Adrienne Kovacs PhD, CPsych

Dr. Kovacs earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Memphis and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Florida and the University of Toronto. She then spent 17 years as a clinician, faculty member, researcher, and educator fully integrated within cardiology divisions, first with the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at University Health Network (2004-2015). In 2016, she moved to Portland, Oregon to establish the Behavioral Cardiovascular Program at the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. She was promoted to Full Professor in the Department of Medicine in 2020.

Dr. Kovacs has given over 145 national and international invited presentations and has over 130 publications. She led the 2022 American Heart Association scientific statement on psychological outcomes and interventions in congenital heart disease and has been a co-author on several other scientific statements and position papers from the American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology.

Dr. Kovacs is the past president of the International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease, the first non-physician to hold this position. She remains a fierce advocate for the psychological needs of individuals living with cardiovascular disease.

In addition, Dr. Kovacs has first-hand experience and observations of the demands of academic medicine. In recognition of her unique perspective, she has been invited to give presentations focused on clinician psychological well-being and burnout to local, national, and international audiences.

In late 2021, Dr. Kovacs returned to her hometown of Toronto, Canada, and transitioned to private practice and consulting, focusing on the psychological health of adults living with heart disease as well as health care professionals. She is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to contribute to patient and clinician well-being in novel ways.