Mark E. Anderson, MD, PhD, has been named head of the Department of Internal Medicine at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics.

Anderson joined the UI faculty in October 2005 as professor of internal medicine, director of the UI Division of Cardiology and a cardiologist with the UI Heart and Vascular Center. He also holds the Potter-Lambert Chair in Cardiology and has a secondary appointment in molecular physiology and biophysics.

Anderson replaces F. Jeffrey Field, MD, who has served as interim head of internal medicine since June 2008. Field will return to his faculty position in gastroenterology.

"We are delighted that Dr. Anderson has accepted the appointment to head the Department of Internal Medicine. He has proven to be a superb leader within the Carver College of Medicine, and we look forward to his bringing the department to new levels in research, patient care, and education," said Paul Rothman, MD, dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine. "I also thank Dr. Field for his excellent leadership this past year."

"I am extremely pleased that Dr. Anderson has accepted this important position," Kenneth Kates, CEO of UI Hospitals and Clinics, said. “He is a highly skilled clinician who helps move leading edge treatments from the research lab to the patient's bedside. Our patients in the UI Heart and Vascular Center continue to benefit every day from the innovative advances that take place there on an almost continual basis."

Anderson is an expert on cardiac arrhythmias or abnormal heart rhythms. His clinical interests include devices and techniques such as pacemakers, defibrillators and catheter ablation that improve and rescue ailing hearts. His research interests include understanding the biology behind cardiac arrhythmias and using that knowledge to develop new therapies for this major cause of death in the United States. In particular, his research focuses on a signaling protein called calmodulin kinase II and the role it plays in heart rhythm abnormalities and heart muscle enlargement.

Anderson's research has earned him many honors, including an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Anderson earned a medical degree and a doctoral degree in physiology from the University of Minnesota. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine, as well as fellowships in a cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology, at Stanford University. He was a faculty member at Vanderbilt University from 1996 to 2005.

Mark E. Anderson, MD, PhD

For more information:

UI Heart and Vascular Center

UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine