03/10/2026
Susan Cheng, MD, MMSc, MPH, a clinician-scientist who has made seminal contributions to cardiovascular research and clinical care, has been appointed chair of the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai.
Throughout her career, Cheng has maintained National Institutes of Health funding for research aimed at uncovering the drivers of cardiovascular aging. She has authored more than 450 scientific studies, many appearing in high-impact journals, including JAMA, Circulation and The New England Journal of Medicine.
Cheng identified differences in how males and females develop elevated blood pressure and demonstrated how people vary in their responses to COVID-19 vaccines over time. Her research has garnered multiple awards and contributed to Cedars-Sinai’s reputation as an international leader in biomedical sciences.
“Dr. Cheng is the perfect leader to build and enrich our already flourishing Department of Cardiology,” said Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, dean of the Medical Faculty and executive vice president of Medicine and Health Sciences. “We welcome her to this academic leadership role and look forward to the contributions she will make in strengthening the Smidt Heart Institute.”
Cheng, who succeeds Christine M. Albert, MD, MPH, has served on the editorial boards of major professional journals and on leadership committees for the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
She founded the largest COVID-19 clinical research program on the West Coast at the outset of the pandemic in 2020. More recently, she has led research to investigate the public health effects of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Cheng has mentored dozens of junior faculty members in cardiology, anesthesiology, neurology, obstetrics and oncology, taking special pride in advising early-career investigators as well as high school and......
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