

Dr. Naghavi
Meet Dr. Morteza Naghavi
Dr. Naghavi is an innovative physician-scientist, entrepreneur, and life science executive with over two decades of leadership experience in academia and industry. He was trained at the Texas Heart Institute and the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston by distinguished cardiologists and scientists, the late Dr. James Willerson and the late Dr. Ward Casscells.

Championing Heart Attack Prevention Worldwide
Dr. Naghavi is internationally recognized for his medical inventions and the SHAPE initiative (Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication that later became Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication) a nonprofit organization focused on innovative solutions for the eradication of heart attacks.
Transformative Contributions to Cardiology and Heart Disease Prevention
In 1999, Dr. Naghavi led the first medical report that flu vaccine lowers the risk of recurring heart attacks. Following this discovery and subsequent trials, American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology added annual flu vaccination into the standard of care for cardiovascular patients.
Dr. Naghavi’s early research focused on the detection of vulnerable plaques, the soft and often inflamed fatty buildup in coronary arteries as an immediate underlying cause of heart attacks. His research along with Drs Willerson and Casscells lead to then startup Volcano that later became a leading cardiovascular company acquired by Philips.
In 2001, Dr. Naghavi established vulnerableplaque.org which quickly grew followers worldwide (www.vp.org) and led to the creation of SHAPE. In 2006, SHAPE Task Force proposed new guidelines to overhaul existing outdated methods of CVD risk assessment and introduced noninvasive cardiac imaging using coronary artery calcium (CAC) score.
In 2009, through SHAPE’s efforts Texas legislature passed HB1290 which became the first heart attack preventive screening law in the US mandating insurance companies to cover CAC. Dr. Naghavi is currently leading a major initiative supported by world renowned cardiologist Dr. Valentin Fuster and other leaders in CVD towards securing Medicare reimbursement for coronary calcium score.
Dr. Naghavi led several major consensus publications titled “From Vulnerable Plaque to Vulnerable Patient; A Call for New Definitions and Risk Assessment Strategies. Part I, II, II” which are among the highest cited publications in cardiology. He is also the editor of “Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis: Pathophysiology, Detection and Treatment” a comprehensive book on early detection and treatment of heart disease.
In 2016 Dr. Naghavi led a large group of CVD specialists to respond to Google-AHA’s $50M grant for “One Brave Idea”. which led to Machine Learning Vulnerable Patient Project in collaborations with Stanford, Mount Sinai and UCLA to develop artificial intelligence for prediction of near future heart attacks. The results of the first phase of this project appeared in the Journal of American Heart Association under Machine Learning Outperforms ACC / AHA CVD Risk Calculator in MESA.
Innovative Ventures in Medical Technology
Along with academic activities Dr. Naghavi is also known as an entrepreneur inventor with over 25 patented inventions and multiple startup companies. Dr. Naghavi was a cofounder of Volcano Corp which went public (NASDAQ: VOLC) and later was acquired by Philips Healthcare for $1.2B.
One of Dr. Naghavi’s inventions, Digital Thermal Monitoring of Endothelial Function, has received FDA approval and is currently marketed to cardiology, internal medicine, and wellness clinics throughout the US. This technology (VENDYS automated endothelial function testing) was ranked among top 3 emerging medical technologies in Texas and received a $1 million award.
Dr. Naghavi’s other patented inventions including an ischemic conditioning device for replicating beneficial effects of exercise without exertion, an automated self-administered painless blood drawing device for use at home, and DrMe.AI a home-based personalized medical assistant platform, are under various stages of development.
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Dr. Naghavi is passionate about innovations in healthcare. His efforts focus on shifting medical care from existing late stage sick-care to early stage preventive health-care by enabling people with low cost med-tech, actionable information, and therapeutic solutions all powered by AI and robotics.
Scientific Publications
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​Naghavi M, Maron DJ, Kloner RA, Berman DS, Budoff M, Superko HR, Shah PK. Coronary artery calcium testing: A call for universal coverage. Prev Med Rep. 2019 May 2;15:100879.
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Kakadiaris IA, Vrigkas M, Yen AA, Kuznetsova T, Budoff M, Naghavi M. Machine Learning Outperforms ACC / AHA CVD Risk Calculator in MESA. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 Nov 20;7(22):e009476.
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Schwartz BG, Kloner RA, Naghavi M. Acute and Subacute Triggers of Cardiovascular Events. Am J Cardiol. 2018 Dec 15;122(12):2157-2165.
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Naghavi M, Budoff MJ. Radiation exposure and coronary artery calcium scans in the society for heart attack prevention and eradication cohort. Patel AA, Fine J, Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2019 Jan;35(1):179-183.
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Naghavi M, Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis. Pathophysiology, Detection and Treatment. ISBN: 978-1- 60327-178-3. Springer Inc. Editor: Morteza Naghavi, M.D., Co-Editors: Mathew Budoff, M.D., Daniel Berman M.D., Erling Falk, M.D., Ph.D., Zahi Fayad, M.D., Harvey Hecht, M.D., Khurram Nasir, M.D., Prediman K. Shah, M.D.
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Naghavi M, Yen A, Lin A, Tanaka H, Kleis H. New Indices of Endothelial Function Measured by Digital Thermal Monitoring of Vascular and Neurovascular Reactivity; Data from 6084 Patients in VENDYS Registry. Naghavi M, Yen AA, Lin AW, Tanaka H, Kleis S. Int J Vasc Med. 2016;2016:1348028.
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Hartley CJ, Naghavi M, Parodi O, Pattichis CS, Poon CC, Zhang YT. Cardiovascular health informatics: risk screening and intervention. IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 2012 Sep;16(5):791-4.
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Ruiz EM, Papaioannou TG, Vavuranakis M, Stefanadis C, Naghavi M, Kakadiaris IA. Analysis of contrast-enhanced intravascular ultrasound images for the assessment of coronary plaque neoangiogenesis: another step closer to the identification of the vulnerable plaque. Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(15):2207-13.
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Ahmadi N, McQuilkin GL, Akhtar MW, Hajsadeghi F, Kleis SJ, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Reproducibility and variability of digital thermal monitoring of vascular reactivity. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2011 Nov;31(6):422-8.
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Ley O, Dhindsa M, Sommerlad SM, Barnes JN, Devan AE, Naghavi M, Tanaka H. Use of temperature alterations to characterize vascular reactivity. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2011 Jan;31(1):66-72.
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Akhtar MW, Kleis SJ, Metcalfe RW, Naghavi M. Sensitivity of digital thermal monitoring parameters to reactive hyperemia. J Biomech Eng. 2010 May;132(5):051005.
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McQuilkin GL, Panthagani D, Metcalfe RW, Hassan H, Yen AA, Naghavi M, Hartley CJ. Digital thermal monitoring (DTM) of vascular reactivity closely correlates with Doppler flow velocity. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2009;2009:1100-3.
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Ahmadi, N, Budoff, M, Naghavi M, et al. Low Fingertip Temperature Rebound Measured By Digital Thermal Monitoring Strongly Correlates with the Presence and Extent of Coronary Artery Disease Diagnosed by 64-Slice Multi-detector Computed Tomography. Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomograpy. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2009 Oct;25(7):725-38.
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Ahmadi N, Budoff M, Naghavi M, et al. Vascular Function Measured by Fingertip Thermal Reactivity is Impaired in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Cardiometabolic. J Clin Hypertens. 2009 Nov;11(11):678-84.
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Ahmadi N, Tirunagaram S, Hajsadeghi F, Flores F, Saeed A, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Concomitant insulin resistance and impaired vascular function is associated with increased coronary artery calcification. Int J Cardiol. 2009 Feb 2.
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Ahmadi N, Usman N, Shim J, Nuguri V, Vasinrapee P, Hajsadeghi F, Wang Z, Foster GP, Nasir K, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Vascular dysfunction measured by fingertip thermal monitoring is associated with the extent of myocardial perfusion defect. J Nucl Cardiol. 2009 Jan 6.
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Ahmadi N, Hajsadeghi F, Gul K, Vane J, Usman N, Flores F, Nasir K, Hecht H, Naghavi M, Budoff M. Relations between digital thermal monitoring of vascular function, the Framingham risk score, and coronary artery calcium score. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2008 Nov;2(6):382-8.
