Wikipedia

Draft:Jennifer M Kwan

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Jennifer M. Kwan MD PhD is an American cardiologist, cardio-oncologist, and physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine, where she is an assistant professor of medicine in cardiovascular medicine.[1][2]

Kwan's academic work focuses on cardio-oncology, cardiovascular imaging, clonal hematopoiesis, and the use of artificial intelligence and multi-omics approaches to study cardiovascular risk in patients with cancer.[1][3][4] Her research has included studies of immune-checkpoint-inhibitor myocarditis, cardiomyopathy during cancer therapy, and clonal hematopoiesis in cardio-oncology cohorts.[5][6][7]

In addition to her clinical and research work, Kwan has been involved in physician-scientist education, workforce advocacy, and technology translation.[8][9] She is a co-founder of the American Junior Investigator Association, has co-chaired a National Academy of Medicine workshop on physician-scientist career pathways, and is listed by Yale Ventures as an investigator for Genomix AI, a cardiovascular and digital-health technology company.[10][9][11]

Education and training

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Kwan earned a BA with honors in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed MD/PhD training through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the UI Chicago.[1][12]

During her doctoral training in biochemistry and molecular genetics, Kwan studied the insulin–PI3K–Akt pathway, adipogenesis, and tumorigenesis. Her dissertation examined Akt regulation of Skp2 and its role in white and brown adipose tissue formation and escape from contact inhibition.[13] Related work was published in The EMBO Journal in a study on Akt-dependent Skp2 mRNA translation in contact inhibition, oncogenesis, and adipogenesis.[14]

After completing her MD/PhD training, Kwan completed resident and postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois Chicago, including NHLBI-supported T32 postdoctoral fellowship training, and was a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Francisco.[1][2] Her postdoctoral research included epidemiologic and translational studies of obesity and renal transplant outcomes, including a 2016 PLOS ONE study using transplant-registry data to evaluate obesity as an independent risk factor for adverse renal transplant outcomes.[15] She later completed cardiovascular medicine, cardio-oncology, and advanced cardiac imaging training at Yale School of Medicine.[1][4]

Academic career

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Kwan joined the Yale School of Medicine faculty in 2022 and serves as assistant professor of medicine in the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine.[16][1] She is affiliated with Yale's Cardio-Oncology Program, Human and Translational Immunology Program, Yale Cardiovascular Research Center, Yale Biomedical Imaging Institute, and related research programs.[1]

At Yale, Kwan leads a translational research laboratory studying clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), somatic variants, and cardiovascular outcomes. The Kwan Lab uses multi-omics and AI approaches, including genomics, cytokine and biomarker profiling, engineered heart tissues, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, to investigate how CHIP and related variants affect cardiovascular health.[3]

Her faculty research has focused on mechanisms of cardiotoxicity from cancer therapies, including immunotherapy-mediated myocarditis, and on the role of clonal hematopoiesis and somatic variants in heart failure and cardio-oncology populations.[16][12] Biographical sources list her as the recipient of NIH KL2 and R56 awards supporting work that applies artificial intelligence, radiomics, and multi-omics approaches to predict cardiovascular outcomes and identify therapeutic targets.[4][10]

Among Kwan's mentees was Nathan Chen, an Olympic figure-skating champion and Yale statistics and data science major who worked in Kwan's lab as an undergraduate researcher.[8] Chen contributed to genomics and cardio-oncology research in the lab, including work on somatic-variant calling pipelines for cardiovascular disease and heart failure and genetic analysis related to PRKAG2 syndrome.[17] Yale School of Medicine reported that Chen received an American Heart Association undergraduate research award to continue research in genomics and cardiovascular outcomes.[8] Chen was listed as a coauthor on a 2024 Cardio-Oncology study of clonal hematopoiesis and immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis.[7] His senior thesis performed in the Kwan lab in collaboration with the Jha lab, Utilizing Deep Learning to Predict Somatic Variant Pathogenicity, received the Yale Department of Statistics and Data Science's S&DS Outstanding Thesis Award.[18] Kwan and Chen also collaborated on a Yale video series about physician-scientists and biomedical research.[8][17]

Research

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Cardio-oncology

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Kwan's research focuses on cardiovascular complications associated with cancer therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, anthracyclines, HER2-targeted therapies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and cellular immunotherapies.[1][19][20]

Her studies have investigated the incidence, diagnosis, and outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis and cardiomyopathy, including the application of advanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging techniques to improve diagnosis and monitoring.[21][5]

Kwan has coauthored multiple clinical, translational, and imaging-based studies on cardiovascular toxicities associated with contemporary cancer therapies and has contributed to the cardio-oncology literature through studies of immune checkpoint inhibitors, breast cancer therapies, cellular immunotherapy, and multimodality cardiovascular imaging.[19][21][20][5]

