Robert J. Siegel, MD, the Director of the Heart Institute’s Cardiac Noninvasive Laboratory and the S. Rexford Kennamer, MD, Chair in Cardiac Ultrasound, will be awarded the 2015 Distinguished Teacher Award from the American College of Cardiology during the medical society’s 64th Annual Scientific Session & Expo.

Siegel is Professor of Medicine at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai and has previously served as Senior Staff Fellow in Cardiac Pathology at the Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

According to Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, “Dr. Siegel is internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in cardiac ultrasound. His dedication to teaching new physicians how to use leading-edge technology to diagnose and treat heart disease is unparalleled.”

Siegel specialises in the field of cardiovascular ultrasound including transthoracic transesophageal and intravascular methodologies. His research interests include valvular heart disease, therapeutic applications of ultrasound energy, 2D and 3D transesophageal echocardiography for the guidance and monitoring of percutaneous procedures such as mitral valve repair and aortic valve replacement, and intraoperative echocardiography.  

Siegel has collaborated with interventional cardiologists in the development of Cedars-Sinai’s percutaneous transcatheter program for the treatment of aortic and mitral valve disease. He is also involved with clinical research studies related to the diagnosis, assessment and management of patients with Marfan syndrome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and pericardial and valvular heart disease.

Siegel is on the editorial board of two cardiovascular journals, has edited three textbooks on ultrasound-related topics, and is a reviewer for more than a dozen cardiovascular journals. He has also published 355 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is a contributing author to more than 30 cardiovascular textbooks.

Siegel is a fellow in the American College of Cardiology, and has previously served as the president of the California Chapter. He is also a Co-chair of the American College of Cardiology 2014 annual meeting, Co-chair of the National Marfan Foundation 2013 annual meeting and a previous president of the Los Angeles Society of Echocardiography. Siegel is actively involved in several cardiovascular societies, including the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography.

Siegel received his bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. He completed his medical residency at Emory University in Atlanta and at the Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center and his cardiology fellowship at Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.

Siegel has established a cardiology program in rural Mexico and Spain and has recruited trainees and staff to work with him there. He is also involved in instructing trainees in all aspects of cardiology and is committed to stimulating their potential and productivity and promoting their spirit of volunteerism.



Latest Articles

Robert J. Siegel, MD, the Director of the Heart Institute’s Cardiac Noninvasive Laboratory and the S. Rexford Kennamer, MD, Chair in Cardiac Ultrasound,...