Dr. Ravi Thadhani, an Indian-American physician and scientist whose research helped transform the diagnosis of life-threatening pregnancy complications and kidney disease, has been appointed to one of the most senior leadership positions at Cedars-Sinai, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers.Effective September 1, Dr. Thadhani will serve as the institution’s first executive vice president, chief physician executive and dean of the School of Medicine. In the newly created position, he will oversee Cedars-Sinai’s clinical operations, academic programs and research initiatives, while leading its medical education and research ecosystem.
Career spans America’s leading medical institutions
Dr. Thadhani’s career has included some of the most respected figures in American healthcare and academia. Before returning to Cedars-Sinai, he served as executive vice chancellor for health affairs at Emory University and held leadership roles at Emory Healthcare Council and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.Previously, he held senior academic and clinical leadership positions at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Massachusetts Brigham General Hospital. He first joined Cedars-Sinai in 2017 as associate dean for research and education before returning to Harvard as chief academic officer and dean of faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital Brigham General Hospital.In announcing the appointment, Cedars-Sinai President and CEO Peter L. Slavin, Ph.D., described him as a leader with “a rare combination of academic excellence, clinical leadership and scientific innovation.”
The doctors behind pregnancy care breakthroughs
Although Dr. Thadhani has served in a variety of leadership roles, he is perhaps best known for his work as a physician-scientist. As a nephrologist who specializes in kidney disease, he has spent decades studying preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure that can endanger mother and baby if not caught early.His research with other scientists developed the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved test to predict preeclampsia, giving doctors an important tool to more quickly identify high-risk pregnancies and improve patient care.In addition to preeclampsia, his research focuses on renal disease and translational medicine, helping to connect scientific discoveries to real-world clinical practice.
Over 300 research papers and national recognition
Over the course of his career, Dr. Thadhani has authored or co-authored more than 300 scientific papers, and his work has been published in some of the world’s most influential medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).His contributions have earned him some of the highest honors in medicine and science. In 2025, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the nation’s highest honors in health care, and earlier this year, he was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).As he prepares to assume his newly created leadership role, Dr. Tahani will lead one of the nation’s premier healthcare organizations while continuing to advance research, medical education, and patient care—a career built on scientific discovery, innovation, and clinical excellence.