Clonal hematopoiesis

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A major focus of Kwan's research is clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), an age-related condition involving somatic mutations in hematopoietic stem cells and its interface with cardio-oncology.[3][6]

Her work has examined associations between CHIP and cardiovascular disease in patients with cancer, including heart failure, cardiomyopathy, adverse cardiovascular events, and immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis. In a prospective cardio-oncology cohort, Kwan and colleagues reported that CHIP was associated with cardiomyopathy during solid-tumor therapy.[6] In a separate prospective study of patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, Kwan and colleagues reported that CHIP was associated with increased risk of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis.[7]

Kwan and colleagues also evaluated the prognostic utility of the Clonal Hematopoiesis Risk Score (CHRS) in a cardio-oncology cohort, reporting an association between elevated CHRS and mortality risk.[22]

Kwan has also led translational studies using cytokine profiling, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, engineered heart tissues, genomics, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and machine learning approaches to investigate biological mechanisms linking CHIP to cardiovascular disease.[3]

Artificial intelligence and cardiovascular imaging

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Kwan has collaborated on machine-learning and deep-learning approaches for cardiovascular imaging and cardio-oncology risk prediction. Kwan, in collaboration with Dr Alok Jha, used multi-view late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance images from a cardio-oncology cohort to train a deep-learning model for identifying CHIP status and stratifying future cardiomyopathy risk.[23]

Her work also includes the use of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and multimodal data to identify cardiovascular risk factors and monitor cardiovascular outcomes in patients with cancer.[20][5] Her review work has discussed the role of artificial intelligence, big data, and multimodality cardiovascular imaging in early detection and monitoring of cancer therapy-associated cardiotoxicity.[19]

In 2026, former NBA champion, Survivor Star, heart transplant recipient and featured in ESPN documentary [24][25] Scot Pollard traveled to Yale School of Medicine to undergo advanced cardiovascular evaluation and enroll in Kwan's research program, in collaboration with Dr. Alok Jha, focused on precision medicine for heart transplant recipients. The effort leverages multimodal data, including genomics, immune profiling, and advanced cardiac imaging, to develop next-generation AI foundation models capable of improving prognostication, risk stratification, and personalized care after heart transplantation. Pollard's participation reflects growing interest in applying cutting-edge predictive technologies to optimize long-term transplant outcomes; this was highlighted in a CT news 12 segment. [26]

Entrepreneurship

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In addition to her academic research, Kwan is a co-founder of Genomix AI, a healthcare technology company focused on leveraging artificial intelligence, genomics, cardiovascular imaging, and clinical data to support personalized cardiovascular care.[11][27][28]

The technology seeks to integrate multimodal data sources, including imaging, genomic information, and electronic health records, to improve cardiovascular risk prediction and individualized treatment strategies.[27][29][28]

Physician-scientist workforce advocacy

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Kwan has been active in national physician-scientist workforce advocacy, with work focused on physician-scientist training, recruitment, retention, career development, diversity in the physician-scientist pipeline, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on trainees and faculty.[8][4][12]

Her studies on physician-scientist training include Exploring Intentions of Physician-Scientist Trainees: Factors Influencing MD and MD/PhD Interest in Research Careers, published in BMC Medical Education, and A Nationwide Assessment of Perceptions of Research-Intense Academic Careers Among Predoctoral MD and MD-PhD Trainees, published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.[30][31] She also coauthored The Impact of COVID-19 on Physician-Scientist Trainees and Faculty in the United States: A National Survey, published in Academic Medicine, and the JAMA Network Open commentary Improving Support for Physician Scientists—Mind the (Funding) Gap.[32][33] These works examined career intentions, perceived barriers to research-intensive academic careers, pandemic-related stress and productivity effects, and funding challenges affecting physician-scientists.[30][31][32][33]

Kwan has served on the board of directors of the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) and has contributed to APSA initiatives supporting physician-scientist trainees and early-career physician-scientists.[4][12] The Society for Women's Health Research states that she has spearheaded APSA advocacy efforts and initiatives supporting physician-scientist trainees and early-career physician-scientists, including advocacy related to NIH funding.[4]

In 2024, Kwan co-founded the American Junior Investigator Association (AJIA), an organization focused on supporting early-career physician-scientists through mentorship, advocacy, networking, and career-development initiatives.[10][34] AJIA lists Kwan as a co-founder and director and states that she leads national studies, partnerships, and advocacy efforts to advance physician-scientist careers and increase biomedical research funding.[10]

