Dr Dzau was born in Shanghai. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology and his MD degree from McGill University. He was a medical resident, Chief Resident, and the founding Chief of the Division of Vascular Medicine at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now the Brigham and Women's Hospital). He moved to Stanford in 1990 as the Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and later became Chairman of the Department of Medicine. Six years later, he returned to Harvard Medical School as the Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine and as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He then became the Chancellor for Health Affairs, President, and CEO of the Duke University Medical Center. In 2014, he was elected to become the President of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine). He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.