Matthew Alexander, MD, PhD, FAHA

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Staff Cardiologist, TVHS Nashville VA Medical Center

Dr. Alexander is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He attended Duke University for his undergraduate studies followed by training in the Medical Scientist Training (M.D./Ph.D.) Program at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He subsequently joined the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Physician Scientist Training Program where he completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine followed by fellowship training in Cardiovascular Medicine. As part of his fellowship, he performed postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Meena Madhur on the role of adaptive immunity in hypertension. Dr. Alexander then joined the faculty at Vanderbilt as an Assistant Professor in 2020. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Alexander practices as a general cardiologist with a focus on advanced hypertension. His research program focuses on the role of immune cell activation in the pathogenesis of hypertension and related end-organ damage. Dr. Alexander has been consistently funded by the NIH and foundations including the American Heart Association and National Psoriasis Foundation. He has been awarded the Vanderbilt Faculty Research Scholars Award, ASCI Young Physician Scientists Award, APS Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis New Investigator Award, and is a Fellow of the American Heart Association.