Kwan has also participated in National Academy of Medicine initiatives on sustaining the biomedical research workforce. In 2025, she co-chaired a National Academy of Medicine workshop, held in collaboration with AJIA, on pathways for retaining and supporting physician-scientists.[9] In 2026, the National Academy of Medicine listed Kwan as a member of the financing working group for its Physician-Scientist Initiative.[35]

Public engagement and media

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Kwan has provided public-facing commentary on cardiovascular risk, screening, and prevention. In 2026, she was quoted by National Geographic in an article on lipoprotein(a), cardiovascular risk, coronary calcium testing, and lifestyle approaches to heart health.[36]

Yale School of Medicine lists Kwan's public-facing news appearances as including coverage in National Geographic, News 12 Connecticut, and Google Research.[1]

Awards and honors

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Kwan's awards and research support include NIH KL2 and R56 awards for work applying artificial intelligence, radiomics, and multi-omics approaches to cardiovascular outcomes and therapeutic target discovery.[4] She also received an NIH/NHLBI T32 postdoctoral fellowship in cardiology.[2]

Her research and trainee honors include the Ervin G. Erdös and Sara F. Rabito Erdös Prize for Excellence in Basic Sciences, the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine Research First Place Gold Prize, a University of Illinois Chicago Department of Medicine first-place outstanding poster award, and an American Thoracic Society research scholarship.[2]

Other recognitions listed by Yale include selection as a finalist in the Northwestern Cardiovascular Young Investigator Research Forum, a Yale Medical Education grant as co-investigator, and National Collegiate Scholar recognition.[34]

Selected publications

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Physician-scientist workforce

Cardio-oncology and imaging

Clonal hematopoiesis and cardio-oncology

Professional affiliations

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Kwan is listed as a member of the American Heart Association Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine's GPM & EPI Molecular Determinants of Cardiovascular Health Committee.[37]

