The Chief Research Officer, has determined that UTMB research should be prioritized into six health communities. This researcher has received the following badge(s):

Dr. Salim Hayek is Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he holds the Edward Randall and Edward Randall Jr. Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine. He is a cardiologist and NIH-funded physician-scientist whose research sits at the intersection of cardiovascular and kidney disease, with a focus on inflammation, novel biomarkers, and precision approaches to risk prediction.

His translational program centers on soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) as a driver of cardiovascular, kidney, and immune-mediated disease. Work from his group has helped establish suPAR as a prognostic biomarker across cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, COVID-19, and cancer therapy-related cardiotoxicity, and has informed mechanistic studies of its role in vascular and renal injury. He currently leads an R01 from the NHLBI examining the role of suPAR at the cardiovascular-kidney interface.

His broader research portfolio uses large cohorts, high-throughput proteomics, and routinely collected clinical data to identify patients at risk for cardiovascular and kidney complications, refine therapy, and guide preventive strategies. He has long-standing collaborations with the Emory Cardiovascular Biobank, the University of Michigan Precision Health initiative, and the University of Michigan George O'Brien Kidney Translational Resource Center, where he directs the Research Development Core. He also serves as Chair of the American Heart Association's Cardio-Oncology Subcommittee and as Editorial Lead for Cardio-Oncology at the American College of Cardiology.

Before joining UTMB, Dr. Hayek spent nearly a decade at the University of Michigan's Frankel Cardiovascular Center, where he founded the cardio-oncology program and served as Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Center Clinics. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications, many in high-impact journals, with research recognized through the American College of Cardiology Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist Award, the American Heart Association Samuel A. Levine Early Career Investigator Award, the Juanita L. Merchant Early Career Endowment, and the Jerome W. Conn Award for Excellence in Research. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2026.