Ahmed A. Tawakol MD

Dr. Tawakol is a cardiologist with a clinical and research focus on cardiovascular imaging. He obtained his medical degree from Stanford Medical School, then trained at Brigham and Women's Hospital for Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and MGH for Nuclear Cardiology. He is Director of Nuclear Cardiology and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center at the MGH. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Tawakol studies PET/CT methods for imaging atherosclerotic plaques; his group developed and validated molecular imaging to assess atherosclerotic plaque inflammation in humans. Using that approach, his group is assessing novel treatments directed against atherosclerotic inflammation in humans and is studying disease mechanisms that trigger cardiovascular disease events. Notably, Dr. Tawakol’s research includes a focuse on multi-organ mechanisms by which stress and depression cause cardiovascular diseases. His team provided the first-in-human observation linking stress-associated neural activity to subsequent CVD events, thus providing mechanistic insights into how psychosocial stress promotes CVD. His work additionally leverages advanced imaging and cutting-edge biomarkers to assess interventions that reduce stress-associated neural activity and result in enhanced neurobiological resilience and improved cardiovascular health. He’s the principal investigator on multiple studies funded by the NIH, industrial sponsors, and foundations.