2023 Distinguished Scientist Lecturer - Elizabeth M. McNally, MD, PhD, FAHA

Elizabeth Ward Professor and Director
Center for Genetic Medicine
Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, IL

Abstract: “Cardiovascular genetics from diagnosis to therapy"

Elizabeth McNally directs the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and is the Elizabeth J. Ward Professor of Genetic Medicine. She is a practicing cardiologist with expertise in cardiovascular genetics. As a clinician, she developed one of the first cardiovascular genetics clinics in the nation, integrating genetic information into cardiovascular care. She has a special interest in neuromuscular diseases like muscular dystrophy and their accompanying cardiovascular complications.

Her research team has defined primary genetic causes of cardiac disorders and investigated mechanisms of how these genetic variants act, and her group has pioneered methods for defining genetic modifiers of primary genetic mutations. Several of these genetic signals are now being used to drive the development of new treatments. Dr. McNally’s translational accomplishments have been recognized by the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. She is a former Established Investigator of the AHA and is past Chair of the AHA’s Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She is a past president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. In 2021, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. She is the first woman to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.