Congratulations to Dr. Patrick T. O'Gara

Dr. O’Gara is recognized worldwide as a master clinician, academic leader, and educator whose breadth of expertise and command of clinical data have redefined patient care. A cardiologist whose practice centers on patients with valvular, structural, and aortic disease, he has been instrumental in charting the course of structural heart care. Beyond his clinical and research achievements, Dr. O’Gara is a trusted advisor and extraordinary mentor, whose career reflects a lasting legacy of advancing patient care, nurturing the next generation, and translating evidence into practice.

The Career Achievement Award is reserved for true giants — those whose leadership and vision have shaped cardiovascular medicine into what it is today — and Dr. O’Gara is a natural fit for this honor. 

Among his current leadership roles, he is the Watkins Family Endowed Chair in Cardiology, Senior Physician in the Cardiovascular Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

At the Brigham, he was formerly Clinical Director and interim Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine. Prior to that, he was on the cardiology faculty of Massachusetts General Hospital as a member of the catheterization laboratory faculty and Coronary Care Unit Director. Early in his career, he was a guest researcher in the Cardiology Branch of the National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute.

His influence and thought-leadership are extended via his leadership roles in multiple professional societies. He served as President of the American College of Cardiology, 2014–2015, Chair of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines, 2019–2021, and Chair of the AHA Council on Clinical Cardiology, 2003–2005.

Dr. O’Gara is Co-Chair of the 2026 ACC/AHA Valvular Heart Disease Guideline Peer Review Committee and recently served as Deputy Editor for JAMA Cardiology and as a member of the Editorial Board of Circulation. He is Editor-in-Chief of the ACC Self-Assessment Programs and Collaborative Maintenance Program for Recertification, as well as past Director of the ACC Board Review Course. He’s been a writing committee chair or member for several practice guidelines, expert consensus documents, and policy statements.

In the research arena, Dr. O’Gara is senior investigator and Chair of the Publications Committee for the NHLBI Cardiothoracic Surgery Trial Network, national co-PI of the PRIMARY Trial for degenerative mitral regurgitation, and a member of the Heart Valve Collaboratory Executive Committee. He has lectured widely and authored or co-authored over 450 original manuscripts, chapters, critical reviews, statements, and editorials.

His numerous accolades reflect his substantial contributions and widespread respect from peers. From the AHA, he has received the James B. Herrick Award, the Laennec Clinician Educator Award, the Laennec Master Clinician Award, and the Council’s Distinguished Achievement Award. ACC recognized him with its Distinguished Teacher Award and its Distinguished Fellowship Award.

Dr. O’Gara completed a cardiovascular medicine research fellowship at the NHLBI following a cardiology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he also completed his internal medicine residency, including a year as chief resident. He earned his medical degree at Northwestern University and undergraduate degree at Yale University, where he also captained the baseball team.