David Benditt, MD

David G. Benditt, M.D., FACC, FRCPC, FHRS was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and received a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and an MD degree from the University of Manitoba. Following postgraduate training in Internal Medicine. he completed a cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology Fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Thereafter, he joined the faculty of the Cardiovascular Division in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota where he established the Cardiac Arrhythmia and Syncope Center. Additionally , working with colleagues of various disciplines he helped foster what has become a very active and highly successful research program in Resuscitation Science. With his colleagues he helped advance AC-DC CPR and the application on the inspirtatory impedance device to enhance blood flow during CPR. Dr. Benditt is currently Professor of Medicine and Co-director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He has been an American Heart Association (AHA) Established Investigator, and president of the Heart Rhythm Society ( at the time known as the North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology), and president of both the AHA-Minnesota Affiliate. In 2007, he was awarded the Pioneer in Pacing and Electrophysiology Award of the Heart Rhythm Society in 2007. He has also received the University of Minnesota Biomedical Engineering Institute Innovation award His principal research interests are in the evaluation of syncope and collapse, and in development of new strategies and tools for improving cardiopulmonary resuscitation with particular focus on minimizing brain injury.