Dr. R. Parker Ward is a Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Radiology at the University of Chicago. He received his BA from Middlebury College and attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Chief Medical Resident. He then completed a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Chicago before joining the faculty in 2001. Dr. Ward is an expert in cardiac imaging, including echocardiography and nuclear cardiology, and serves as Director of Nuclear Cardiology/Stress Testing and Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program.
His research interests focus on the application and utilization of cardiac imaging. He has published extensively on these topics and has co-authored multiple national guidelines aimed at improving the appropriateness and cost-effective use of cardiac imaging in clinical care.
Dr. Ward has received multiple awards for outstanding teaching in the internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship programs. He is a past recipient of a national teaching award from the American College of Cardiology and was selected as an AOA Honorary Faculty Inductee by the Pritzker School of Medicine, Class of 2024. He runs a preseason cardiovascular screening program and provides consultative care as a WNBA-designated team cardiologist for the Chicago Sky, and has been named a “Top Doctor” by Chicago Magazine annually since 2018.