Richard P. Shannon, MD

Dr. Richard Shannon is the Frank Wister Thomas Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Dr. Shannon first came to Penn in October of 2006 as Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs and shortly thereafter was named Senior Vice Chair by Dean Arthur Rubenstein. In August 2007, Dr. Shannon was appointed Chairman of the Department of Medicine. Dr. Shannon received his BA from Princeton University and his MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He did his training in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital, his cardiovascular training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and was the Francis Weld Peabody fellow and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School before becoming the Claude R. Joyner Professor of Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine and the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Allegheny General Hospital. Both Harvard Medical School and Drexel University College of Medicine have honored him with numerous teaching awards.

His investigative interests are in the area of myocardial metabolism and retroviral infection. Currently, his work focuses on incretin hormone biology in cardiovascular disease. His laboratory is one of only a few such laboratories conducting translational research in conscious, chronically instrumented primates, canines and swine. Dr. Shannon’s current work is funded through three NIH RO-1 grants and he holds the US patent 7,192,922 on the application of GLP-1 in LV Systolic Dysfunction. Over 20 post doctoral and clinical cardiology fellows have trained in his laboratory.

Dr. Shannon’s pioneering work in patient safety has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and ABC’s "20/20", and he has served as a mentor for the IHI 100,000 Lives campaign. His work on patient safety was recently a centerpiece for the PBS feature entitled "Remaking American Medicine." He also sits on the Governor’s Special Panel on Patient Safety and is a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council. He has served as a consultant to the Delmarva Foundation, The Safest in America Consortium, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the New York City Business Group on Health, and the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.