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Naghavi M, Falk E, Hecht HS, Shah PK; for the SHAPE Task Force. The First SHAPE (Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education) Guideline. Crit Pathw Cardiol. 2006 Dec;5(4):187-190.
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Naghavi M, Hecht HS. Vulnerable patients are between a ‘ROC and a hard place’: yes, it’s time to screen for coronary artery disease. Cleve Clin J Med. 2007 Oct;74(10):757-8. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2007 Sep;5(5):917-25.
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Naghavi M. Preventive Cardiology: the SHAPE of the future. A Synopsis from the Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force report. Herz. 2007 Aug;32(5):356-61.
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Jamieson M, Naghavi M. Multi-Constituent Cardiovascular Pills (MCCP) – Challenges and Promises of Population Based Prophylactic Drug Therapy for Prevention of Heart Attack, Current Pharmaceutical Design Journal. 2007;13(10):1069-76.
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Naghavi M, Falk E, Hecht H, Shah PK. The First SHAPE (Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education) Guideline. Critical Pathways in Cardiology. 2006 Dec;5(4):187-190
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Naghavi M, Falk E, Hecht H, Jamieson M, Kaul S, Berman D, Fayad Z, Budoff M, Rumberger J, Naqvi T, Shaw L, Faergeman O, Cohn J, Bahr R, Koenig W, Demirovic J, Arking D, Herrera V, Badimon B, Goldstein J, Rudy Y, Airaksinen J, Schwartz R, Riley W, Mendes R, Douglas P, Shah PK. From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: Part III. Executive Summary of the Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force. Am. J. of Cardiology, Vol. 98, No 2A, 1-15H
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Khan T, Soller B, Naghavi M, Casscells W. Tissue pH determination for the detection of metabolically active, inflamed vulnerable plaques using near-infrared spectroscopy: an in-vitro feasibility study. Cardiology. 2005;103(1):10-6.
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Carlier S, Kakadiaris IA, Dib N, Vavuranakis M, Stefanadis C, O’Malley SM, Hartley CJ, Metcalfe R, Mehran R, Falk E, Gul K, Naghavi M. Vasa vasorum imaging: a new window to the clinical detection of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2005 Mar;7(2):164-9.
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Naghavi M, Libby P, Falk E, Casscells SW, Litovsky S, Rumberger J, Badimon JJ, Stefanadis C, Moreno P, Pasterkamp G, Fayad Z, Stone PH, Waxman S, Raggi P, Madjid M, Zarrabi A, Burke A, Yuan C, Fitzgerald PJ, Siscovick DS, de Korte CL, Aikawa M, Airaksinen KE, Assmann G, Becker CR, Chesebro JH, Farb A, Galis ZS, Jackson C, Jang IK, Koenig W, Lodder RA, March K, Demirovic J, Navab M, Priori SG, Rekhter MD, Bahr R, Grundy SM, Mehran R, Colombo A, Boerwinkle E, Ballantyne C, Insull W Jr, Schwartz RS, Vogel R, Serruys PW, Hansson GK, Faxon DP, Kaul S, Drexler H, Greenland P, Muller JE, Virmani R, Ridker PM, Zipes DP, Shah PK, Willerson JT. From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: a call for new definitions and risk assessment strategies: Part II. Circulation, 2003 Oct 14;108(15):1772-8
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Naghavi M, Libby P, Falk E, Casscells SW, Litovsky S, Rumberger J, Badimon JJ, Stefanadis C, Moreno P, Pasterkamp G, Fayad Z, Stone PH, Waxman S, Raggi P, Madjid M, Zarrabi A, Burke A, Yuan C, Fitzgerald PJ, Siscovick DS, de Korte CL, Aikawa M, Airaksinen KE, Assmann G, Becker CR, Chesebro JH, Farb A, Galis ZS, Jackson C, Jang IK, Koenig W, Lodder RA, March K, Demirovic J, Navab M, Priori SG, Rekhter MD, Bahr R, Grundy SM, Mehran R, Colombo A, Boerwinkle E, Ballantyne C, Insull W Jr, Schwartz RS, Vogel R, Serruys PW, Hansson GK, Faxon DP, Kaul S, Drexler H, Greenland P, Muller JE, Virmani R, Ridker PM, Zipes DP, Shah PK, Willerson JT. From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: a call for new definitions and risk assessment strategies: Part I. Circulation, 2003 Oct 7;108(14):1664-72
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Madjid M, Naghavi M, Litovsky S, Casscells SW. Influenza and cardiovascular disease: a new opportunity for prevention and the need for further studies. Circulation. 2003 Dec 2;108(22):2730-6. Epub 2003 Nov 10.
