Dr. Kim Smolderen

Biography

Kim Smolderen is a licensed clinical psychologist and outcomes researcher specializing in vascular disease. She investigates psychological risk factors, depression, and how they relate to outcomes in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Her research has focused on quality care, especially depression screening and treatment among populations suffering from acute coronary infarction, aiming to understand the mechanisms linking depression to cardiovascular outcomes. A Belgian native, she earned her PhD in Health Medical Psychology from Tilburg University in the Netherlands in 2009, prior to completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, supported by the American Heart Association. Smolderen is a co-founder of an integrated cardiovascular behavioral health program at Yale New Haven Health. She has led multiple international peripheral artery disease registries and has published over 190 peer-reviewed articles, also serving as a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. Smolderen is actively involved in health advocacy, especially focusing on the voices of patients suffering from PAD and their mental health burdens, and participates in several editorial boards as well as peer review groups for prominent journals in her field.

Research Interests

Experience