William O\'Neill, MD, FACC, MSCAI

Media Releases

Get to know Interventional Cardiologist Dr. William O’Neill, who serves patients in Detroit, Michigan.

Dr. O’Neill is an internationally recognized leader in interventional cardiology and structural heart disease, as well as a pioneer in research and new techniques to diagnose and treat heart disease. Currently, he serves as the Medical Director of the Center for Structural Heart Disease at Henry Ford Hospital.

For over 100 years, Henry Ford Hospital has been a leader in advancing medicine and delivering the most innovative treatments. It is a state-of-the-art academic hospital and research center located in Detroit’s New Center area. The 877-bed hospital is recognized for clinical excellence in the fields of cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics and sports medicine, transplant, and cancer. It is the flagship hospital of Henry Ford Health, one of the nation’s leading comprehensive integrated health systems.

Back in 1977, Dr. O’Neill graduated with his medical degree from the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He then went on to complete his residency in internal medicine at the same educational venue in 1980, before completing his fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Michigan in 1982.

Recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), the doctor is one of the few Master Fellows out of 4,500 world-wide members of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (MSCAI), the professional medical society for invasive and interventional cardiologists. 

Furthermore, he pioneered the use of angioplasty for treatment of heart attacks, which is now the mainstay therapy throughout the world, and performed the first transcaval aortic valve replacement (TAVR) through a catheter in the U.S. in 2005. Currently, has been working on new catheter-based treatments of structural heart disease, and is organizing new protocols to treat a deadly side-effect of massive heart attacks, known as the National Cardiogenic Shock Initiative (NCSI), which has proven to increase patient survival rates from 50% to 76%.

A leader in academic and teaching hospitals for nearly 30 years, and to date, an author of more than 300 hundred peer-reviewed articles and abstracts published in medical literature, Dr. O’Neill has written multiple book chapters, and edited one of the first textbooks in the field of interventional cardiologists. He was a founding member of the American Board of Internal Medicine interventional cardiology board, which certifies all interventional cardiologists.

Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart, as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and electrophysiology. Cardiologists are doctors who diagnose, assess, and treat patients with diseases and defects of the heart and blood vessels (the cardiovascular system).

Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. O’Neill has been the recipient of various honors and accolades, including the America’s Top Doctors Award, Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Seymour Gordon Award for Distinguished Achievement by the Michigan Chapter of the American Heart Association. He was also the founding chair of the Innovation in Intervention Summit by the American College of Cardiology.

Recommended Articles

• Health Reasons That Can Make a Person Pass Out

  Causes of Fainting A person faints or loses consciousness for a brief time when the brain does not get enough oxygen. Fainting or passing out is also medically called syncope. Before fainting, people may experience lightheadedness, dizziness, weakness, and nausea. Others describe fainting as...

• Low-Density Lipoprotein

  IntroductionTo maintain good health, balanced cholesterol levels are quite important. The liver is an organ that detoxifies drugs and other foreign substances. It also stores glycogen, which the body utilizes for energy. Other important functions of the liver include metabolizing carbohydrates,...

• Can Heart Disease Be Reversed?

  Coronary heart disease is a very common condition characterized by high LDL levels and blood pressure. A cardiac stress test by increasing the speed and inclination on a treadmill helps to diagnose the condition. Surgery and medication are common treatment strategies opted for when diagnosed with...

• Can My Lifestyle Influence the Risk for Congestive Heart Failure?

  Can My Lifestyle Influence the Risk for Congestive Heart Failure?Heart Failure means that due to some reasons, the heart is unable to pump blood to the body in the normal range. In most of the cases, heart failure is caused by reasons like high blood pressure, impaired heart muscles, heart attack,...

• Vitamin E May Not Prevent Heart Failure in Women

  According to a new study, vitamin E supplementation may not reduce the risk of heart failure in women. This study is the first of its kind, focusing on the effectiveness of vitamin E supplementation in the prevention of heart failure. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps to protect the body from...

• Everything You Need to Know About Lupus

  What is lupus?Lupus or systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disorder that may affect skin, kidneys, brain, and other organs. According to Lupus Foundation of America, about 1.5 million people in U.S. have lupus. This condition is seen more in women than in men....