Joseph A. Hill, MD, PhD
Dr. Hill holds the James T. Willerson, MD, Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Diseases, and the Frank M. Ryburn Jr. Chair in Heart Research. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of structural, functional, metabolic, and electrophysiological remodeling in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, with direct relevance to developing novel therapies for inflammatory and fibrotic heart disease.
After graduating from Duke University with MD and PhD degrees in 1987, Dr. Hill completed a five-year postdoctoral fellowship in molecular neurobiology at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, studying central and peripheral nicotinic receptors. Subsequently, he completed an internal medicine internship and residency, as well as a clinical cardiology fellowship, at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
After serving on the faculty at the University of Iowa for five years, Dr. Hill joined UT Southwestern in 2002 as Chief of Cardiology, where he has built a translational research program aimed at elucidating pathways that drive adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure progression. His work has helped identify molecular targets with potential to modulate inflammation, fibrosis, and cardiomyocyte survival, supporting the development of next-generation cardioprotective therapies.
In addition to publishing nearly 280 scholarly articles, Dr. Hill has co-edited a major textbook and has contributed chapters to 14 books. He has served on many NIH panels and committees and delivered numerous invited lectures worldwide. His contributions have been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2018 Research Achievement Award from the International Society for Heart Research, the 2019 Louis and Artur Lucian Award from McGill University, the 2023 Medal of Merit from the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences, the 2025 Gill Heart and Vascular Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cardiovascular Research, and the 2025 Bohuslav Ostadal Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Sciences from the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences.
Dr. Hill has served on the editorial boards and as a reviewer for leading journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Circulation, Circulation Research, American Journal of Cardiology, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. In addition, Dr. Hill served a 10-year tenure as the Editor-in-Chief of the esteemed American Heart Association journal Circulation.
