Michael H. Davidson, MD: Preventive cardiologist with a focus on lipids

Admiration for his uncle’s work as a physician led to a career in cardiology.

Issue: May 2012

An active researcher, Michael H. Davidson, MD, has extensively studied statins, novel lipid-lowering drugs and nonpharmacologic risk reduction, all of which has helped to establish him as a key opinion leader in the field of preventive cardiology.

Davidson earned his medical degree from the Ohio State University College of Medicine before completing his residency and fellowship in cardiology at Rush University Medicine Center in Chicago. Today, he is a clinical professor and director of preventive cardiology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, as well as chief medical officer for Omthera Pharmaceuticals.

To date, he has coordinated more than 1,000 clinical trials in areas of preventive cardiology, published more than 250 articles for leading medical journals, wrote three books on lipidology, and lectured on lipid disorders, nutrition and atherosclerosis, among other achievements.

Davidson_Michael

Michael H. Davidson, MD

Clinical Professor and Director of Preventive Cardiology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Chief medical officer for Omthera Pharmaceuticals.

Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Chest Physicians.

Past President (2010-2011) of the National Lipid Association.

Named in The Best Doctors in America for the past 10 years.

Named Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association.

Member, CHD and Prevention section of Cardiology Today’s Editorial Board.

In addition, Davidson is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Chest Physicians, and is past president (2010-2011) of the National Lipid Association. He was named in The Best Doctors in America for the past 10 years. Family plays a big role in Davidson’s life, and his professional and personal paths crossed in 2010 when he was named Father of the Year by the American Diabetes Association.

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

My main activity is my family. I have four kids and three grandchildren, with one more on the way. I also read a lot of nonfiction history. I love history and am constantly reading books on different issues, such as the Civil War and ancient history.

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

I would have been a history professor — my favorite topic aside from medicine. Up until age 12, I wanted to be a chemist like my father. I got sick one day and went to see my uncle, who was a family doctor, and became intrigued by the whole practice of medicine, how much people admired him and how much he interacted with people in general. That moment snapped the idea of being a doctor instead of a chemist into my head. When I was 16, my father died of a MI. That’s when I decided I wanted to go into the field of cardiology.

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

I have had a special focus on lipidology. I started off as a cardiology fellow working with omega-3 fatty acids. I was the first person to demonstrate that taking capsules of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids was effective in lowering triglycerides in a double blind, placebo trial. Ever since, I have been interested and involved in clinical trials of omega-3 fatty acids.

What I’ve been most involved with for the past 25 years is the development of clinical evidence behind statins for lowering cholesterol and reducing CV events, as well as other novel therapies to treat dyslipidemia.

What is the last book you read? Why, and what did you think of it?

I’m currently reading In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. It’s about the American ambassador to Germany during World War II and his transformation from an isolationist to someone who believed the United States needed to get involved in stopping Nazism. It is a very interesting story about how a person’s point of view can be transformed by what they are living through.

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

My hero is Abraham Lincoln because he had such a difficult life but always stayed optimistic. He worked well with others and was able to get people to relate to him in an effective way. My question for him would be: What was it about your personality that enabled you to deal with all the adversity, able to stay optimistic and lead the country at such a difficult period in time?

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I received was from Roger Bone, MD, the department of medicine chairman at Rush University Medical Center in the 1980s when I was a fellow. He said, “Just do what you think is right, and don’t worry too much about what people say about you.”

Whom do you consider your mentor?

Dr. Bone was an entrepreneurial academic, and that has been my philosophy since I started medicine. I always think about the patient and also try to build an organization or company that can provide lasting benefits, which has been his influence on my career. Another mentor is my uncle, who was a warm and personable family doctor. He loved taking care of patients and loved the profession of medicine, which helped jump-start my career in medicine.

The Davidson family in September 2011 at the wedding of Jeffrey and Joanna Davidson in Napa, Calif.

Photo courtesy of: Michael H. Davidson, MD

What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you have?

I do a lot of walking and biking with my wife. Unfortunately, in Chicago, we can’t bike as much as we would like, but we do it as much as possible in warmer weather. I eat almost everything, but in moderation. I try to avoid high-caloric foods. I eat what I like, just not excessively.

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

We are going to be able to apply what we would learn from genomic research to individualized therapy and will also be able to better predict who will benefit or have complications from a therapy. That is going to make a significant difference in how we manage patients. I also believe it will lead to some novel therapies. For example, PCSK9 is a gene that leads to low cholesterol levels when it is deficient or absent. In a very short period of time, it led to a novel approach to use monoclonal antibodies to inhibit PCSK9 to lower LDL. I believe genomic research is going to be both a tool to better manage patients’ risk factors and therapy approaches, but will also provide a goldmine for potential therapies that can eventually lead to the elimination of CVD.

What is your favorite travel destination?

Italy or Israel. I have been to each of those countries several times. Italy is a beautiful country; the people are friendly and the food is fantastic. Israel has history, and there are so many things to see. Every time I go, there’s always something new and interesting that I’ve never seen before. It gets back to my love of history and being able to travel to a place that has had so many things happen of significant importance to Western civilization.

What is your favorite restaurant?

Joe’s Seafood, which is actually right around the corner from me in Chicago. The restaurant has great seafood and steaks. It’s not easy to say as a preventive cardiologist, but those are my two favorite foods. – Compiled by Casey Murphy