Martha Gulati, MD, Named Anita Dann Friedman Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research

January 20, 2023 — Martha Gulati, MD, director of Preventive Cardiology and associate director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, has been named the Anita Dann Friedman Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine and Research. 

Gulati, associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center in the Department of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai, is renowned for expert patient care and extensive research in women’s cardiac diseases. She is a widely published investigator and best-selling author who has received numerous awards and distinctions for her contributions in the field of preventive cardiac care for women. 

"Dr. Gulati is incredibly deserving of this notable endowed chair," said Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and director of the Linda Joy Pollin Women’s Heart Health Program at the Smidt Heart Institute, as well as the Irwin and Sheila Allen Chair in Women’s Heart Research. "She has devoted her career to furthering our knowledge of cardiovascular issues and how to prevent them, as well as to exploring the distinctive differences in genders as it relates to cardiovascular health."  

Gulati, professor of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai, earned a degree in medicine from the University of Toronto, Canada, and completed her internship, residency and cardiology fellowship at the University of Chicago. She also earned a master’s degree in science at the University of Chicago. Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai in 2022, Gulati was a professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.  

"I’m incredibly grateful for this extraordinary recognition and extend a special thank-you to Anita Dann Friedman for her visionary leadership and generous philanthropic support," said Gulati, who also is president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. "It will allow us to continue much-needed scientific exploration of women’s heart health and to further innovate in the areas of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation." 

In 2019, Gulati was chosen as the most influential woman in Arizona and received the 2019 American College of Cardiology’s Bernadine Healy Award for her leadership and accomplishment in the field of cardiovascular disease in women. 

Gulati’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed publications, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and Circulation. She most recently served as lead and corresponding author of a study published in the International Journal of Cardiology, which was the first of its kind to highlight the impact of ischemia with no obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) on quality of life. 

Gulati served as chair of the national chest pain guidelines, released in 2021. She is the principal investigator of the St. James Women Take Heart Project examining cardiac risk factors in women in order to set standards for women’s fitness levels and heart health. She also is a co-investigator on the Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) and served as a co-investigator on the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). 

Additionally, she serves as principal investigator on the WARRIOR randomized clinical trial at Cedars-Sinai. The trial, designed by Bairey Merz, is evaluating treatment options for women with INOCA symptoms. 

For more information: www.cedars-sinai.org