Hesham Sadek, MD, PhD

Dr. Hesham A. Sadek is a physician-scientist and a Professor of Cardiology, Molecular Biology and Biophysics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he holds the J. Fred Schoellkopf, Chair in Cardiology. Dr. Sadek recently accepted the position of Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Sarver Heart Center at University of Arizona starting May 2024. Dr. Sadek’s research focuses on heart regeneration, and his lab was the first to discover the endogenous regenerative capacity of the mammalian heart, and to identify regulators of heart regeneration in both animal models and humans. Specifically, the Sadek lab identified the role of postnatal increase in oxygenation and mechanical load in loss of the endogenous regenerative capacity of the mammalian heart. On the therapeutic front, the Sadek lab recently identified two repurposed FDA approved drugs that induce adult cardiomyocyte proliferation and heart regeneration in small and large mammals, which is currently being prepared for the first-in-man clinical trial of a pro-regenerative drug for treatment of heart failure.

Dr. Sadek is the recipient of numerous awards including the Gilead Sciences Research Scholar in Cardiovascular Disease, the Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Scientist Award, the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, the National Institute of Health Outstanding Investigator Award, and he was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Sadek is also the Associate Editor of Circulation, the world’s leading cardiovascular disease journal. The Sadek Lab is funded by awards from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Leducq Transatlantic Network of Excellence among others.