Allison Hays, MD

• Medical Director of Echocardiography Programs of the Johns Hopkins Hospital

Professor of Medicine

Heart and Vascular Institute

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-hays-86024992/

Cardiac MRI; coronary endothelial function

Dr. Hays has served as Principal Investigator on multiple investigator-initiated clinical trials evaluating novel strategies to improve vascular health and reduce cardiovascular risk. In people living with HIV, she has led and participated as co-I on randomized clinical trials examining the effects of PCSK9 inhibition and low-dose colchicine on coronary endothelial function and vascular inflammation using advanced cardiac MRI and vascular imaging techniques. In patients with established coronary artery disease, she has also led mechanistic clinical trials evaluating the impact of anti-inflammatory and vascular-targeted therapies on coronary endothelial function, a key early marker of atherosclerotic disease progression and cardiovascular risk. These studies have leveraged pioneering noninvasive MRI methods developed by her research team to directly assess coronary vascular health, providing important insights into the role of inflammation, immune activation, and endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular disease and informing future prevention strategies.

Echocardiography, HfPEF, HIV, Magnetic resonance angiography, Non-invasive imaging of coronary arteries, Stress CMR, Coronary microvascular function, Women's Cardiolvascular Health

Dr. Allison Hays leads a clinical and translational research laboratory focused on nitric oxide–mediated coronary endothelial function in individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease. She has specialized expertise in the development, validation, and application of advanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging techniques, with particular emphasis on coronary and vascular imaging. Working with a multidisciplinary research team, Dr. Hays helped pioneer the development of noninvasive MRI methods for assessing coronary endothelial function, contributing to some of the first reports demonstrating that coronary endothelial function could be measured noninvasively rather than requiring invasive cardiac catheterization.
Her research program investigates the mechanisms underlying early vascular disease in populations with heightened inflammatory burden, including people living with HIV and women with a history of preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy associated with substantially increased long-term cardiovascular risk. Using specialized exercise-based imaging approaches, her team studies coronary and systemic endothelial function, sex differences in vascular dysfunction, and the physiologic, biologic, and environmental determinants of impaired vasoreactivity, an early marker and mediator of coronary artery disease. Dr. Hays has maintained continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association throughout her faculty career, including two NIH R01 awards and a current NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award supporting her research program. She has authored numerous influential publications and has trained and mentored the next generation of cardiovascular investigators, many of whom have gone on to publish and present their work nationally and internationally. In recognition of her commitment to mentorship, she has received two mentoring awards for excellence in research and clinical mentorship.

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=84pYMoMAAAAJ&hl=en

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Hays+AG&cauthor_id=40603582

• Hays AG1, Hirsch GA, Kelle S, Gerstenblith G, Weiss RG, Stuber M. Noninvasive visualization of coronary artery endothelial function in healthy subjects and in patients with coronary artery disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Nov 9;56(20):1657-65. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2010.06.036.

• Hays AG1, Iantorno M2, Soleimanifard S3, Steinberg A1, Schär M4, Gerstenblith G1, Stuber M5, Weiss RG6. Coronary vasomotor responses to isometric handgrip exercise are primarily mediated by nitric oxide: a noninvasive MRI test of coronary endothelial function. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2015 Jun 1;308(11):H1343-50. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00023.2015. Epub 2015 Mar 27.

• Kwapong YA, Gharios C, Minhas AS, Bennett WL, Schär M, Kelle S, Sun K, Vaught AJ, Yilma A, Michos ED, Hays AG. Stress and Coronary Vascular Dysfunction in Women With Prior Preeclampsia. Hypertension. 2026 Jun;83(6):e26760. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.126.26760. Epub 2026 May 20. PMID: 42160493; PMCID: PMC13192290.

• Minhas AS, Vaught AJ, Schär M, Soleimani-Fard A, Fedarko N, Bennett W, Darla Esteban M, Zakaria S, Coresh J, Hays AG. Association of Coronary Endothelial Function and Angiotensin Receptor Autoantibody With Preeclampsia Among Postpartum Women. J Am Heart Assoc. 2024 Nov 5;13(21):e035799. PMID: 39424423; PMCID: PMC11935653.

• Keole KS, Bukhari S, Minhas A, Cohen CD, Wallace A, Piggott DA, Leucker TM, Sun K, Adamo L, Hays AG. Metabolic and Redox Pathway Dysregulation in HIV-Associated Coronary Endothelial Dysfunction. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2026 Jun 16. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00032.2026. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42302383.

• PJ Schafer Cardiovascular Research Award at Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins and PJ Schafer Foundation
• Johns Hopkins University Clinician Scientist Award, Johns Hopkins University
• American College of Cardiology/Merck Cardiovascular Disease Research Award, American College of Cardiology
• Finalist, Melvin Judkins Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association
• SCMR (Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance) Young Investigator Award, Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
• Fellow, American Society of Echocardiography
• Chair of the Program Committee for the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR)
• Fred Brancati Mentorship Award, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins
• Women as One Mentorship Award

• American Heart Association
• Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
• American Society of Echocardiography
• American College of Cardiology

• Department of Medicine Promotion Committee
• Division of Cardiology Professional Development Committee
• Previous Chair of the Program Committee for the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR)
• Prior member, Board of Trustees, SCMR
• Prior member Board of Trustees, American Society of Echocardiography (ASE)
• Associate Editor Circulation, Cardiovascular Imaging
• Permanent study section member NIH Study section, CCHS
• Co-Chair of the ASE Research Committee
• Abstract Chair for ASE Scientific Sessions