Melvin Scheinman

Dr. Melvin Scheinman, one of the pioneers of cardiac electrophysiology (the study of the heart's electrical activity), was the first to perform catheter ablation on humans. His team was instrumental in developing radiofrequency energy applications for cardiac arrhythmias. Scheinman and his colleagues also developed techniques for modifying sinus node function (the sinus node sends the electrical impulse that results in a heartbeat) in patients with inappropriate sinus tachycardia – a condition in which resting heart rate is abnormally high – and to cure patients with automatic junctional tachycardia, in which one area of the heart is leading to a too-fast beat.

Scheinman currently directs the cardiac genetic arrhythmia program, which is devoted to discovering new genes related to heart rhythm disorders.

Scheinman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and earned an undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated first in his class. His medical education included Albert Einstein College of Medicine, residency training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and cardiology training at UCSF Medical Center.