Dr. Robert Merz is a graduate of Vassar College and Harvard Medical School. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of California, San Francisco, with an additional fellowship year in echocardiography at UCSF. His clinical cardiology fellowship was completed at Cedars-Sinai with an additional training year in Nuclear Cardiology. He is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.

At Pacific Heart Institute since 1988, while also remaining active in outpatient and inpatient echocardiography, including transesophageal studies. His experience with non-invasive imaging is of particular value in the evaluation and management of valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies, and coronary artery disease. He has been consulted by the triathlete and swimming communities regarding the identification of the “athletic heart”, and assessing cardiovascular risk through athlete screening.

An avid swimmer and boater, he has been a member of the Southern California Aquatic Masters Program for nearly 25 years. He is married to C. Noel Bairey-Merz, M.D., a prominent researcher of cardiovascular disease in women. They have three adult daughters.