Dr. Sotirios Tsimikas is a practicing Board-Certified Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine and the Director of Vascular Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. He obtained his Medical Degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Internal Medicine training at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and separate fellowships in Cardiovascular Medicine, Atherosclerosis and Molecular Medicine and Interventional Cardiology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center.

He directs a basic and translational research laboratory focused on Lp(a) and oxidized phospholipids as pro-inflammatory mediators of cardiovascular disease, with NIH-R01 funded research. He is the Founding Director of the Vascular Medicine Program within the Cardiovascular Medicine Division. He founded the UCSD “Lp(a) Clinic” as a novel paradigm to diagnose, manage and follow patients with elevated Lp(a). He has published his work in major medical journals, including NEJM, Lancet, Nature, Cell, JACC, Circulation, EHJ, and has over 400 original manuscripts, review articles and book chapters.

In partnership with Dr Joseph Witztum, they defined the role of oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs) in atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation. In translational studies, they demonstrated that OxPL-apoB levels are elevated in individuals at risk for cardiovascular events and serve as both biomarkers and potential causal factors in atherogenesis. Through the development of specific assays and translational studies, they have established OxPL-apoB and OxPL-apo(a) as a mechanistically relevant and clinically actionable target in lipid-driven cardiovascular disease.