Curtis Named Chair of Medicine

Anne B. Curtis, MD, professor of medicine at University of South Florida, chief of the university’s Division of Cardiology and director of Cardiovascular Services, has been appointed the inaugural Mary and Charles Bauer Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

In making the announcement, Michael E. Cain, MD, dean of the school, said Curtis has all the skills needed to move the department forward, including expanding its basic and clinical research programs to fulfill UB 2020’s strategic goals, and working collaboratively with UB’s hospital partners to build the department’s clinical services.

“Dr. Curtis is that rare individual who is an innovative applied clinical investigator, a world-class clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, an exceptional educator, and a recognized leader in academic medicine,” said Cain.

“During the past 24 years, she has developed an internationally recognized effort in investigative clinical cardiac electrophysiology. Most of her 110 peer-reviewed manuscripts pertain to work that has significantly enhanced our knowledge in many areas of human cardiac electrophysiology and heart rhythm abnormalities.”

Curtis earned her medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1979, and did her residency in internal medicine at New York City’s Presbyterian Hospital.

She went on to complete fellowships in cardiovascular disease and clinical and investigative cardiac electrophysiology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

Prior to her appointment at the University at South Florida, Curtis spent 19 years teaching and practicing at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and directing its clinical, investigative, and mentored-educational programs in cardiac electrophysiology. She also was staff physician and director of the pacemaker service at the VA Medical Center in Gainesville from 1986 to 1996.

She has been principal investigator, co-investigator, sponsor or steering committee member on 85 research studies and clinical trials, and has written more than 113 book chapters, reviews, and editorials. She also is author of a book on cardiac pacing.

Curtis is active in many national and international scientific organizations. She is a past president of the Heart Rhythm Society and the former chair of the Food and Drug Administration’s Circulatory System Devices Panel.

Currently, she serves on the board of directors of the Stanley Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, and on the American Board of Internal Medicine Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Diseases. She also is a member of the Association of University Cardiologists.

Curtis will join UB in September and replaces Alan Saltzman, MD, who is stepping down after five years as chair.