Jennifer Thibodeau, M.D.
Medical Director, Heart Failure; Medical Director, ECMO Program
Associate Professor

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.

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.

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)

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

Featured Publications

Subclinical myocardial injury and the phenotype of clinical congestion in patients with heart failure and reduced left ventrcular ejection fraction.

Thibodeau JT, Pham DD, Kelly SA, Ayers CR, Garg S, Grodin JL, Drazner MH, J Card Fail 2021 Sep

Identifying Discordance of Right- and Left-Ventricular Filling Pressures in Patients with Heart Failure by the Clinical Examination.

Pham D, Drazner MH, Ayers CR, Grodin JL, Hardin EA, Garg S, Mammen PPA, Amin A, Araj FG, Morlend RM, Thibodeau JT, Circ Heart Fail 2021 Sep

2020 ACC/AHA Clinical Performance and Quality Measures for Adults With Heart Failure: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Performance Measures.

Heidenreich PA, Fonarow GC, Breathett K, Jurgens CY, Pisani BA, Pozehl BJ, Spertus JA, Taylor KG, Thibodeau JT, Yancy CW, Ziaeian B, J Am Coll Cardiol 2020 Nov 76 21 2527-2564

Telehealth for Uptitration of Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy in Heart Failure.

Thibodeau JT, Gorodeski EZ, Circulation 2020 Oct 142 16 1507-1509

Virtual Visits for Care of Patients with Heart Failure in the Era of COVID-19: A Statement from the Heart Failure Society of America.

Gorodeski EZ, Goyal P, Cox ZL, Thibodeau JT, Reay RE, Rasmusson K, Rogers JG, Starling RC, J Card Fail 2020 Jun 26 6 448-456

Delayed febrile response with bloodstream infections in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices.

Wrobel CA, Drazner MH, Ayers CR, Pham DD, La Hoz RM, Grodin JL, Garg S, Mammen PPA, Morlend RM, Araj F, Amin AA, Cornwell WK, Thibodeau JT J. Investig. Med. 2019 Mar 67 3 653-658

The Role of the Clinical Examination in Patients With Heart Failure.

Thibodeau JT, Drazner MH JACC Heart Fail 2018 Jul 6 7 543-551

Impact of bendopnea on postoperative outcomes in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing aortic valve replacement.

Dominguez-Rodriguez A, Thibodeau JT, Ayers CR, Jimenez-Sosa A, Garrido P, Montoto J, Prada-Arrondo PC, Abreu-Gonzalez P, Drazner MH Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg 2018 Jun

Discordant Perceptions of Prognosis and Treatment Options Between Physicians and Patients With Advanced Heart Failure.

Ambardekar AV, Thibodeau JT, DeVore AD, Kittleson MM, Forde-McLean RC, Palardy M, Mountis MM, Cadaret L, Teuteberg JJ, Pamboukian SV, Xie R, Stevenson LW, Stewart GC JACC Heart Fail 2017 Sep 5 9 663-671

Bendopnea and risk of adverse clinical outcomes in ambulatory patients with systolic heart failure.

Thibodeau JT, Jenny BE, Maduka JO, Divanji PH, Ayers CR, Araj F, Amin AA, Morlend RM, Mammen PP, Drazner MH Am. Heart J. 2017 Jan 183 102-107

• 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)

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