Smidt Heart Institute Welcomes New Director of Preventive Cardiology

September 27, 2022 —  Martha Gulati, MD, an expert in preventive cardiology and women’s heart disease, has joined the Smidt Heart Institute as director of Preventive Cardiology, associate director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center and associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Department of Cardiology. 

Gulati is well known for her leading-edge research and was recently named president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, a national organization focused on warding off heart disease, currently the No. 1 killer worldwide and in the U.S.     

"Martha is an innovative researcher, passionate provider and a change-maker in the field of women’s heart disease and preventive cardiology," said Christine Albert, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai and the Lee and Harold Kapelovitz Distinguished Chair in Cardiology. "In addition to her impact locally at Cedars-Sinai, Martha and her team will serve as a role model for a future focused on cardiovascular disease prevention at the earliest intervention." 

Gulati is the principal investigator of the St. James Women Take Heart Project, a study that examines cardiac risk factors in women and sets standards for women’s fitness levels and heart health. Gulati also is a co-investigator on the Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation, led by Noel Bairey Merz, MD, a pioneer in the field and director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Smidt Heart Institute.   

"Martha’s critical work in women’s heart disease dovetails with the longstanding commitment of our team to address disparities and gaps in cardiovascular care," said Bairey Merz, also a professor of Cardiology and the Women's Guild Chair in Women's Health. "We are eager to amplify her strong efforts both through leading-edge research and patient care." 

Gulati has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed publications, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Among Gulati’s many awards: the American College of Cardiology’s Bernadine Healy Award, named for the first woman director of the National Institutes of Health, and the Smidt Heart Institute’s Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Leadership Award. 

"I am honored to now work alongside many of the internationally renowned leaders in every subspeciality of cardiology, especially Dr. Bairey Merz, who has been a colleague and mentor to me for almost 20 years," said Gulati. "I am also eager to build programs to provide optimal primary and secondary cardiovascular disease prevention, helping patients reduce their risk for heart disease and reduce recurrent cardiac events." 

Gulati earned her medical degree at the University of Toronto, Canada, and completed her internship, residency and cardiology fellowship at the University of Chicago. She later received a master’s in science of health studies for clinical professionals from the University of Chicago. 

Prior to coming to Cedars-Sinai, Gulati was a professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. 

For more information: https://www.cedars-sinai.org/