1946 – Biography
Yoram Rudy, Ph.D., FHRS was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel. In 1966, he entered the Department of Physics at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where he earned a B.Sc. degree in 1970 and the M.Sc. degree in 1973 conducting research in quantum mechanics. In the fall of 1973 he decided to pursue his interest in the physics of living systems and joined the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. There, he conducted research in bioelectric phenomena under the guidance of Dr. Robert Plonsey, a pioneer in this field of science. Dr. Rudy received his Ph.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1978.
In 1980, Dr. Rudy joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University as an assistant professor. He later became The M. Frank and Margaret C. Rudy Professor of Cardiac Bioelectricity, with academic appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Physiology & Biophysics, and Medicine. In 1994, he established the interdisciplinary Cardiac Bioelectricity Research and Training Center. During his tenure at Case Western Reserve, he also served as a visiting professor in several universities around the world. In 2004, Dr. Rudy moved to Washington University in St Louis where he is currently the Director of the Cardiac Bioelectricity and Arrhythmia Center (CBAC). The Center includes 36 faculty members from basic science and clinical departments, covers the various aspects of cardiac electrophysiology, from genetics and molecular biology to the bedside.
In seminal publications, Dr. Rudy has presented computational approaches to study the mechanisms of cardiac electrical function and arrhythmias at multiple scales, from the molecular structure and function of ion channels at the nanometer level, to the whole cell and the multi-cellular tissue. His work has demonstrated the need for understanding biological mechanisms due to interactions between multiple molecular non-linear processes by integration of experimental findings into complex theoretical models. A more applied aspect of his work has been the development of Electrocardiographic Imaging (ECGI) and its application to patients; an imaging modality for beat-to-beat non-invasive imaging of intracardiac electrical activity and arrhythmias.
Dr. Rudy has been an outstanding citizen of the cardiac electrophysiology community generally, and of the Heart Rhythm Society specifically. He has achieved renown as a teacher, both in the lecture hall and in the printed word, and remains active as a moderator, speaker and faculty member at the annual Heart Rhythm Society’s Scientific Sessions. He has also been extremely generous with his time and support of the scientific and educational missions of the Society, and in 2010 was recognized with the Society's Distinguished Scientist award.
