Bio
Dr. Lewis is a board-certified, fellowship-trained specialist in cardiovascular medicine. He is the chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and a professor of cardiovascular medicine.
Dr. Lewis is an esteemed clinician-scientist who specializes in the care of patients with advanced heart failure. He is an internationally recognized expert on heart failure, heart transplant, and quality of life for heart failure patients. He cares deeply about his patients as well as his colleagues, the hospital, and the School of Medicine. Dr. Lewis is committed to diversity and inclusion, as well as expanding Stanford clinical research initiatives.
A fundamental principle of Dr. Lewis’ practice is his belief that “there is more to life than death,” that cardiovascular care should go beyond helping patients survive to also helping them enjoy the best possible quality of life.
Dr. Lewis has deep expertise in conducting clinical trials examining diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to heart failure. He has done innovative work to create systems for incorporating quality of life measures for cardiovascular patients into electronic health records. This research has received support from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
Much of his quality of life research has focused on patient-reported outcomes. Dr. Lewis emphasizes the importance of looking at how a disease, whether chronic or acute, impacts people’s ability to function and perform their activities of daily living. Strategies to improve patients’ well-being focus not only on their physical symptoms but also on depression, anxiety, exercise capacity, and ability to function in daily living.
Dr. Lewis’ commitment to expanding clinical research initiatives will give patients more opportunities to participate in the clinical trials and access the latest care strategies that can translate into better outcomes. The goal is early access to the most advanced technology, pharmacology, and device therapy that can change outcomes for the better. He also envisions forming closer partnerships with community cardiologists and capitalizing further on Stanford’s proximity to and unique relationships with the digital technology leaders of Silicon Valley to enhance the use of digital technology for monitoring patients, optimizing treatment, and tracking outcomes.
He has authored nearly 200 articles published in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, JAMA Cardiology, JAMA Internal Medicine, and many more. He is also on multiple editorial boards for cardiovascular journals and was an associate editor for Circulation–Heart Failure. In addition, he is an author of professional society clinical practice guidelines and scientific statements from both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Lewis’ honors for clinical care, scholarship, and research include the Joel Gordon Miller Award for community service and leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He also was one of the first recipients of the Minority Faculty Development Award, which recognizes the research potential of young physicians. Dr. Lewis has received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the role of quality of life assessment in clinical decision making in patients with heart failure.
He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the National American Heart Association (AHA) Research Committee. In addition, Dr. Lewis was as a member of the AHA Founders Affiliate Board of Directors, chair of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, and research chair of the Association of Black Cardiologists. He also serves on scientific committees to review grants for the AHA and on the FDA Task Force for the Standardization of Definitions for Endpoint Events in Cardiovascular Trials.