Her professional service has also included leadership and advocacy roles in physician-scientist organizations, including the American Physician Scientists Association and the American Junior Investigator Association.[4][10]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Jennifer M. Kwan, MD, PhD". Yale School of Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Jennifer M. Kwan, MD, PhD". Yale Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Kwan Lab". Yale School of Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Jennifer M. Kwan, MD, PhD". Society for Women's Health Research. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Shen, Miles; Akhlaghi, Narjes; et al. (2024). "Adverse cardiovascular events and cardiac imaging findings in patients on immune checkpoint inhibitors". PLOS ONE. 19 (12): e0314555. Bibcode:2024PLoSO..1914555K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0314555. PMC 11611253. PMID 39621799.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  6. 1 2 3 Leveille, Etienne; Chehayeb, Rachel Jaber; Matute-Martinez, Carlos; Kwan, Jennifer M. (2024). "Clonal Hematopoiesis Is Associated With Cardiomyopathy During Solid Tumor Therapy". JACC: CardioOncology. 6 (4): 605–607. doi:10.1016/j.jaccao.2024.05.013. PMC 11372300. PMID 39239339.
  7. 1 2 3 Jaber Chehayeb, Rachel; Singh, Jaiveer; Matute-Martinez, Carlos; et al. (2024). "Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential Is Associated With Increased Risk of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Myocarditis in a Prospective Study of a Cardio-Oncology Cohort". Cardio-Oncology. 10 (1) 84. doi:10.1186/s40959-024-00289-z. PMC 11590368. PMID 39587635.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Parry, Julie (21 June 2023). "Physician-Scientists Are "Endangered Species"". Yale School of Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 "Sustaining the Biomedical Workforce: Innovative Pathways for Retaining and Supporting Physician-Scientists". National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet Our Leadership Team". American Junior Investigator Association. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Genomix AI". Yale Ventures. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Jennifer M Kwan, MD, PhD". 2023 AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  13. ↑ Kwan, Jennifer M. (2012). Akt Regulation of Adipogenesis: Implications for Skp2 Involvement (Thesis). University of Illinois Chicago. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Nogueira, V.; Sundararajan, D.; Kwan, J. M.; Peng, X. D.; Sarvepalli, N.; Sonenberg, N.; Hay, N. (2012). "Akt-dependent Skp2 mRNA translation is required for exiting contact inhibition, oncogenesis, and adipogenesis". The EMBO Journal. 31 (5): 1134–1146. doi:10.1038/emboj.2011.478. PMC 3297989. PMID 22307088.
  15. ↑ Kwan, Jennifer M.; Hajjiri, Zahraa; Metwally, Ahmed; Finn, Patricia W.; Perkins, David L. (2016). "Effect of the Obesity Epidemic on Kidney Transplantation: Obesity Is Independent of Diabetes as a Risk Factor for Adverse Renal Transplant Outcomes". PLOS ONE. 11 (11): e0165712. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1165712K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165712. PMC 5112887. PMID 27851743.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  16. 1 2 "Yale Cardiovascular Medicine Appoints Fellows to Faculty Positions". Yale School of Medicine. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  17. 1 2 Reitman, Elisabeth (19 July 2023). "New Frontiers in Cardiovascular Research: Jennifer M. Kwan, MD, PhD and Nathan Chen". Yale School of Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  18. ↑ "Congratulations to our graduates!". Department of Statistics and Data Science. Yale University. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  19. 1 2 3 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Oikonomou, Evangelos K.; Henry, Mariana L.; Sinusas, Albert J. (2022). "Multimodality Advanced Cardiovascular and Molecular Imaging for Early Detection and Monitoring of Cancer Therapy-Associated Cardiotoxicity and the Role of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data". Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 9 829553. doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.829553. PMC 8964995. PMID 35369354.
  20. 1 2 3 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Arbune, Andreea; Henry, Michelle L.; et al. (2023). "Quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance findings and clinical risk factors predict cardiovascular outcomes in breast cancer patients". PLOS ONE. 18 (5): e0286364. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0286364. PMC 10228774. PMID 37252927.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  21. 1 2 Higgins, Angela Y.; Arbune, Amit; Soufer, Aaron; et al. (2021). "Left ventricular myocardial strain and tissue characterization by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in immune checkpoint inhibitor associated cardiotoxicity". PLOS ONE. 16 (2): e0246764. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1646764H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246764. PMC 7891751. PMID 33606757.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  22. ↑ Singh, Jaiveer; Chehayeb, Rachel Jaber; Im, Yunju; et al. (2025). "Clonal Hematopoiesis Risk Score (CHRS) Evaluation as a Prognostic Marker for Death in Cardio-Oncology Cohort". JACC: Advances. 4 (12 Pt 2): 102290. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102290. PMC 12793842. PMID 41205546.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  23. ↑ Xing, Jiarui; Ryu, Sangeon; Ahn, Shawn; Espinoza, Jeacy; Cross, James L.; Halene, Stephanie; Duncan, James S.; Jha, Alokkumar; Kwan, Jennifer M.; Dvornek, Nicha C. (2026). "Assessment of Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential and Future Cardiomyopathy from Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging using Deep Learning in a Cardio-oncology Population". arXiv:2406.18508 [eess.IV].
  24. ↑ Heart of Pearl. ESPN. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  25. ↑ Haduck, Alyssa (15 June 2025). "Heart of Pearl: 11-year NBA veteran Scot Pollard and the emergency transplant that saved his life". ESPN. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  26. ↑ Karashik, Robyn (1 June 2026). "'We didn't ask for this.' NBA champion Scot Pollard gets advanced heart transplant testing done by Yale School of Medicine". News 12 Connecticut. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  27. 1 2 "Genomix AI — Precision Heart Failure, Decoded". Genomix AI. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  28. 1 2 "Genomix AI Pitch Presentation" (PDF). Yale Ventures. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  29. ↑ "AI-Powered Personalized Heart Health". Yale Ventures. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  30. 1 2 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Daye, Dania; Schmidt, Mary Lou; et al. (2017). "Exploring intentions of physician-scientist trainees: factors influencing MD and MD/PhD interest in research careers". BMC Medical Education. 17 (1) 115. doi:10.1186/s12909-017-0954-8. PMC 5505137. PMID 28697782.
  31. 1 2 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Toubat, Omar; Harrison, Andrew M.; et al. (2020). "A nationwide assessment of perceptions of research-intense academic careers among predoctoral MD and MD-PhD trainees". Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 4 (4): 307–316. doi:10.1017/cts.2020.18. PMC 7681110. PMID 33244411.
  32. 1 2 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Noch, Evan; Qiu, Yiming; et al. (2022). "The Impact of COVID-19 on Physician-Scientist Trainees and Faculty in the United States: A National Survey". Academic Medicine. 97 (10): 1536–1545. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000004802. PMC 9547818. PMID 35921163.
  33. 1 2 Kwan, Jennifer M.; Gross, Cary P. (2023). "Improving Support for Physician Scientists—Mind the (Funding) Gap". JAMA Network Open. 6 (9): e2332982. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.32982. PMID 37725379.
  34. 1 2 "Achievement Search: Jennifer M. Kwan, MD, PhD". Yale School of Medicine. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "NAM Initiative Will Strengthen Physician-Scientist Workforce and Advance Biomedical Innovation". National Academy of Medicine. 20 May 2026. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  36. ↑ Weintraub, Karen (14 May 2026). "This lesser-known cholesterol can quadruple your heart-attack risk". National Geographic. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  37. ↑ "Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine Committees". American Heart Association Professional Heart Daily. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
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