Mariell Jessup: Shaping a Subspecialty.

Abstract

As a thought leader in heart failure diagnosis and management, Mariell Jessup, MD, has served in many roles that have impacted medical decision-making and patient care. Her publications have included clinical investigations of heart failure treatments,1,2 as well as a broad range of disease and practice insights3–5 and perspectives on leading-edge topics in the field.6–11 In the past decade, Jessup helped carve out recognition of advanced heart failure/transplant cardiology as an ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine)–certified subspecialty.12 She also chaired the panel that wrote the 2009 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines update on managing heart failure,13 led the AHA’s Scientific Sessions program committee in 2009 and 2010, and served as AHA president in 2013–2014.14 Recently, she stepped down as the cochair of the American College of Cardiology/AHA prevention guidelines panel and chair of the AHA’s science and clinical education lifelong learning committee. Jessup, 66, earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Pennsylvania and her medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. She served her internship and residency at Hahnemann University Hospital and her fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Faculty positions followed at Hahnemann, Temple University and Penn, and on January 1, 2017, Jessup became Chief Scientific Officer of the international grant-making institution Fondation Leducq, which funds international cardiovascular and neurovascular research. During her education and early career, a few key mentors (one of them her future husband), along with a host of game-changing developments in heart failure care, laid for her a foundation of enthusiasm about the field that has fueled nearly 4 decades of advocacy. In looking back, Jessup says, “I’ve been so blessed to be able to watch how patients with …