When Anita Deswal joined MD Anderson on October 1, she became only the second chair of the Department of Cardiology. Her appointment came after an extensive search to find a leader with strong academic and clinical background and drive.

“Dr. Deswal is an internationally recognized expert in the field of heart failure and a servant leader,” says Internal Medicine Division Head David J. Tweardy.  “I am confident that, with her guidance, the Department of Cardiology will continue to excel in setting new standards in Onco-cardiology care.”

Deswal was previously with Baylor College of Medicine where she was a professor of  Medicine. She also served as chief of the Cardiology section and director of the Heart Failure Program at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. Deswal also served as director of outpatient cardiology at the Houston VA Medical Center.

A native of India, Deswal earned her M.B.B.S. M.D., degrees from the All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi, where she also completed a residency in Internal Medicine. She moved to the U.S. to continue her training, first at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for residency in Internal Medicine and a clinical fellowship in Cardiology. She followed this with a year of clinical heart failure research fellowship at Baylor and joined the faculty in 1998. Deswal also has an M.P.H. degree from UT School of Public Health.

Her clinical interests focus on heart failure and echocardiography. Her research focuses on clinical trials and outcomes research in heart failure (HF) with an interest in HF with preserved ejection fraction, racial disparities in HF and obesity and HF. Deswal served as the Houston Medical Center principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health heart failure clinical research network. She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters.