Dr R Jay Widmer is an interventional and structural cardiologist and academic leader with extensive experience bridging clinical innovation and digital cardiovascular research. In 2018, he joined the Baylor Scott & White system in Temple, Texas, and now serves as Chief of Cardiology at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Group – McKinney, where he is guiding growth and development in the northeast DFW corridor. He also holds the title of Associate Professor at both Texas A&M and Baylor Colleges of Medicine. (SCAI)
Dr. Widmer completed his undergraduate degree at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, before earning a combined MD/PhD from the Texas A&M Health Science Center in 2009. (SCAI) He entered the clinical research track at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and completed training in internal medicine (2012), general cardiology (2016), and interventional/structural cardiology (2018), achieving board certification in all three disciplines. (SCAI)
His early inspiration for interventional cardiology came in a research lab just before medical school, when he witnessed a porcine catheterization. That formative moment sparked a research trajectory combining vascular biology, coronary physiology, outcomes science, social media, and digital health. He went on to lead the development of a digital cardiac rehabilitation platform, conducting both feasibility and randomized trials. (SCAI) To date, his work has produced more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and hundreds of conference abstracts, and he continues to serve as principal investigator on trials in areas such as non-obstructive coronary disease, chronic total occlusions, cardio-oncology, and quality metrics in acute myocardial infarction. (SCAI)
As he leads the McKinney Heart Group forward, Dr Widmer remains committed to translating cutting-edge technology into improved patient outcomes, partnering with innovators and industry to shape the future of cardiovascular care.
