From left: Professorship co-namesake Richard Smith, HMS Acting Dean Barbara J. McNeil, professorship recipient Peter Zimetbaum and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Department of Medicine Chair Mark Zeidel. Image: Gretchen Ertl
Harvard Medical School arrhythmia researcher and physician Peter Zimetbaum was recognized as the inaugural Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Professor of Medicine in the Field of Cardiovascular Medicine in a celebration held Nov. 28 in the Waterhouse Room at the Gordon Hall of Medicine at HMS.
“We are so pleased to join together to recognize Dr. Zimetbaum’s achievements, honor the Smith family’s generosity and celebrate the future of cardiovascular medicine at HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,” said Barbara J. McNeil, acting dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University.
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Zimetbaum is associate chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and director of clinical cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess. His research focuses on managing atrial fibrillation, and he has run clinical trials to assess anti-arrhythmic drugs as well as anticoagulant drugs and devices to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.
In the clinic, Zimetbaum strives to improve quality and reduce costs of care. He helped create the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess, which explores clinical effectiveness, cost, quality, ethics and public policy issues that impact cardiovascular patient care.
He also developed the Be Informed program to teach cardiac patients about their diseases and treatment plans, established a cardiology urgent care program that placed attending cardiologists in the emergency department to assist staff and co-developed a first-of-its-kind urgent care center for cardiovascular diseases.
The professorship was made possible by Richard A. Smith, (AB ’46, LLD ’01) and the late Susan F. Smith, Boston-area philanthropists who have made many significant gifts to the Harvard community. These contributions have included the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers and the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Research Laboratories at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center at Harvard University, slated to open in 2018.
Richard Smith has also served on both of Harvard’s governing boards, including three years as an overseer and nine as a member of the Harvard Corporation, from which he stepped down in 2000.
“For those of you who did not know her, Mrs. Smith was a passionate philanthropist who was a leader in advancing biomedical research and clinical care,” said McNeil. “The Harvard community was deeply saddened to learn of her passing.
“I am so pleased we have this opportunity to come together to celebrate this professorship and her legacy of bettering the lives of those suffering from disease,” McNeil said.
