Rate My Professor Nancy Brown

Nancy J. Brown, M.D. is the Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Yale School of Medicine and the C.N.H. Long Professor of Internal Medicine. A Yale College graduate with an A.B. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, she earned her M.D. from Harvard University. She completed her internship, residency, fellowship in clinical pharmacology, and chief residency at Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining Yale in 2020, Dr. Brown served as chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Medicine and physician-in-chief of Vanderbilt University Medical Center from 2010 to 2020, where she held the Hugh Jackson Morgan Professorship.

Dr. Brown’s research has focused on the mechanisms through which the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone, kallikrein-kinin, and incretin systems affect inflammation, thrombosis, metabolism, and cardiovascular risk. Her laboratory defined the contribution of endogenous bradykinin to fibrinolysis in humans and the prothrombotic and fibrotic effects of aldosterone mediated by plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Her research group identified African ancestry and specific genetic variants as risk factors for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-associated angioedema. Ongoing work examines the mechanisms of combined angiotensin receptor blocker/neprilysin inhibitors in heart failure and the cardiovascular effects of incretin-based anti-diabetic therapies. As a clinician, she specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of resistant hypertension. Dr. Brown has promoted the development of physician-scientists, guiding enhancements to Yale’s Master of Health Science degree program and establishing the Office of Physician-Scientist and Scientist Development. At Vanderbilt, she established the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation program and served as Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Scientist Development. She has served on the NIH National Advisory Research Resources Council and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council. Her research has been recognized by awards including the Harriet Dustan Award from the American Heart Association, the E.K. Frey-E. Werle Foundation award, the August M. Watanabe Prize in Translational Research, and the Robert H. Williams, M.D., Distinguished Chair of Medicine from the Association of Professors of Medicine in 2018. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the American Clinical and Climatological Association, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was reappointed for a second five-year term as dean effective July 1, 2025.