Dr Christie Ballantyne is director of the Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. He is also chief of the Section of Cardiovascular Research, the J.S. Abercrombie chair for atherosclerosis and lipoprotein research and chief of the Section of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. He is director of the Maria and Alando J. Ballantyne, M.D. Atherosclerosis Laboratory, professor of medicine, professor of genetics and professor of physiology with a joint appointment in paediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, and director of the Lipid Metabolism and Atherosclerosis Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
He received his MD from Baylor College of Medicine, and his postgraduate training included an internal medicine residency at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX a cardiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, and an American Heart Association/Bugher Foundation fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Institute for Molecular Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, as well as a member of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
Dr Ballantyne received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American College of Cardiology in 2013 and has previously served as governor of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and president of the Houston Chapter of the American Heart Association. He has been the recipient of numerous study grants, including an American Heart Association Established Investigator Award and several NIH grants to study leukocyte–endothelial adhesion molecules and novel biomarkers for atherosclerosis.
He has been a member of numerous steering committees for multicentre trials, including the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, Improved Reduction of Outcomes: Vytorin Efficacy International Trial (IMPROVE IT), A Study to Evaluate the Effect of Rosuvastatin on Intravascular Ultrasound-Derived Coronary Atheroma Burden (ASTEROID) and DAL Outcomes, and has participated as a member of several data and safety monitoring boards. He also serves as editorial director for the online resource Lipids Online, and has published extensively and spoken nationally and internationally on lipids, atherosclerosis and inflammation.
In 2014, Dr Ballantyne was named one of ‘The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds’ by Thomas Reuters, a recognition based on high-impact publications. His research interests include the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, with an emphasis on monocyte activation and adhesion, and his clinical interests include preventive cardiology, lipids, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, genetics and coronary artery disease.