Mark Carlson, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer, Senior Vice President of Clinical Affairs
St. Jude Medical Cardiac Rhythm Management

Carlson joined St. Jude Medical in 2006 as chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical affairs for the Cardiac Rhythm Management division. He previously served as professor of medicine and associate vice president for government relations at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He also served on the Medical Devices Dispute Resolution Panel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as on Medicare advisory committees. Carlson has chaired several policy committees and conferences sponsored by the Heart Rhythm Society and the FDA, as well as a task force that developed policy recommendations on pacemaker and ICD performance and industry communications. In 2003, Carlson worked as a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow on the staff of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch on issues related to Medicare and medical liability litigation reform. He is currently a member of the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee. Carlson received his medical degree from the University of Kansas and his master's degree in public policy from Duke University. He trained in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and at Harvard Medical School. Carlson's research on arrhythmias has resulted in more than 150 published articles.