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2021 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Bruce Lindsay, M.D.

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Dr. Bruce Lindsay grew up in Haddonfield with a close cohort of friends. In high school, his interests ran to sports including wrestling.  He commented once that he never dreamed he would go to medical school and that “… some of my teachers would be surprised at my professional career”.  He earned his BS degree from Eckerd College ’73 and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1977. He completed a residency at the University of Michigan. 

To pay back his scholarship obligations to the National Health Service Corps, the agency assigned him to an internal medicine practice for three years in East Jordan, Mich., a rural town in the northern part of the state. Treating patients there showed him how little was known about arrhythmias, or abnormalities in the electrical currents that allow the heart to beat.  

Bruce decided to pursue a fellowship in cardiology and study arrhythmias, at Washington University School of Medicine in 1983. He became an expert on the subject.  His mentor, Michael E. Cain, M.D., Dean of the College of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo described Bruce as “… a superb clinician and highly respected at national and international levels as an authority on heart-rhythm abnormalities and their treatment. He is dedicated to his work and is someone who constantly tries to achieve excellence.”

Dr. Lindsay’s research interests focused on identification of patients at risk for sudden cardiac death, indications for Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators, and the development of advanced technologies for ablation of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. He has served as the Director of Electrophysiology at Washington University Medical Center before moving to the Cleveland Clinic in 2008 where he was the Section Head for Electrophysiology and Pacing. He served as Vice Chair of Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic from 2016 to 2019 and was a member of the Executive Committee for the Heart and Vascular Institute. He retired in 2019.

During the course of his career, he has been involved in leading edge research including the implantation of defibrillators without opening a patient’s chest, the use of ablation to treat arrythmia, and treatment strategies for atrial fibrillation. Bruce has worked with Steretotaxis Inc. to develop the Magnetic Navigation System (MNS), which enables heart-rhythm experts to use magnetic fields to guide catheters to treat arrhythmias.  As a result of his indefatigable work, he has co-authored more than 150 peer reviewed publications and lectured at meetings throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, India, and China.  Dr. Mitchell Faddis, a physician trained by Bruce at Washington University St. Louis, described him as “an excellent teacher, a great role model and a gifted physician”.  Faddis noted that, “In spite of his clinical and administrative responsibilities, Bruce remained committed to advancing the field of cardiac electrophysiology through his research efforts.”  

Dr. Lindsay has long recognized the value of professional organizations and has served extensively in national leadership positions.  He chaired the Board of Governors for the American College of Cardiology and was a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. He chaired the Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society in 2006, which was attended by more than 13,000 physicians, nurses, and other allied professionals. He was President of the Heart Rhythm Society in 2008. He also chaired the American Board of Internal Medicine Exam Committee for certification in Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. He served on the National Cardiovascular Data Base Registry Board, contributed to training guidelines for Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology, and was a member of the American College of Cardiology Appropriate Use Task Force. In these positions, he advocated for new health-care policy such as the expansion of Medicare coverage for patients who receive implantable cardiac defibrillators to prevent sudden death.

Retired since 2019, Bruce enjoys traveling with his wife, Elizabeth and family.  Bruce and Elizabeth have three children and seven grandchildren. Shane, is a Physician’s Assistant in the Emergency Department at Augusta University.  Dana, is a nurse who coordinates care in a dialysis unit in Denver; and Marcia, is a Nurse Practitioner in Cardiology at University Hospital in Augusta.