Dr. Packer is the Director of the Center for Biostatistics and Clinical Science and the Gayle and Paul Stoffel Distinguished Chair in Cardiology, Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas. He is the former Chief of the Division of Circulatory Physiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the former Director of the Heart Failure Center at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. One of the leading experts in the pathophysiology and treatment of heart failure, Dr. Packer has made significant contributions to heart failure research and has been instrumental in the introduction of a number of new treatments. The author of more than 200 papers, he has won numerous honors for teaching and has lectured around the world, including a number of prestigious named lectureships, on the treatment of heart failure. He has served, or currently serves, on the editorial boards of many major medical journals, including Circulation and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has also been elected to a number of societies, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He is currently on the executive committees of both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology and is past-President of the Heart Failure Society of America. Dr. Packer is a primary consultant to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration on the management of heart failure and on matters related to cardiovascular research and drug development and health care policy. Dr. Packer was formerly Chairman of the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee to the FDA.