Adrian Hernandez, MD, was named Vice Dean of the Duke School of Medicine and Executive Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute in 2020. In this role, he oversees the scientific, operational, and financial health of DCRI and ensures it advances its mission to develop, share, and implement knowledge that improves health around the world through innovative clinical research. He provides visionary and strategic direction to the DCRI; supports and strengthens its research and teaching agendas; and continues to raise its national and international profile. 

In his Vice Dean role, Dr. Hernandez provides leadership to the Dean’s Office for clinical research strategy and other school-wide initiatives. He formerly served as Vice Dean for Clinical Research for the School of Medicine from 2017 to 2020, overseeing the administrative, regulatory, and operational aspects of clinical research for Duke Health.

Dr. Hernandez is a cardiologist and an internationally recognized leader in clinical research, ranging from health services and policy research to clinical trials.  He has served as the steering committee chair or principal investigator of multiple large studies and networks, often leveraging new methods to accelerate evidence generation and implementation.  Dr. Hernandez has over 800 published articles and is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Dr. Hernandez received his medical degree from the University of Texas-Southwestern at Dallas and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California - San Francisco School of Medicine, before completing a fellowship in cardiology at Duke University in 2004. He currently holds the Duke Health Cardiology Distinguished Professorship.