Dr. Heisler has been Professor of Medicine at the University of South Dakota since returning to South Dakota in February 2009. From January 2015 through December 2016, he held a joint appointment as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine.
Dr. Heisler’s most recent appointment prior to returning to South Dakota was Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta and Director of the Emory Division of Hospital Medicine. During his time as Director of Hospital Medicine at Emory, he led the effort to create the Hospital Medicine Clinical Outcomes Research Group.
Dr. Heisler completed his medical degree at George Washington University in 1979 and a residency in Internal Medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences University in 1982. From 1985-1986 Dr. Heisler completed a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at George Washington University. He received a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University in 1990.
From 1991-1998, Dr. Heisler held adjunct academic appointments at the Emory University School of Medicine and the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health with his primary appointment at the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, a UN-sponsored international health group affiliated with the Carter Center in Atlanta. From 1994-1998, Dr. Heisler was Director of Programs at the Task Force and played a major role in developing the World Bank-funded global river blindness control program. Dr. Heisler has traveled and worked extensively in Africa and Latin America and has lived for two extended periods in Kenya.
Dr. Heisler has a long list of publications including a chapter in the Williams Textbook of Hospital Medicine and has received various awards including the Sorin Award from the University of Notre Dame in 1990. He has served on a number of international and national advisory committees and has been on AHD’s Advisory Board since 1997. He is also the Immediate Past-Chair.
