Joseph S. Alpert, MD

Joseph Stephen Alpert, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, came to the University of Arizona from the University of Massachusetts in Worcester where he served as the Edward Budnitz Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and director, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine as well as vice-chairman of Medicine. A native of Connecticut, Dr. Alpert obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Yale University where he was elected to Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa. He obtained his Medical Doctorate (Cum Laude) from Harvard Medical School where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. In 1967, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the University of Copenhagen for excellence in a scientific thesis. Dr. Alpert did his internal medicine residency and cardiovascular disease training at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, a teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School, and was a research fellow of the Massachusetts Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. Following his fellowship, Dr. Alpert became a staff cardiologist and director of the Coronary Care Unit at the Naval Regional Medical Center in San Diego and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Following his military service, he returned to Harvard Medical School and was appointed as assistant professor of medicine and director of the Samuel A. Levine Cardiac Unit, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. In 1978, Dr. Alpert joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts as professor and chief of the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine. In 1992, he was appointed the Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn Professor of Medicine and Chair, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, a position that he held until 2006. Dr. Alpert is board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease. In addition, Dr. Alpert has received many teaching awards during his career including the Edward Rhodes Stitt Award for Outstanding Teaching at the Naval Regional Medical Center in San Diego, the George W. Thorn Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Outstanding Teaching Awards at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1981, 1987, 1989, and 1990, and at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2006.  In 1990 he received the William Osler Master Teacher Award and in 1993, the William Harvey Master Teaching Award both from the University of Miami School of Medicine. In 1994, he received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York City. In 1998, he was named Clinical Sciences Educator of the Year by the graduating medical student class at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Alpert received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Clinical Cardiology Council of the American Heart Association in 2001. In 2004, he was selected as the Gifted Teacher of the Year by the American College of Cardiology “in recognition of his significant contribution to cardiovascular education and the training of professionals in cardiovascular disease”. Dr. Alpert has been a member of the American Heart Association since 1971. He is also a fellow of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association and a past chairman of this council, and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, the European Society of Cardiology and a master of the American College of Physicians (he is a past-president of the Society of Geriatric Cardiology). He has served on many national committees of these organizations. He is an honorary member of the Danish Cardiovascular Society, the Argentina Cardiology Association, and the Israeli Heart Society. Dr. Alpert is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology and the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He currently sits on the board of trustees of the Association of Professors of Medicine. Dr. Alpert is the former editor of the journals Cardiology, Current Cardiology Reports, and Cardiology in Review. Currently, he serves as the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Medicine. He is a member of the editorial board of 10 internal medicine and cardiovascular journals. He is the author of 48 books and monographs, and 650 publications including more than 200 original scientific publications, more than 400 book chapters, review articles, and editorials, and more than 100 abstracts. Dr. Alpert lives in Tucson, Arizona. In the past, Dr. Alpert has team taught a course entitled Literature and Medicine. Dr. Alpert has two children, a daughter, Eva, who is a tax attorney in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son, Niels, who is a director and cinematographer in Hollywood, California. Recognitions Former Chairman of Medicine at the University of Arizona (1992-2006) Editor-in-Chief, The American Journal of Medicine Voted in "Best Doctors in America," 2013, 2014