Donald M Bers stands as a preeminent leader in cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology with a distinguished career spanning over four decades. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, a position he has held since 2008. In addition to his departmental leadership, Dr. Bers holds the prestigious Joseph Silva Chair for Cardiovascular Research and directs the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UC Davis. His academic journey began with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1974, followed by a PhD in Physiology from UCLA in 1978. After completing postdoctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, he established his independent research career at UC Riverside before serving as Chair of Physiology at Loyola University Chicago for sixteen years.
Dr. Bers has made seminal contributions to our understanding of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, calcium signaling, and electrophysiology, with research spanning fundamental ion transport mechanisms to computational modeling of cardiac function. His laboratory has pioneered quantitative approaches to studying cardiac Na and Ca transport, adrenergic signaling, myofilament activation, and mitochondrial energetics, significantly advancing knowledge of both normal cardiac physiology and pathological conditions like heart failure and diabetes. With an impressive publication record exceeding 550 peer-reviewed articles, an h-index of 141, and more than 75,000 citations, his scholarly impact is widely recognized across multiple disciplines. His influential single-author book Excitation-Contraction Coupling and Cardiac Contractile Force has become a foundational text in the field, guiding generations of cardiovascular researchers. Dr. Bers' innovative approach of integrating detailed computational models with experimental physiology has provided unprecedented mechanistic insights into cardiac function and dysfunction.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr. Bers has profoundly shaped the cardiovascular research community through extensive national and international collaborations and the mentorship of more than one hundred PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty members. His leadership extends to editorial responsibilities for prominent journals, including service as Senior Editor, where he has helped guide the direction of cardiovascular science publication. Oxford University recognized his scholarly excellence by appointing him as the Newton-Abraham Professor in 2019, underscoring his international reputation and impact. Maintaining continuous NIH grant support for over forty years, Dr. Bers continues to lead cutting-edge research at UC Davis, investigating the intricate relationships between calcium signaling, metabolic function, and cardiac performance in health and disease. His ongoing work promises to further illuminate the complex mechanisms underlying cardiac arrhythmias and contractile dysfunction, potentially informing new therapeutic approaches for cardiovascular disorders.
