RALPH LAZZARA, M.D. OU Regents Professor of Medicine George Lynn Cross Professor of Research Natalie O. Warren Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Heart Rhythm Institute University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Lazzara served as the chief of the cardiology section at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for 20 years before becoming the medical director of HRI. Before moving to Oklahoma, he directed the Cardiovascular Research Laboratories at Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, and he worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Miami as director of coronary care. The general themes of his research are the clarification of mechanisms of various kinds of cardiac arrhythmias and the development of new therapeutic modalities, primarily in the field of pharmacotherapy and radiofrequency catheter ablation for cardiac arrhythmias.

In recent years, collaborative studies with several colleague investigators have focused on the ionic mechanisms of after-depolarizations that generate arrhythmias in the acquired and congenital long QT syndromes; the arrhythmogenic mechanisms induced by adrenergic stimulation; the electrophysiology of the AV node and its atrial input; clinical investigations related to radiofrequency catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias in man; development of catheter ablation methods for atrial fibrillation in experimental animal models; and development of new pharmacologic antiarrhythmic agents for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

Education:

• Medical degree earned at Tulane University in New Orleans
• Internship fulfilled at Ochsner Clinic and the Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans
• Residency in internal medicine completed at Tulane University
• Fellowship completed at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City

Research interests:

• Mechanisms of arrhythmias
• Anti-arrhythmic medications
• Autonomic nervous system's role in arrhythmias
• Medication therapy for heart disease
• Cardiac ablation

Board Certifications:

• American Board of Internal Medicine
• American Board of Internal Medicine (Cardiovascular Diseases)