Larisa Cavallari, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCP, FAHA, a professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has been elected a fellow of the American Heart Association — one of the world’s most renowned organizations for treating cardiovascular disease and stroke.
American Heart Association, or AHA, fellowships are awarded to physicians, scientists and other health care professionals whose scientific and professional accomplishments contribute to the organization’s mission and improve human health. Cavallari’s fellowship was conferred by the AHA’s Council on Clinical Cardiology.
“It is a great honor to be elected as a fellow of the AHA, an organization devoted to improving the lives of patients with heart disease and serving as the professional home for many giants in the field,” said Cavallari, who holds the Debbie DeSantis Excellence Professorship at UF. “The AHA provided important support for my research early in my career, and ever since, I have made it a priority to repay that generosity through service.”
Cavallari joined the UF College of Pharmacy in 2014 and has served as director and co-director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine and director of the UF Health Precision Medicine Program. Her research involves the discovery and clinical translation of genetic variants related to drug response, and she has secured more than $10 million in grant funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the AHA.
Cavallari’s involvement with the AHA spans more than two decades. She first joined the organization in 2003 and has presented at multiple AHA Scientific Sessions and the organization’s International Stroke Conference. She has served on multiple AHA grant review committees, reviewed abstracts for the annual Scientific sessions and co-authored an AHA scientific statement on genetic testing for oral P2Y12 inhibitor therapy. Since 2023, she has served on the Council on Clinical Cardiology Clinical Pharmacology Committee.
This marks Cavallari’s second fellowship election, as she is also a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.