A. Jamil Tajik, M.D., F.A.C.C.

2005 Ellis Island Medal of Honor Recipient

Dr. A. Jamil Tajik is the Thomas J. Watson, Jr., Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Chairman Emeritus of Sheikh Zayed Cardiovascular Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Dr. Tajik is currently the Consultant in Cardiovascular Diseases at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Dr. Tajik received his medical degree from King Edward Medical College Lahore, Pakistan in 1965 and completed Residency and Fellowship in Cardiology at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. From 1972 to present, he has served as a Consultant in the Mayo Cardiovascular Division. He was Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory from 1980 - 1992 and Chairman of the Cardiovascular Division from 1993 - 2002. In 2003 he was appointed as the Director of Mayo Cardiovascular International.

Dr. Tajik is an active member of several professional societies and organizations including the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Society of Echocardiography, International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and Heart Valve Society of America. He served as the Chairman of Echocardiography Committees of the American Heart Association, as well as American College of Cardiology. He was also the Chairman of the International Committee of the American College of Cardiology. He is a member of the Editorial Board of several prestigious cardiology journals.

Dr. Tajik has a passion for teaching. He was named “Teacher of the Year” by the Cardiovascular Fellows on five occasions and received the prestigious Melvin L. Marcus Memorial Award for distinguished contribution as “Gifted Teacher in Cardiology” in 2000. He has been the director/co-director of a large number of cardiology courses including 25 programs at the ACC Learning Center “Heart House” and 50 American College of Cardiology/American Society of Echo extramural courses. He also co-directed international courses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Kuwait, Egypt, Pakistan and UAE. Dr. Tajik was the Director and permanent host of the award-winning tele-education program “Cardiology Today and Tomorrow”. This program was broadcast live to over 1500 sites in the United States and Canada and to 15 international sites.

His major areas of teaching and research include echocardiography, adult congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, valvular heart disease, pericardial diseases, and diastolic heart failure. Dr. Tajik also has a special interest in preventative cardiology and was the driving force behind a countywide (Olmsted County, MN, U.S.A.) prevention project called Cardiovision 2020. His bibliography to date includes over 550 articles and book chapters. He has also co-authored seven books. Dr. Tajik holds several U.S. patents on ultrasound catheter-based technology. He presented the prestigious Edler Lecture at the American Society of Echocardiography in 2000 and the Herrick Lecture at the American Heart Association meeting in Illinois in 2000. He presented the Euro Echo Lecture in 2001, the Bishop Lecture at the American College of Cardiology meeting in 2003, the Population Sciences Lecture at the annual European Society of Cardiology meeting in 2004, Modena Lecture at the Italian International Congress in 2005, Morgagni Lecture at the Italian Cardiac Society in 2005, the Hagege Lecture at the French Society of Cardiology in 2006, the William Harvey Lecture at the University of Padova, Italy in 2007 and the State-of-the-Art lecture at the Annual Japanese Circulation Society meeting in 2009.

Dr. Tajik has received many awards and special recognitions including the Distinguished Alumnus Award presented by the King Edward Medical College Alumni Association (North America) in 2000. He received the Medal of Merit in 2001 from the International Society for Heart Research. He was named the Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Cardiology in 2003. He also received the Echo Pioneer Award in 2003. Dr. Tajik was presented the Medal of Excellence by His Majesty the late King Hussein of Jordan in 1996. He was inducted as an Honorary Fellow in the Hungarian Cardiac Society in 2003, Mexican Cardiac Society and the Italian Cardiac Societies in 2005 and Japanese College of Cardiology in 2008. He received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award in 2005. He was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences in July 2005. He was an invited participant in the Clinton Global Initiative Conference in September 2005. He received the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine Outstanding Mentorship Award in 2005. An Annual Tajik-Seward Echo Lecture was established in 2006 by Mayo Echo colleagues. Japanese Society of Echocardiography honored him by establishing the Annual A. Jamil Tajik Young Investigator Award in 2008. Dr. Tajik received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” of the American Society of Echo in June 2009.

Dr. Tajik is married to the former Zeest Sheikh of Lahore, Pakistan and they are the proud parents of 5 children and 3 grandchildren. Their hobby is traveling and through their travels, they have formed strong bonds of friendships throughout the world.

She received a B.S. in industrial engineering from Stanford University and an MBA in finance from Columbia University.

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