Milton Packer

Milton Packer MD is currently Distinguished Scholar in Cardiovascular Science at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. Dr. Packer is an internationally recognized clinical investigator who has made many seminal contributions to the field of heart failure, both in understanding its mechanisms and defining its rational management. His work has spanned more than 40 years and has established the cornerstone of the current modern treatments for heart failure, including ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, angiotensin neprilysin inhibitors and SGLT2 inhibitors. He was also instrumental in raising concerns about the use of positive inotropic agents, calcium channel blockers and antiarrhythmic drugs in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. He proposed the neurohormonal hypothesis of heart failure in 1992.

In recognition of these achievements, he received the Lewis Katz Lifetime Achievement Award from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications and has been the overall Principal Investigator for 20 large-scale international trials of novel interventions in heart failure. He was a Founding Member and served a President of the Heart Failure Society of America (2000-2002), and he has served on numerous guidelines and standards committees for the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. Since 1986, he has been a primary consultant to the FDA on matters related to the design of clinical trials and the interpretation of clinical trial evidence.