Terry Vanden Hoek, MD

Dr. Terry L. Vanden Hoek is an internationally recognized emergency medicine physician-scientist who has advanced life-saving care through leadership in research, mentorship, and community engagement. As Professor and Head of Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, his international leadership with the American Heart Association and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation resulted in the first published guideline on therapeutic hypothermia, transforming post–cardiac arrest care worldwide. He has more than tripled bystander CPR rates and doubled cardiac arrest survival in Illinois by creating and leading Illinois Heart Rescue, a statewide partnership focused on community engagement and data-sharing among over 200 hospitals and EMS agencies.  In the laboratory, his team is developing a first-in-class peptide therapy for ischemic tissue rescue based on discoveries about the protective effects of cooling during CPR. Dr. Vanden Hoek has received over $30 million in extramural research funding, authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, mentored over 20 trainees, and was recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

• PubMed

Dr. Vanden Hoek has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to community health through leadership in CPR and AED training across Chicago, initiating public access defibrillation programs in local businesses and public housing sites. At UIC, he has chaired hospital committees improving patient access, throughput, and cardiovascular care, and co-led interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Mile Square Partnership rollout to expand access to community medicine.

M.D. with Honors, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine
B.S. in Biology and Chemistry, Calvin College

Dr. Vanden Hoek has been an invited speaker at national and international scientific meetings including the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium, the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Global Consensus Conference, and the NIH Medical-Surgical Emergency Care Research Roundtable. He has delivered numerous grand-rounds lectures and keynote presentations on resuscitation science, therapeutic hypothermia, and cardiac arrest systems of care.

Novel Peptides for Resuscitation
NIH R01 Renewal Funding: $2.6 million (2025 – 2029) Led by Dr. Terry Vanden Hoek and collaborators, this project explores biologic agents that mimic the protective effects of therapeutic hypothermia to improve survival and neurological outcomes following cardiac arrest. The research focuses on a novel PHLPP inhibitory peptide (TAT-PHLPP9c) that targets intracellular signaling to reduce oxidative injury and enhance myocardial recovery during resuscitation.

U.S. Patent 10,688,153 B2
Peptides and Method for Treatment of Cardiac Arrest
Inventors: Terry L. Vanden Hoek, Jing Li, and Xiangdong Zhu
Assignee: University of Illinois Board of Trustees
Issued: June 23, 2020
Describes a novel class of peptides that mimic the protective effects of therapeutic hypothermia, reducing myocardial and neurological injury following cardiac arrest.

U.S. Patent 11,260,105 B2
Therapeutic Peptides for Cardioprotection and Resuscitation
Inventors: Terry L. Vanden Hoek et al.
Assignee: University of Illinois Board of Trustees
Issued: March 1, 2022
Continuation patent expanding on peptide analogs that inhibit PHLPP-mediated dephosphorylation to enhance cellular survival during resuscitation. (Also patented internationally: EP, CA, AU, JP applications.)