George Stouffer

George "Rick" Stouffer is an American cardiologist who is Chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of North Carolina Medical Center, where he is a practicing interventional cardiologist. Stouffer was awarded the Ernest and Hazel Craige Distinguished Professorship of Medicine in 2018; prior to that he was the Henry A. Foscue Distinguished Professor of Medicine. Stouffer is also co-director of the McAllister Heart Institute. He is known for his research regarding inpatient ST elevation myocardial infarctions.

Education and Training Stouffer attended Bucknell University and graduated magna cum laude in 1980. During his time at Bucknell, Stouffer was inducted into both the Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi honor societies. Stouffer attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. Stouffer's group has published the largest study on "inpatient" STEMIs and also developed a quality improvement program to expedite treatment of these patients. Stouffer's laboratory has a long-standing interest in understanding the direct effects of thrombin on smooth muscle cells (SMC). Stouffer's laboratory is also interested in the role that β3 integrins play in mediating SMC responses to thrombin. His studies have focused on identifying mechanisms whereby β3 integrins mediate responses to thrombin and other SMC agonists.

Stouffer's early studies examined the mechanisms by which soluble growth factors stimulate smooth muscle cell proliferation.

Textbooks Stouffer has published three textbooks: Cardiology Board Review: ECG, Hemodynamic and Angiographic Unknowns (2019); Practical ECG Interpretation: Clues to Heart Disease in Young Adults (2009); and Cardiovascular Hemodynamics for the Clinician (2008; second edition in 2017).

Personal life Stouffer lives in Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Meg, have four adult children.