Faculty

Dr. Wood completed her undergraduate and medical degrees in the combined B.A/M.D   program from the University of Missouri-Kansas City followed by training in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine at  the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts where she served as Chief Medical Resident.. Dr. Wood joined the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital in 2000 where she holds the Cathy E. Minehan Chair of Cardiovascular Disease in Women and co-directs the Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program and is the Medical Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital North Shore Ambulatory Cardiology practice in Danvers, Massachusetts.  

In order to better understand complex sex differences in heart function, Dr. Wood first studied cardiovascular adaptation to exercise training. Her group investigated the cardiovascular benefits of prolonged endurance exercise in non-elite and Olympic athletes as well as marathon runners.    This work has been frequently cited and described features of temporary left and right sided cardiac changes that occur after completion of a marathon. In order to improve the clinical care of women and the understanding of cardiovascular disease in women Dr. Wood helped design and implement the Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program in 2007.  Since that time the program has helped improve the cardiovascular health of thousands of women and their families through its clinical, research and educational efforts. Dr. Wood’s groundbreaking work on the HAPPY Heart study demonstrated the benefit of an integrated community based model of stress management, health and life coaching and group health education in low income women. This work resulted in the publication of two books, Smart at Heart and Thinfluence. Dr. Wood has made significant educational contributions devoted to raising awareness of gender differences in cardiovascular disease risk, symptoms and preventive strategies locally, regionally and nationally. Dr. Wood served as a member of the AHA multidisciplinary SCAD writing group. Dr. Wood is the Co-editor of the recently published textbook Sex Differences in Cardiac Disease. She has served on the leadership council of the American College of Cardiology Women in Cardiology Committee, currently serves on the Cardiovascular Disease in Women Committee and is the Governor of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and is the Chair-elect of the ACC Board of Governors.  Dr. Wood is a dedicated advocate for her patients and colleagues and has been involved in successful advocacy efforts at the state and national levels and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the American College of Cardiology HeartPAC.

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