Biography

Jennifer Thibodeau, M.D., M.S.C.S., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where she is also Medical Director of the Heart Failure Program and Medical Director, ECMO.

A cardiologist who specializes in heart failure, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), and cardiac transplantation, Dr. Thibodeau focuses both her clinical and research activities in those areas.

Board certified in cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure/transplant cardiology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2011.

In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Thibodeau instructs and supervises medical students, internal medicine residents, cardiology fellows, and advanced heart failure/transplant cardiology fellows during heart-failure rotations and clinics.

Dr. Thibodeau earned her medical degree at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She completed an internal medicine internship and residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center, serving an additional year as Chief Resident. She completed her fellowships in cardiology and advanced heart failure/transplant cardiology at UT Southwestern. She also holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Georgetown University and a master's degree in clinical sciences from UT Southwestern.

She was a 2012 finalist for the American Heart Association’s Samuel A. Levine Young Clinical Investigator Award and a recipient of the 2015 "Young Author Achievement Award" by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure. Dr. Thibodeau is a clinical researcher involved with a number of clinical trials at UT Southwestern, and her work has been published in major journals, including a study describing a new symptom of heart failure, called bendopnea, or shortness of breath when bending forward.

She is a member of professional organizations that include the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, and the Heart Failure Society of America.

Dr. Thibodeau was named a Texas Rising Star in 2015, 2016, and 2017; and in 2018, she was named a Super Doctor by Texas Monthly.

Education

Medical School
University of Maryland School of Medicine (2003)
Residency
University of Maryland Medical Center (2006), Internal Medicine
Chief Resident
University of Maryland Medical Center (2007), Internal Medicine
Fellowship
UT Southwestern Medical School (2010), Cardiology
Fellowship
UT Southwestern Medical School (2011), Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology
Graduate School
UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (2013)

Research Interest

  • Advanced Heart Failure
  • Cardiac Transplantation
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Hemodynamics
  • Symptoms and physical examination findings of heart failure
  • Ventricular assist devices

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

Honors & Awards

  • Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure's Young Author Achievement Award
    (2015)
  • American Heart Association Samuel A. Levine Young Clinical Investigator Award Finalist
    (2012)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • American College of Cardiology
  • American Heart Association
  • Heart Failure Society of America
  • International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation