Benjamin J. Ansell, MD

Benjamin J. Ansell, MD, received a dual undergraduate degree with distinction in Biology and as a College Scholar in Music from Cornell University, followed by his Doctor of Medicine from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He subsequently performed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Ansell currently serves as Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in the Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Cardiology. He is also Director of the Comprehensive Health Program, Co-Director of Cholesterol, Hypertension, and Atherosclerosis Management Program (CHAMP) and the Medical Hospitality Program at UCLA.

Dr. Ansell is a member of the American Heart Association Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, and certified by the American Boards of Internal Medicine and Clinical Lipidology. He has been elected as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Cardiology, and the National Lipid Association. He is a member of the Board of the National Lipid Association, past member of the Board of the Pacific Lipid Association, past President of the Executive Board of the UCLA Department of Medicine Professional Group, and current member of the Managed Care Utilization Review Committee of the UCLA Medical Group.

Dr. Ansell is the founder and director of the Cardiovascular Discovery Fund, which supports promising novel developments in heart disease and related conditions. He has also served as a Director of the Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) since 2009. Listed among Castle-Connolly's "America's Top Doctors" and chosen by Town & Country magazine as one of the "Best Physicians in America," Dr. Ansell has a range of research experience relating to cholesterol treatment strategies in preventing and managing cardiovascular diseases. He has been principal investigator of the hs-CRP and HDL Effects of Statins Trial (CHEST), the Statins/HDL Increased Function Trial (SHIFT), and the Statin Anti-Rheumatic Activity (SARA) Trial. He is on the review boards of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, The American Journal of Cardiology, and the Journal of General Internal Medicine, among others. He has delivered approximately two hundred invited lectures, as well as published 40 peer-reviewed papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, Archives of Internal Medicine, and the American Journal of Cardiology, among others. His publications have focused on HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and inflammation, cholesterol management, stroke reduction, cardiovascular risk reduction in women, and national cholesterol guidelines. He has also been featured by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, Glamour Magazine, ABC World News Tonight, MSNBC, and Dateline NBC.