Consulting in cardiac anatomy, physiology and medical device innovation
Paul A. Iaizzo, PhD
Bearing the torch of cardiovascular innovation with faith, family, and tireless dedication, BearHeart Ventures delivers heartfelt expert insights to elevate human care and give back to our community.
- 290+original articles
- 100+book chapters
- 5edited books
- 200+students and fellows trained since 1990
About
A career spent inside the working heart
Paul A. Iaizzo, PhD, FHRS, has spent more than three decades studying how the heart is built, how it works, and how medical devices live inside it.
Dr. Iaizzo is a Professor in the Departments of Surgery, Integrative Biology & Physiology, and the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He serves on the graduate faculties in Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Integrative Biology & Physiology, Biological Science, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and Mechanical Engineering. He is the Director of the Malignant Hyperthermia Diagnostic Center and Medtronic Professor of Visible Heart® Research, and the Associate Director and Medtronic Chair of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine. He earned both his MS and PhD, with a focus on physiology and neurophysiology, from the University of Minnesota.
His research centers on translational systems physiology. The Visible Heart® Laboratories are known for multimodal imaging of functional cardiac anatomy and for device testing within large mammalian hearts, including human hearts — work shared openly through the Atlas of Human Cardiac Anatomy. His other research spans cardiac pacing and ablation, muscle pathophysiology and biophysical properties, thermoregulation, black bear hibernation, 3D computational modeling and printing, and educational uses of virtual reality.
Since 1990 he has trained more than 200 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and medical students in his laboratories. He has authored more than 290 original articles and over 100 book chapters, edited five books, and is named on numerous patents related to medical devices.
Explore the Atlas of Human Cardiac AnatomyAcademic appointments, University of Minnesota
- Professor and Director, Visible Heart® Laboratories
- Professor of Surgery, Integrative Biology & Physiology, and the Carlson School of Management
- Adjunct Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
- Associate Director, Professional Education and Outreach, and Medtronic Professorship, Institute for Engineering in Medicine
- Director, Malignant Hyperthermia Diagnostic Center
Expertise
Where he can help
Device makers, investors, research groups and educators bring him questions that sit where anatomy, physiology and engineering meet.
Cardiac anatomy and physiology
Functional anatomy of human and large mammalian hearts, drawn from decades of multimodal imaging and direct visualization of hearts as they beat.
Medical device innovation and testing
How devices interact with living cardiac tissue — from early concept questions to testing within reanimated large mammalian hearts, including human hearts.
Cardiac pacing and ablation
Pacing, conduction-system anatomy, ablation and catheter contact, including His-bundle pacing and monophasic action potential recording.
Large animal and translational research
Designing and interpreting large animal studies, isolated working heart models, and comparative physiology, including black bear hibernation.
3D modeling, printing and virtual reality
Computational anatomy, spatial relationships that shape transcatheter procedures, 3D printing, and virtual reality for training.
Muscle physiology and thermoregulation
Skeletal muscle pathophysiology and biophysical properties, thermoregulation, and malignant hyperthermia diagnostics.
Recognition
Honors and fellowships
- 2002
Distinguished University Teaching Professor
University of Minnesota
- 2012
College of Fellows, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
For outstanding contributions to research and education in translational systems physiology and cardiovascular engineering.
- 2015
Fellow, Heart Rhythm Society
- 2016
Senior Fellow, IEEE
- 2023
Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
University of Minnesota Medical School
Work together
Ways to engage
Every engagement is shaped around the question you need answered. These are the most common starting points.
Corporate and industry events
Keynote with advisory roundtable
A 60-minute keynote paired with a two-hour on-site executive or R&D advisory roundtable with your team.
Rates on request
Device teams, investors and research groups
Advisory consulting
Expert guidance on cardiac anatomy, preclinical study design, device–tissue interaction, and the physiology behind your product or investment.
Rates on request
Medical device firms, biotech corporations and venture capital summits
Corporate and industry keynotes
Talks on cardiac anatomy, device innovation, and what decades of translational research teach about building devices that work in real hearts.
Rates on request
National association annual meetings and engineering congresses
Scientific and medical society keynotes
Keynotes for scientific, clinical and engineering audiences.
Rates on request
University medical schools and teaching hospitals
Grand rounds and lectures
Grand rounds and invited lectures for academic and clinical audiences.
Rates on request
For speaking engagements, the host covers travel. Open to negotiation and special project needs.
Publications
Selected work
A small sample from more than 290 original articles.
- 2022
In vitro contractile studies within isolated tissue baths: Translational research from Visible Heart® Laboratories
Experimental Biology and Medicine, 247:584–597 · doi:10.1177/15353702211070535
- 2022
Computationally assessed 3D anatomical proximities and spatial relationships among the tricuspid valve annulus, right coronary artery, and triangle of Koch: implications for transcatheter tricuspid annuloplasty repair
Structural Heart, 6:100033 · doi:10.1016/j.shj.2022.100033
- 2019
Contact forces required to record monophasic action potentials: a complement to catheter contact force measurement
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 66:2974–2978 · doi:10.1109/TBME.2019.2899554
- 2019
Direct endoscopic visualization of physiologic His-bundle pacing and surrounding anatomy within reanimated human hearts employing visible heart methodologies
Heart Rhythm Case Reports, 5:209–212 · doi:10.1016/j.hrcr.2019.01.001
- 2013
In vitro images of a double orifice mitral valve in a reanimated human heart
Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 95:1456 · doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.08.061
- 2005
In vitro studies of human hearts
Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 79:168–177 · doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2004.06.080
- 2000
Isolated four-chamber working swine heart model
Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 70:1607–1614 · doi:10.1016/S0003-4975(00)01977-9
Contact
Start a conversation
Tell him about your project, event or question. Your message goes directly to Dr. Iaizzo.