Kim Germaine Emiel Smolderen, PhD, MSc

Dr. Kim Smolderen is a licensed clinical psychologist and outcomes researcher and expert in vascular disease, specifically in studying psychological risk factors, including depression, in peripheral artery disease (PAD) and its relationship with outcomes. She also studied the quality of care of depression screening and treatment in acute coronary infarction populations, as well as mechanisms of depression that are linked to cardiovascular outcomes. She is a Belgian native and completed her clinical training at the local Tilburg teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. She obtained her PhD in Health and Medical Psychology from the Tilburg University, the Netherlands in 2009, following which she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cardiovascular outcomes supported by the American Heart Association at the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City.

Since 2020, Dr. Smolderen is Associate Professor at the Yale Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, and is the Co-Director of the Vascular Medicine Outcomes Program and co-founder of the integrated cardiovascular behavioral health program at Yale New Haven Health. Dr. Smolderen has designed and led several multi-center international peripheral artery disease (PAD) registries, funded by PCORI grants, a Dutch Career Development award, and industry sponsored work studying trajectories of patients with complex late stage vascular disease, pain phenotypes, the role of behavioral factors, and the interaction with their quality of care and outcomes as they navigate acute surgical management, chronic disease management, and their rehabilitation processes, for which she leads several NIH-supported efforts. She published over 120 peer reviewed articles, and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. She serves as the Co-Chair for the American Heart Association’s PAD national action plan geared towards activating health care systems. She serves on editorial boards of Vascular Medicine, Health Psychology, and Psychosomatic Medicine, and is Board member of the American Psychological Association’s Health Psychology Division 38’s Health Advocacy & Policy Council. She is also co-founder of the newly formed intersectional cardiovascular psychology workgroup at the American College of Cardiology, which will result in a new council directed towards integrated cardiovascular behavioral health, and set standards for the field.

With her work, Dr. Smolderen has been able to put on the agenda, a patient-centered focus for patients suffering from peripheral artery disease, and cardiovascular populations at large. Her work has been accordingly characterized by advocacy and demanding awareness for the patients’ voice, mental health burden of vulnerable groups in experiencing cardiovascular disease, highlighting the patients’ perspective, and working towards novel integrated care models.