Dr. Kelly Schlendorf MD. MHS

Kelly Schlendorf, MD, MHS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Director of VUMC's Section of Heart Failure and Transplantation and Medical Director of VUMC's adult heart transplant program. Under her leadership, Vanderbilt's heart transplant program has grown to become the busiest in the world.

Dr. Schlendorf trained at Johns Hopkins and Duke University Medical Center prior to joining the faculty at VUMC. She cares for patients with advanced heart failure or who have undergone heart transplantation or left ventricular assist device. Her research interests include exploration of novel strategies to expand the heart donor pool and improved understanding and treatment of common post-transplant complications including rejection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy. Dr. Schlendorf led Vanderbilt's work in pioneering the use of hearts from hepatitis C donors, now a commonly accepted practice across the United States.