Christine Edry Seidman is the Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Center at

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

. She operates a joint lab with her husband, Jonathan Seidman, where they study genetic mechanisms of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

. In recognition of her scientific contributions, she was elected as a fellow of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, and

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

. In 2024, she was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

Early life and education

Seidman was born in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

and grew up on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. She earned a BS in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and received her MD from the

George Washington School of Medicine The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (abbreviated as GW Medical School, GW Medicine, or SMHS) is the professional medical school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. SMHS is one of the most ...

in 1978. She did an

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

residency at

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

from 1978 to 1981 and a

cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

fellowship at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

from 1982 to 1986.

Career

In 1986, Seidman joined the faculty at

as a lecturer in genetics. In 1997 she was promoted to full professor. She was the founding director of Cardiovascular Genetics Center and has led the institute since 1992. She is a co-founder of MyoKardia, a

precision medicine Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Arts and media * ''Precision'' (march), the official marching music of the Royal Military College of Canada * "Precision" (song), by Big Sean * ''Precisely'' (sketch), a dramatic sketch by the Eng ...

company. Seidman has been a

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

investigator since 1994. Seidman has authored more than 400 scientific publications. She also served on the Life Sciences jury for the

Infosys Prize The Infosys Prize is an annual award granted to scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists of Indian origin (not necessarily born in India) by the Infosys Science Foundation and ranks among the highest monetary awards for researc ...

in 2017. The Seidman lab researches the genetics involved in diseases such as

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which muscle tissues of the heart become thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ...

, and was recognized for discovering the first genetic cause of

congenital heart defects A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly, congenital cardiovascular malformation, and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital h ...

. Beginning in 2009, the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology has awarded the Seidman Prize for MD Research Mentorship in honor of her and her husband.

Personal life

Seidman met her husband, Jonathan Seidman, while they were students at Harvard, and they were married in 1973. They operate a joint lab at Harvard and are both founding members of MyoKardia. In 2002, they shared the

Bristol-Myers Squibb Award Between 1977 and 2006, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation presented annual awards of US$50,000 to scientists for distinguished achievements in fields such as cancer, infectious disease, neuroscience, nutrition, and cardiovascular disease. The re ...

for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Research. They have three children.

Awards

* 1992 Elected to the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

(ASCI) * 1999 Elected to the

* 1999 Elected to the

* 2000 ASCI Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award * 2002 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Research * 2003 Distinguished Scientist Award from the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

* 2005 Elected to the

* 2019 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science

References

External links

JCI: A conversation with Christine Seidman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidman, Christine Harvard Medical School faculty George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences alumni Harvard University alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Medicine Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American cardiologists Women cardiologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the American Philosophical Society