Dr. Patel is Richard S. Stack Distinguished Professor, Chief of Cardiology, and Director of the Duke Heart Center. The Division of Cardiology has over 130 faculty and 44 cardiology fellows, and the Heart Center has over 1100 staff. His clinical interests include interventional cardiology and vascular disease, including endovascular intervention. He is involved in several clinical trials involving patients with vascular disease and in cardiac imaging. He was also a member of the American College of Cardiology Task Force for Appropriate use of Cardiovascular Procedures, the American Heart Association Diagnostic and Interventional Cath Committee, and Chair of the AHA Scientific Sessions.  He currently serves on the national board for Vascular Cures and the American Heart Association.

His interest in therapies for athero-thrombosis in the coronary and peripheral vascular arteries has been highlighted by leading multi-center ROCKET AF, CRISP AMI, PROMISE, EUCLID, and DEFINE PCI trials. He also led the Peripheral Academic Research Consortium (PARC) on peripheral artery definitions and is working on defining Patient Reported Outcomes with PAD. Dr. Patel is also leading the start of the BEST CLI registry (NIH funded) for PAD as part of the companion registry to the BEST CLI trial.  Finally, Dr. Patel is currently the Study Chair for OCEANIC AF, and 18,000 patient clinical trial in patients with atrial fibrillation comparing Factor XI asundexian to apixaban, and the coordinating center PI for IMPROVE AD, 1100 patient multi-center randomized NHLBI funded study to evaluate endovascular vs. medical therapy in patients with type B aortic dissection.  His focus is on developing systems to discover and deliver innovative personalized care across duke health system for cardiovascular patients.

In 2022, he received the Duke School of Medicine Career Mentoring Award, and was named the Ron Stoney Vascular Hero by Vascular Cures, a non-profit patient organization aimed at improving vascular health. In 2023, Dr. Patel was named the AHA Physician of the year.