Benjamin Levine, MD

Professor
Endowed Title: Distinguished Professorship in Exercise Sciences
Internal Medicine

Contact Information

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390

benjamin.levine@utsouthwestern.edu

To make an appointment, call 214-645-8300.

Biography

1986-87 - Staff Physician, Himalayan Rescue Association, Pheriche, Nepal 1990-96 - Assistant Professor of Medicine; 1997-02- Associate Professor of Medicine; 2002-Present- Professor of Medicine, Cardiology, UTSWMC 1992-Present - Director, Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and UTSWMC 1993-98 - Unit Director, Cardiovascular, NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (Director C. Gunnar Blomqvist, M.D., PH.D. 1996- Present - Human Research Facility (Space Station) Scientific Working Group 1998-01- National Space Biomedical Research Institute Board of Scientific Counselors 2001-2004 - Center for Scientific Review - NIH/NHLBI Clinical Cardiovascular Sciences Special Emphasis Panel; 2004-Present, Clinical Integrative Cardiovascular Sciences (CICS) Study Section 2003 - 2006 American Heart Association - Physical Activity Committee, Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2005 - Board of Directors of the American Autonomic Society 2006 - Board of Trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine 2007 - Cardiovascular Team Leader, National Space Biomedical Research Institute 2010 - S. Finley Ewing Jr. Chair for Wellness at Texas Health Presbyterian, Dallas 2010 - Harry S. Moss Heart Chair for Cardiovascular Research 2010 - Professor of Medicine and Cardiology, Distinguished Professor ship in Exercise Science

Education

FellowshipUT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Cardiology (1989)
FellowshipShinshu University School of Medicine, Environmental Physiology (1986)
ResidencyStanford University, Internal Medicine (1985)
InternshipStanford University, Internal Medicine (1983)
Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School (1982)

Research Interests

Cardiovascular adaption to exercise training/exercise physiology
Circulatory control including autonomic function mechanism of orthostatic hypotension
Deconditioning (bedrest & spaceflight)
High Altitude Physiology
Regulation of the cerebral circulation

Publications

Featured
Persistent sympathetic activation during chronic antihypertensive therapy: A potential mechanism for long term morbidity?

Q, Zhang R, Witkowski S, Arbab-Zadeh A, Prasad A, Okazaki K, Levine BD , Hypertension , 2005; (45:):513-521

Featured
Effect of Aging and Physical Activity on Left Ventricular Compliance

Arbab-Zadeh A, Dijk E, Prasad A, Fu Q, Torres P, Zhang R, Thoma JD, Palmer DM, Levine BD , Circulation , 2004; (110 (13)):1799-1805

Featured
Human muscle sympathetic neural and haemodynamic responses to tilt following spaceflight

Levine, Pawelczyk JA, Ertl AC, Cox JF, et. al. , J of Physiology , 2002; (538):331-340

Featured
Deterioration of left ventricular chamber performance after bed rest: "Cardiovascular deconditioning" or hypovolemia?

Perhonen M, Zuckerman JH, Levine BD , Circulation , 2001; (103):1851-1857

Featured
Living-high training low: effect of moderate-altitude acclimatization with low-altitude training on performance

Levine BD, Stray-Gundersen J , J Appl Physiol , 1997; (83(1)):102-112

Coronary Artery Calcium Score, Risk Factors and Incident CHD Events

Church T, Levine BD, McGuire D, LaMonte MJ, FitzGerald SJ, Cheng YJ, Kimball TE, Blair SN, Gibbons LW, Nichaman MZ , Atherosclerosis , 2007; (190(1)):224-31

Human cerebral autoregulation before, during, and after spaceflight

Iwasaki K, Levine BD, Zhang R, Zuckerman JH, Pawelczyk JA, Diedrich A, Ertl AC, Cox JF, Giller CA, Ray CA, Lane LD, Buckey JC, Baisch F, Eckberg DL, Robertson D, Biaggioni I, Blomqvist G , Journal of Physiology , 2007; (579(3)):799-810

The effects of aging and physical activity on Doppler measures of diastolic function

Prasad A, Popovic ZP, Arbab-Zadeh A, Fu Q, Palmer DM, Dijk E, Garcia MJ, Thomas JD, Levine BD , American Journal of Cardiology , 2007; (99):1629-36

Autonomic ganglionic blockade does not prevent reduction in cerebral blood flow velocity during orthostasis in humans

Zhang R, Levine BD , Stroke , 2007; (38 (4)):1238-44,

A cascade model of ventricular-arterial coupling and arterial-cardiac baroreflex function for cardiovascular variability in humans

Shibata S, Zhang R, Hastings J, Fu Q, Okazaki K, Iwasaki K, Levine BD , Am J Physiol: Heart and Circulatory Physiology , 2006; (291(5)):H2142-51

Honors/Awards

Citation Award: American College of Sports Medicine

For substantial and distinguished contribution to exercise science research (2007)

Michael J. Joyner Teaching Award, Royal Danish Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences

For outstanding teaching in cardiovascular physiology to international trainees (2006)

Peter van Handel Memorial Award

U.S. Olympic Committee award for contribution to sports science (1996)

Fulbright Scholar

International scientific exchange to August Krogh Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark (1989)

Henry Luce Foundation Scholar

National award to individual showing outstanding promise for leadership in respective field (1985)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Autonomic Society

American College of Cardiology

American College of Sports Medicine

American Heart Association

American Physiological Society