Awards

Titled Professor - 2014

Q.E. and Sally Russell Professor of Cardiology

About Richard J. Kovacs

Dr. Kovacs received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1976 and his M.D. from the University of Cincinnati in 1980. He trained in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1980 until he joined the faculty in 1985. He served as Chief Medical Resident and Chief Cardiology Fellow. He served on the Indiana School of Medicine faculty from 1985-1990, and then again, 2003- to the present time. In the interim he served as a clinical research physician at the Lilly Research Laboratories of Eli Lilly Company.

Dr. Kovacs has a research focus on Cardiovascular Safety. He is an expert in the evaluation of elite athletes for cardiovascular risk; serves as a consultant for the NFL Scouting Combine, and supervises the cardiovascular screening of candidates for the NFL Scouting Combine. His other area of research interest is in the risk of cardiovascular toxicity for non-cardiovascular drugs. He is particularly interested in the rare but extremely dangerous arrhythmia known as Torsade de Pointes. Dr. Kovacs is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a fellow of the American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology. He chairs the American College of Cardiology's Clinical Quality Committee and serves on its Task Force on Practice Guidelines. He is an advisor to pharmaceutical companies, as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and international regulatory agencies on issues of drug safety.

Dr. Kovacs was elected to the Board of Governors of American College of Cardiology and subsequently elected as chair of the Board of Governors. He currently serves on the American College of Cardiology Board of Trustees.