the UT Southwestern Preventive Cardiology program in 2004 and his 15-year leadership of the Cardiology Fellowship Program at UT Southwestern, for which he received numerous teaching awards.

Dr. Khera's involvement with the American Heart Association spans multiple leadership roles, including his service as past volunteer president of the Association's Dallas and Southwest Region Board of Directors, where he drove local engagement and strategic impact across the cardiovascular community. He has been an integral member of the Association's Cardiovascular Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Health Scientific Advisory Group since 2022, contributing to initiatives that harmonize gaps in clinical care and establish new roadmaps for patients with CKM syndrome through prevention and management of existing disease. As an associate editor for the Association's flagship, peer-reviewed scientific journal Circulation and as associate editor for the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, which he helped to found in 2020, Dr. Khera continues to shape the discourse in cardiovascular medicine. His recognition as a Master of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology in 2023 and his active membership in other professional organizations, including the Texas Medical Association and the American College of Cardiology, further demonstrate his broad impact on the field of cardiovascular health and prevention.