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Naghavi M, Madjid M, Gul K, Siadaty MS, Litovsky S, Willerson JT, Casscells SW. Thermography basket catheter: In vivo measurement of the temperature of atherosclerotic plaques for detection of vulnerable plaques. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2003 May;59(1):52-9.
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Casscells W, Naghavi M, Willerson JT. Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque: a multifocal disease. Circulation. 2003 Apr 29;107(16):2072-5.
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Litovsky S, Madjid M, Zarrabi A, Casscells SW, Willerson JT, Naghavi M. Superparamagnetic iron oxide-based method for quantifying recruitment of monocytes to mouse atherosclerotic lesions in vivo: enhancement by tissue necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta, and interferon-gamma. Circulation. 2003 Mar 25;107(11):1545-9.
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Naghavi M, Wyde P, Litovsky S, Madjid M, Akhtar A, Naguib S, Siadaty MS, Sanati S, Casscells W. Influenza infection exerts prominent inflammatory and thrombotic effects on the atherosclerotic plaques of apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. Circulation. 2003 Feb 11;107(5):762-8.
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Naghavi M, Madjid M, Khan MR, Mohammadi RM, Willerson JT, Casscells SW. New developments in the detection of vulnerable plaque. Curr Atheroscler Rep 2001 Mar;3(2):125-35.
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Naghavi M, John R, Naguib S, Siadaty MS, Grasu R, Kurian KC, van Winkle WB, Soller B, Litovsky S, Madjid M, Willerson JT, Casscells W. pH Heterogeneity of human and rabbit atherosclerotic plaques; a new insight into detection of vulnerable plaque. Atherosclerosis. 2002 Sep;164(1):27-35.
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Naghavi M, Barlas Z, Siadaty S, Naguib S, Madjid M, Casscells W. Association of influenza vaccination and reduced risk of recurrent myocardial infarction. Circulation 2000; 102 (25): 3039-3045.

Presentations at American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions:
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Mo1060 / 1060 – Discordance Between Blood Pressure and Endothelial Function Measurements; is it Time to Look Beyond Blood Pressure for Early Detection of CVD Risk? November 18, 2019, 1:30 Yasamin Naghavi, Univ of Houston, Houston, TX; Albert Yen, Endothelix, Houston, TX; Stanley Kleis, Univ of Houston, Houston, TX; Hirofumi Tanaka, Univ of Texas Austin, Austin, TX; Morteza Naghavi, SHAPE, Palo Alto, CA; Ahmed Gul 77056, Ralph Metcalfe, Univ of Houston, HOUSTON, TX
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Su3000 / 3000 – Distribution of Microvascular Endothelial Function in Different Clinical and Non-Clinical Settings in the United States and China Leila Messahli, Endothelix, Houston, TX; Yasamin Naghavi, Ahmed Gul, Maha Gul, Ruoyu Zhuang, Univ of Houston, Houston, TX; Albert Yen, Endothelix, Houston, TX; Hirofumi Tanaka, Univ of Texas Austin, Austin, TX; Ralph Metcalfe, Stanley Kleis, Univ of Houston, Houston, TX; Morteza Naghavi, SHAPE, Palo Alto, CA
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Mo2080 / 2080 Discovery Of Neurovascular Reactivity During A Standard 5-minute Arm-cuff Reactive Hyperemia – Data From 7105 Patient Registry Ruoyu Zhuang, Univ of Houston, HOUSTON, TX; Ahmed Gul, Univ of Houston, Houston, TX; Albert Yen, Endothelix, Houston, TX; Hirofumi Tanaka, Univ of Texas Austin, Austin, TX; Ralph Metcalfe, Univ of Houston, HOUSTON, TX; Stanley Kleis, Univ of Houston, Houston, TX; Morteza Naghavi, SHAPE, Palo Alto, CA