Barry L. Zaret, MD: Pioneer in nuclear cardiology

Chief of cardiology at Yale for nearly 3 decades, Zaret reflects on his career.

Barry L. Zaret, MD, has played an important role in the development of nuclear cardiology. His professional medical history covers research, teaching, patient care and administration, for which he has received numerous awards.

Zaret graduated summa cum laude from Queens College, New York, in 1962. It was there during registration for freshman chemistry that he met his future wife, Myrna. After graduation, he attended New York University School of Medicine, followed by an internship and residency at Bellevue Hospital, New York, and cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. After 2 years of service at Travis Air Force Base in California, Zaret joined Yale University School of Medicine in 1973, where he has remained ever since. He was chief of cardiology from 1978 to 2004 and currently is the Robert W. Berliner Professor Emeritus of Medicine and professor of diagnostic radiology.

Barry L. Zaret, MD Chief of cardiology from 1978 to 2004 at the Yale University School of Medicine. Robert W. Berliner Professor Emeritus of Medicine and professor of diagnostic radiology. Member, Imaging section of Cardiology Today’s Editorial Board.

To date, Zaret has written six books, 300 scientific papers and is a member of several honorific organizations, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation and American Academy of Pediatrics. A pioneer in cardiology, his passion goes beyond medicine.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not practicing medicine?

I enjoy writing poetry. My first volume of poetry will be published this summer. Several of my poems have appeared in different publications over the years, such as Pharos, the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society publication. I also am a landscape oil painter and have had a number of exhibitions over the years. I have three children and six grandchildren who keep me rather busy.

If you hadn’t gone into cardiology or medicine, what would you have done?

I probably would have been a professor of English or comparative literature and written poems. There was a long hiatus before I got into poetry seriously, but I looked back at my high school yearbook and saw that I had several poems in there and a few were illustrated with pen and ink drawings. With the demands of my professional and personal life, I have to make time for it, which is not always easy.

What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?

The first was having a major role in developing nuclear cardiology as a field and being involved at the beginning with some of the papers that helped get the field going. Second, I was founding editor and chief of the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. I did that for a little more than a decade, and that was very important for the field and for me. My third success is my career at Yale because I had the chance to really build the [cardiology] program there. When I stepped down, my successor, Mike Simmons, also a former student, took over with great vision and has done an incredible job.

What is the last book you read/art collection you saw/music you purchased? Why, and what did you think of it?

The last book I read was Nemesis by Philip Roth. Nemesis is set during the polio epidemic in the ’50s in Newark, N.J., but has a lot more meaning than simply dealing with the disease. I love Philip Roth as an author and have read at least 15 of his novels.

A few months ago, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in addition to seeing my old friends in the impressionist collection, it had a beautiful exhibit of Paul Cézanne, who is one of my favorites.

I like to listen to jazz, folk and classical music. The last music I purchased was a five CD set of all of Simon and Garfunkel’s music. My actual favorite music to listen to is Leonard Cohen. My favorite jazz musician is Thelonious Monk, the pianist.

Whom do you most admire, and what would you ask that person if you had 5 minutes with him/her?

The person I admire most is Eugene Braunwald, MD. He visited Yale recently, and we had the chance to talk about the future and how one molds one’s life. What I admire the most is not just his amazing contributions, but that he is still so active. He also knows a lot about a lot of things, not just medicine.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I’ve ever received was from one of my mentors, Samuel O. Thier, MD, who was the chief of medicine when I became the chief of cardiology at Yale. He said: “Your word is as good as any written document.” I try to govern my administrative life by that.

Whom do you consider your mentor?

Sam Thier was my administration mentor/role model. My first real mentor was Saul J. Farber, MD, the chairman of medicine when I was a medical student and house officer at New York University. At Johns Hopkins, I had two mentors in cardiology:

Richard S. Ross, MD, the section chief when I was a fellow, and Bert Pitt, MD, who was a junior faculty member at the time. Pitt had a big influence on my development as a clinical scientist. He was both the first person I wrote my first New England Journal of Medicine paper with and worked for in the lab.

What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you have?

I’ve been a runner since 1978 and have run several marathons. I used to run 30 to 40 miles a week. Now I do more course training on the elliptical, treadmill, bike and weights about five times a week. My diet is very heart healthy: low in meat and high in fish, vegetables and fiber.

What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?

The biggest effect will be the revolution in basic science and its application to cardiology, particularly our understanding of genetics, which will result in the development of patterns of individualized medicines. There are early hints of this taking form, but will likely take the next 10 years to begin to get there. It is the next frontier because there are many issues to address, and the genetics of understanding is going to be so multigenic. It’s not going to be simple issues.

What is your favorite travel destination?

I like both Israel and Italy because they are very strong parts of my life. I’ve been to Israel about 15 times and Italy about 10 times. Israel is a second home spiritually and ethnically, and I have many friends and family there. I also have friends in Italy and have traveled there for a number of meetings. I love being in Italy because of the culture, food and environment. Both are also wonderful sources of material for painting.

What is your favorite restaurant?

My favorite is the Old Inn on the Green in New Marlborough, Mass. The Old Inn dates back to the mail and coach route and has been maintained in a beautiful way. It has great food and atmosphere. In the main dining room there are no electric lights, only candles, and in the winter, they have fireplaces going. It’s very charming. – by Brian Ellis and Casey Murphy