For over twenty years, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, M.D., has been on a cardiologist at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and a faculty member at the Division of Cardiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
She developed innovative imaging techniques, and lectured to thousands of medical students, residents, fellows, colleagues, and community members. Her outstanding rapport with students has won her numerous teaching awards and made her a popular professor at UCLA where she lectures about cardiovascular physiology, cardiovascular pharmacology, echocardiography, and bioengineering.
In June of 2012, she published a new book, Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing, which explores how studying the diseases shared by humans and other animals could not only save individual lives but potentially aid in the survival of endangered species. Currently she is the cardiac consultant for the Los Angeles Zoo, a member of the Zoo's Medical Advisory Board, as well as the Director of Imaging for the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center. Barbara is a member of an NSF-funded working group on evolutionary medicine and co-created and directed Evolutionary Medicine Month at UCLA along with Professor Daniel Blumstein, Chair of the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She has also developed several interdisciplinary educational programs which bring together faculty and students from the humanities and life sciences. These popular programs include a medical narrative course for undergraduate students and a course on comparative cardiology for medical and doctoral students.
Barbara earned her B.A. and M.A. from Harvard University and received her M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Zach, their two children, and two dogs.
Barbara's contributions and accomplishments, including Zoobiquity, emphasize the deep scholarship and creativity found in UCLA's faculty. Her talent, both as a physician and an author, speaks to the unique qualifications of UCLA's physicians as true thought leaders. As the 2012 Medical Visionary Awardee, she truly serves as an inspiration to others to reach beyond the normal boundaries of their disciplines.
