George Akowua Mensah MD, FACC, FCP(SA) Hon

George A. Mensah, M.D., FACC, is a senior advisor in the Immediate Office of the Director at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this position, Dr. Mensah leads an integrative, trans-Institute effort to advance the translation of scientific discoveries in heart, lung, and blood disease research to clinical and public health practice nationally and globally.

Dr. Mensah’s primary focus is in the application of implementation and systems science approaches to address research translation gaps in order to maximize health impact in the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases and the elimination of health inequities.

Dr. Mensah is a clinician-scientist trained in internal medicine and the subspecialty of cardiovascular diseases. His professional experience includes 17 years of public service between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He has had management experience as a chief of cardiology; head of a clinical care department; and the Surgeon General’s nominee to the Board of Governors of the American College of Cardiology as governor for public health.

In addition to his public service at CDC, Dr. Mensah had 10 years of experience in direct patient care, teaching, and research at Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). He was a professor with tenure at MCG, director of the medical specialties practice at the MCG Hospitals & Clinics, and department head of cardiovascular care at the VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. He holds the merit of proficiency from the American Society of Echocardiography and has been designated a “hypertension specialist” by the American Society of Hypertension.