Robert A. Kloner, MD, PhD - Cardiology

Dr. Robert A. Kloner reviews medical content for Healthwise, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. Dr. Kloner is a Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, Keck School of Medicine, at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is also Director of Research at the Heart Institute of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles and attending cardiologist at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center.

Dr. Kloner received his MD in the Honors Program in Medical Education and PhD degrees from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He completed internship and residency in internal medicine at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Additional training included clinical and research fellowships in medicine and cardiology at Harvard medical School and Brigham and women's Hospital. He served as Assistant and then Associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and as an attending cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. There he received an Established Investigator Award of the American Heart Association. Dr. Kloner is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, an Inaugural Fellow of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences of the AHA, and was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation.

Among Dr. Kloner's major research interests are cardiac cell transplantation, protection of ischemic myocardium, development of therapies for limiting myocardial infarct size, cardiac function following coronary artery occlusion, the effect of toxins on the heart, including the effect of air pollution on the heart, preventative cardiology, hypertension and PDE5 inhibition. He has participated in studies funded by the national Institutes of Health on cardiac cell transplantation, doxorubicin cardiomyopathy, functional analysis of cardiac grafts and stem cells. He has served on the NIH Cardiovascular Study Section A and has participated in a number of NIH workshops.

A frequent contributor to the medical and scientific press, Dr. Kloner has contributed over than 570 original papers in peer-reviewed journals; over 211 chapters or monographs and over 449 abstracts. Dr. Kloner is the author and editor of 18 medical texts including: Cardiovascular Trials Reviews (10 editions), The Guide to Cardiology (3 editions), Stunned Myocardium, Ischemic Preconditioning, VIAGRA, and Heart Disease and Erectile Dysfunction. He is also the author of three novels: The Beta Virus, Mind Cure, and The Deity Genes.

Among his editorial responsibilities, Dr. Kloner served as associate editor of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics from 1996 to 2009 and in 2009 became the editor-in-chief. He is an associate editor of the International Journal of Impotence Research, and is Guest Editor of Circulation. He is on the editorial boards of American Journal of Cardiology, Heart, Basic Research in Cardiology, Regenerative Medicine and Congestive Heart Failure. Among his many career distinctions, Dr. Kloner has been listed in Who’s Who in America and The Best Doctors in America and in 2002 was identified by the Institute for Scientific Information as ISI Highly cited.com; one of the world’s most highly cited scientific authors. Dr. Kloner is a frequent lecturer at major scientific symposia including the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Meetings, and he has lectured at most major academic medical centers in the United States.

Board Certifications

American Board of Internal Medicine—1978

American Board of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases—1981

Healthwise Knowledgebase Topics Reviewed

Congestive Heart Failure

Coronary Artery Disease

Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

Hypertension

Mitral Valve Prolapse

Pericarditis and Endocarditis

Education

BS: Northwestern University Honors Program in Medical Education, 1971

PhD: Northwestern University, 1974

MD: Northwestern University Medical School, 1975

Internships and Residencies:

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital:
- Medical House Officer, 1975–1976
- Assistant Resident Physician, 1976–1977
- Senior Resident Physician, 1977–1978
Harvard Medical School:
- Clinical Fellow in Medicine, 1975–1978

Research Fellowship in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 1978–1979

Research/Clinical Fellowship in Medicine (Cardiology), Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, 1978–1979

Academic Appointments

Harvard Medical School:

Assistant Professor of Medicine, 1979–1984
Associate Professor of Medicine, 1984

Wayne State University School of Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine, 1985–1988

University of Southern California School of Medicine, Professor of Medicine, 1988–present

Hospital Affiliations

Brigham and Women's Hospital:

Junior Associate in Medicine, 1979–1982
Associate Physician, 1982–1984

Director of Cardiac Research Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, 1979–1984

Director of Myocardial Ischemia Laboratory, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 1985–1988

Acting Co-director, Noninvasive Cardiology Laboratory, Harper Hospital, 1987–1988

Director of Research, The Heart Institute of Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, 1988–present

Attending Cardiologist, Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center, 1988–present

Professional Affiliations

American College of Cardiology

American Heart Association, Council on Clinical Cardiology

American Society for Clinical Investigation

International Society of Heart Research

Selected Publications

Dai W, Kloner RA (2007). Myocardial regeneration by human amniotic fluid stem cells: Challenges to be overcome. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 42(4): 730–732.
Kloner RA (2006). Natural and unnatural triggers of myocardial infarction. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 48(4): 285–300.
Reffelmann T, Kloner RA (2006). Cardiovascular effects of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 12(27): 3485–3494.
Kloner RA, Dow J, Bhandari A (2006) Postconditionining markedly attenuates ventricular arrhythmias following ischemia/reperfusion. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 11(1): 55–63.
Kloner RA (2006). Can we trigger an acute coronary syndrome? Heart, 92(8): 1009–1010.
Kloner RA, Rezkalia SH (2007). To drink or not to drink? That is the question. Circulation, 116: 1306–1317.
Kloner RA, Nesto RW (2008). Glucose-insulin-potassium for acute myocardial infarction: Continuing controversy over cardioprotection. Circulation, 117: 2523–2533.
Simklovich BZ, Kleihman MT, Kloner RA (2008). Air pollution and cardiovascular injury. Epidemiology, toxicology, and mechanisms. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 52: 719–726.
Kloner RA, McDonald S, Leeka J, Poole WK (2009). Comparison of total and cardiovascular death rates in the same city during a losing versus winning Super Bowl championship. American Journal of Cardiology, 103: 1647–1650.
Reffelmann T, Kloner RA (2009). Phosphodresterase-5 inhibitors: Are they cardioprotective? Cardiovascular Research, 83: 204–212.

Financial Disclosure

Dr. Kloner is on the speakers bureau for Lilly and Novartis and has served on the speakers bereau for Phizer in the past. He is a consult, grant recipient and on the speakers bureau for Gilead, has received a grant from Alavita Pharmaceuticals, Alfred Mann Institute at the Techneon and PeriCor Therapeutics.