Milton Packer, MD, is the director of the Center for Biostatistics and Clinical Science and holder of The Gayle and Paul Stoffel Distinguished Chair in Cardiology. He is the former chief of the Division of Circulatory Physiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the past director of the Heart Failure Center at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. One of the leading experts in the pathophysiology and treatment of heart failure, Dr. Packer has made significant contributions to heart failure research and has been instrumental in the introduction of a number of new treatments. The author of more than 200 papers, he has won numerous honors for teaching and has lectured around the world on the treatment of heart failure, having been honored with a number of prestigious named lectureships. He has served or currently serves on the editorial boards of many major medical journals, including Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has also been elected to a number of societies, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He is currently on the executive committees of both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology and is past-president of the Heart Failure Society of America. Dr. Packer is a primary consultant to the National Institutes of Health and the US Food and Drug Administration on the management of heart failure and on matters related to cardiovascular research, drug development, and health care policy.