H. Robert Superko, MD, FACC, FAHA, FASPC

Dr. Superko’s research and clinical focus is on the metabolic and inherited aspects of coronary heart disease. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, medical degree from the State University of New York-Stony Brook, and completed his internship, residency, and fellowship at the University of California, Davis. Over the past 35+ years he has completed multiple NIH trials including heart disease regression, coffee and lipoprotein metabolism, exercise and weight loss with a focus on lipoprotein subclass distribution, firefighter heart disease, and genetics. He served as Director of the Stanford University Lipid Research Clinic and Laboratory, the Director of the Cholesterol Research Center at the University of California-Berkeley, the Director of the American Heart Association Lipid Disorders Training Center, the Founder of Berkeley HeartLab, and Director of the Center for Human Genomics at the Saint Joseph’s Hospital/Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. His most recent investigation was the National Firefighter Heart Disease Prevention study which revealed metabolic and genetic contributors to the epidemic of coronary heart disease in firefighters. This work has now expanded to a National non-profit program that helps identify firefighters vulnerable to a sudden coronary event and works to prevent CHD events in this professional population that serves to protect the rest of us. Dr. Superko also served as the Chief Medical Officer of Celera corp. (human genome in 2001). He has published 166 manuscripts, authored 19 textbook chapters, and 130 invited presentations at National and International scientific meetings for a total of 320 publications. He is the receipient of many awards including the Larry King Physician Laurete award, the Montague Boyd Award for Best Research Article, and the Doc Hopkins award from the California American Heart Association for New Insights. He has published a book for the public entitled “Before the Heart Attacks” that explains advanced aspects of causes of heart disease that go beyond cholesterol. His publication, ‘Beyond LDL-C’ in Circulation 1996 alerted the community to the concept of residual risk following LDLC reduction and the need to think beyond LDL cholesterol. His current professional activity includes a clinic focused on premature CHD and familial CHD at PRIMA Heart in Monterey, California and continued research focused on the genetic and metabolic contributors to CHD in firefighters. He is particularly interested in working with the American Society of Preventive Cardiology in expanding programs that identify firefighters and law enforcement offercers vulnerable to a sudden coronary event and preventing such events.