Ray Matthews, MD

Professor of Clinical Medicine

Director of Interventional Cardiology and Catheterization Laboratories

Director, CVI Outreach & Network Development

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Overview

Dr Matthews was recruited in 2007 to build and lead the section of interventional cardiology at USC. He has 35 years of experience in the catheter based treatment of a wide variety of cardiac disease states. He is well recognized as a pioneer in the performance of coronary interventions in patients too ill for bypass surgery, by using temporary ventricular assist devices during coronary stenting. Dr Mathews was one of the first cardiologists to close congenital heart defects percutaneously in Los Angeles and has since accumulated a large experience in ASD, VSD and PFO closure. Dr Matthews developed a structural heart program at USC over the past decade where he helped USC lead in the early development of TAVR procedures and now has performed well over 1000 of these procedures himself. Through his leadership, USC now has robust programs to percutaneously replace aortic, pulmonic and mitral valves as well.

Dr Matthews maintains a large practice of patients referred with cardiac abnormalities too challenging for community practitioners. He is also a dedicated teacher and scientist. He has trained over 80 interventional cardiologists who have gone on to successful practices all over the US and the world. He is a sought after speaker on the topic of structural heart disease and high risk coronary intervention. He is also involved in research projects to develop implantable sensors that are patient operated to detect heart failure at home and synthetically produced artificial TAVR valves. Dr Matthews continues to innovate and lead in interventional cardiology assisting in the development of numerous medical devices to facilitate the performance of cardiac procedures less invasively, safely and with excellent outcomes.

Awards

  • American Heart Association: Group Investigator Award, 1986
  • Harbor-UCLA Medical Center: Distinguished Teaching Award, 1987
  • American Heart Association: First Place, Clinical Division, Laverne Titus Young Investigator Competition, 1987
  • Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC: Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching, 2013

Publications

  • Incidence and clinical outcomes of extended duration support in patients with Impella 5.5 – Analysis from the LOQI Registry. JHLT Open. 2026 Aug; 13:100586.. View in PubMed
  • Exploring circadian and meal timing impacts on cortisol during simulated night shifts. Sleep. 2026 Mar 11; 49(3).. View in PubMed
  • Sleep deprivation impairs team performance and cohesion. Sleep. 2026 Jan 13; 49(1).. View in PubMed
  • Is Cumulative Life Course Impairment Considered in Psoriasis Management? A Multinational Survey of People with Psoriasis and Healthcare Professionals. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2026 Jan; 16(1):499-520.. View in PubMed
  • A new hybrid echocardiography and arterial pressure waveform approach for non-invasive reconstruction of the entire left ventricular pressure waveform. Eur Heart J Imaging Methods Pract. 2025 Oct; 3(4):qyaf136.. View in PubMed
  • Assessment of Myocardial Injury Size Metrics Using Carotid Pressure Waveform: Proof-of-Concept in Coronary Occlusion/Reperfusion Rat Model. FASEB J. 2025 Sep 15; 39(17):e71029.. View in PubMed
  • Machine Learning Reconstruction of Left Ventricular Pressure From Peripheral Waveforms. JACC Adv. 2025 Sep; 4(9):102104.. View in PubMed
  • Assessment of left ventricular relaxation time constant using arterial pressure waveform. Physiol Meas. 2025 Aug 13.. View in PubMed
  • Effect of evolocumab in patients with chronic limb threatening ischemia (Evol-CLI study). Cardiovasc Revasc Med. 2025 07; 76:91-97.. View in PubMed
  • Fasting as an intervention to alter the impact of simulated night-shift work on glucose metabolism in healthy adults: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Diabetologia. 2025 01; 68(1):203-216.. View in PubMed