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Denise Simons-Morton, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
To arrange an interview, please contact the NHLBI Communications Office at 301-496-4236 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov.
Biography
Denise Simons-Morton, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., is the director of the Division for the Application of Research Discoveries (DARD) at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Simons-Morton assumed this position in November 2009.
In this role, Dr. Simons-Morton provides oversight and vision for the Division's activities in research translation and for collaboration with other NHLBI divisions, NIH Institutes, governmental entities, and relevant organizations and groups.
Dr. Simons-Morton joined the NHLBI in 1992 as a research medical officer and subsequently led the Prevention Scientific Research Group and the Clinical Applications and Prevention Program/Branch. She was later appointed senior scientific advisor in the Division of Prevention and Population Sciences (now part of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences).
She has been a scientific project officer or collaborator on numerous NIH-funded multicenter controlled trials testing effects of various interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention. Topics include the effects of dietary patterns and lifestyle interventions on blood pressure; community approaches to improve health-care seeking behavior for acute cardiac events; behavioral interventions on obesity and physical activity; and effects of glycemia, blood pressure, and lipid treatment strategies on cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes. Dr. Simons-Morton served as the scientific project officer for the landmark Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial.
Trained in family practice, public health, preventive medicine, and epidemiology, Dr. Simons-Morton is board certified in preventive medicine and public health. She received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Maryland, a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy in epidemiology from the University of Texas. Before joining the NHLBI, Dr. Simons-Morton was assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at the University of Texas and later in the Department of Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Simons-Morton is the author or co-author of more than 90 journal or book publications and over two dozen NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements.
Areas of expertise: Preventive medicine and public health, health promotion and disease prevention, epidemiology, clinical trials, systematic evidence reviews, and cardiovascular risk.
Dr. Simons-Morton In the News
March 14, 2010
Landmark ACCORD Trial Finds Intensive Blood Pressure and Combination Lipid Therapies do not Reduce Combined Cardiovascular Events in Adults with Diabetes
Lowering blood pressure to normal levels – below currently recommended levels – did not significantly reduce the combined risk of fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular disease events in adults with type 2 diabetes who were at especially high risk for cardiovascular disease events, according to new results from the landmark Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial.
February 6, 2008
For Safety, NHLBI Changes Intensive Blood Sugar Treatment Strategy in Clinical Trial of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has stopped one treatment within a large, ongoing North American clinical trial of diabetes and cardiovascular disease 18 months early due to safety concerns after review of available data, although the study will continue.
View all Dr. Simons-Morton in the news articles
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