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Catherine M. Otto, M.D.
J. Ward Kennedy-Hamilton Endowed Chair in Cardiology
Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology
Biography
Dr. Otto received her M.D. from UW Medicine. She trained in internal medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center and in cardiology at UW Medicine. She is expert in valvular heart disease (especially calcific aortic valve disease) and echocardiography.
Her research has transformed our understanding of the process of calcific aortic valve disease, showing that it is an active disease process that may be amenable to medical therapy, rather than being an inevitable consequence of aging. Her research on the aortic valve includes validation of non-invasive measures of disease severity, the first prospective study of disease progression, immunohistologic studies establishing the cellular and molecular mechanisms of valve disease, epidemiologic studies defining the clinical risk factors associated with calcific valve disease and a landmark study demonstrating that even mild valve thickening, called aortic sclerosis, is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. She received the 2011 American College of Cardiology Distinguished Scientist Award (Clinical Domain) in recognition of this research.
In addition, Dr. Otto is the author or editor of several cardiology textbooks, including The Textbook of Clinical Echocardiography (4th edition), The Practice of Clinical Echocardiography (4th edition), Valvular Heart Disease (3rd edition, co-edited by Robert O. Bonow, M.D.), the Echocardiography Review Guide (with Rosario Freeman and Becky Schwaegler) and a new, four-book companion series on advanced echocardiographic approaches.
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If you’re interested in this field, please consider making a gift to this fund through the UW Foundation.