Nicholas K. Brownell, MD

Dr. Brownell is a General Cardiologist based at the UCLA Cardiovascular Center. He earned his MD from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He then moved to Dallas, Texas to complete his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Texas Southwestern. He remained at UTSW for 1 year as an Assistant Professor in Hospital Medicine before moving to Los Angeles, where he enrolled in UCLA's Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) program to pursue a PhD at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health while simultaneously completing his General Cardiology Fellowship. He served as both a Chief Cardiology Fellow and a Chief STAR Fellow during his training. He completed his cardiology fellowship in 2024 and earned his PhD in Health Policy and Management in 2025.

As a clinician, Dr. Brownell specializes in the evaluation and management of a variety of cardiovascular diseases including coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, and preventative cardiology. As a researcher, he studies variation in care delivery and is interested in healthcare system interventions to improve cardiovascular health at the population level. He has published in multiple journals, including Circulation, Circulation CQO, JACC, JACC Asia, JAMA Cardiology, the European Heart Journal, and the Journal of Cardiac Failure. An active educator, he has taught on the local and national level, giving lectures across the UC Health system and creating content for the American Heart Association's Professional Education Hub. With a growing interest in healthcare quality, he was elected to serve as a Senior Quality Officer at UCLA Health in 2024. He is a professional member of both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. He enjoys spending his spare time with his family and being outdoors, whether running, biking, hiking, or skiing.