Biography

C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, holds the Women's Guild Endowed Chair in Women's Health, and is Director of the Women's Heart Center and the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute where she is a Professor of Medicine. Dr. Bairey Merz's research interests include women and heart disease, mental stress and heart disease, the role of exercise and stress management in reversing disease, and the role of nutrition in heart disease. Currently, she is chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored WISE (Women's Ischemic Syndrome Evaluation) initiative. Dr. Bairey Merz has received investigational grants from the NIH-National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), NIH-National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine (NCCAM), the Pfeiffer Foundation, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, The Barbra Streisand Foundation, and the Women's Guild. A prolific lecturer, Dr. Bairey Merz, is a member of many professional organizations and served on the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), as well as the American Heart Association where she is past Chair of the Women in Cardiology Committee. Other professional associations include membership in the Association of University Cardiologists (AUC), the American Association of Physicians (AAP), the National Space Biomedical Research Institute Board of Scientific Counselors,and the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel IV.She serves on the advisory boards of lay organizations, including WomenHeart and Sister-to-Sister. Bairey Merz has an extensive scientific publication record consisting of over 500 scientific publications. Her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and the Journal of Women's Health. Dr. Bairey Merz has received numerous awards and honors, including the 2012 American College of Cardiology Distinguished Scientist Award, the 2009 American Heart Association Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award, the 2008 McCue Female Cardiologist of the Year Award, the 2005 Red Dress Award for Leadership in Cardiovascular Research in Women, the 2005 Women of the 21st Century award from the Women's Guild of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and the 2006 Alvin P. Shapiro Award by Psychosomatic Society for excellence in clinical research. Dr. Bairey Merz has appeared frequently in the media, recognized as an authority on the subject of heart disease and stress. Her television appearances have included Good Morning America, NBC Dateline and 20/20. She has also been interviewed for articles published in The New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, US News & World Report and Working Woman Magazine, to name a few. Dr. Bairey Merz received her bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and her medical degree from Harvard University. She completed her residency at the University of California, San Francisco, where she served as Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Bairey Merz also completed fellowships in clinical cardiology and nuclear cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

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