Mina K. Chung MD

Mina K. Chung, MD, is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist and translational scientist at the Cleveland Clinic. Her overall goal is to bring the basic advances in atrial fibrillation research back to the bedside as soon as possible.

She initially studied the inflammatory connections of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF), producing seminal studies that contributed to interest in upstream therapies for AF. Over a decade ago, Dr. Chung founded and began leading a multidisciplinary group at the Cleveland Clinic focused upon the study of genetics and genomics in AF. This group has obtained NIH funding since then to study the genetics of AF, identifying genes and causal genetic variants and leading to new insights for functional and mechanistic studies, again with the aim of bringing these findings back to the patients.

Dr. Chung brought in inducible pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) reprogramming and differentiation technologies into her labs, allowing creation of patient-specific cardiomyocyte models for exploring genetic mechanisms of AF and inherited cardiac diseases. She is also exploring artificial intelligence and big data analyses in cardiovascular medicine using machine learning methodologies.

Dr. Chung directed the Cleveland Clinic Center of Research Excellence in Cardiovascular Translational Functional Genomics, which has been extending the group’s functional genomics infrastructure to other cardiovascular diseases, including aortic, pericardial, heart failure, and other arrhythmia conditions.

Dr. Chung and a large multidisciplinary team were awarded an American Heart Association Strategically Focused Research Network Center grant for translational studies in AF, including a clinical trial testing a novel drug and lifestyle modifications for AF based on the team’s functional genomics work. She and her team were also recently awarded an NIH program project grant to study AF mechanisms, from genes to treatment. She also directed the American Heart Association COVID-19 Research Coordinating Center.

Dr. Chung has contributed to multicenter clinical trials and guideline/consensus documents, including leading the 2020 AHA Scientific Statement on lifestyle and risk factor modification for reduction of atrial fibrillation and the ongoing HRS Guideline on cardiac physiologic pacing. She holds leadership roles in several professional societies. She has been named in Best Doctors in America, since 2001, and has received the Cleveland Clinic Internal Medicine Residency Program Research Mentor of the Year Award, the Maria and Sam Miller Professional Achievement Award for Clinical Research, and the Sones Favaloro Award for Excellence in Research.