For decades, New Jersey residents seeking elite, university-based preventive cardiology often had to cross state lines into Philadelphia or New York City. That is officially changing as Rutgers Health and RWJBarnabas Health launch a specialized program aimed at catching “silent” heart threats before they become fatal.
At the helm of this initiative is Dr. James Mills, a cardiologist of 35 years who recently joined the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) to lead the new Division of General and Preventive Cardiology. For Mills, the mission is personal; he recalls carrying a first-aid kit as early as first grade, fascinated even then by the idea of healing others.
The new program, based at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), integrates three critical fields under one roof:
- Preventive Cardiology: Identifying risk factors like hypertension and obesity early.
- Cardiac Genetics: Screening for inherited conditions that can cause heart attacks in young, seemingly healthy adults.
- Sports Cardiology: Helping athletes manage heart health while maintaining high performance.
“Historically, if patients in New Jersey wanted care through a university-based preventive cardiology program, they often had to go to New York or Philadelphia,” Mills noted. “We’re working to expand those opportunities here, so patients can receive advanced, comprehensive care close to home.”
A primary focus for Mills is familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disorder that prevents the body from clearing “bad” cholesterol. Unlike lifestyle-driven heart disease, this condition is inherited and can lead to aggressive blockages in patients as young as their 30s.
Mills recently treated a patient in his 30s who required bypass surgery due to a genetic lipid disorder. “Early detection and family-based risk assessments are vital,” he said. “It’s about protecting at-risk relatives before cardiac disease even develops.”
Mills, who practiced for many years in West Virginia before coming to the Garden State, has witnessed the radical transformation of cardiology. When he began his career in the 1980s, “clot-busting” medications only worked about 50% of the time.
Today, thanks to advancements in stents and imaging technologies like cardiac CT and nuclear cardiology—areas in which Mills is board-certified—blood flow is restored in over 90% of heart attack cases.
“If you’re going to have a heart attack, you’d much rather have it in 2026 than in 1985,” Mills joked, while emphasizing that his goal is to ensure the heart attack never happens in the first place.
The program emphasizes holistic lifestyle interventions, including the Mediterranean diet, smoking cessation, and individualized exercise plans. By serving as the first point of contact for patients, Dr. Mills coordinates care across various subspecialties to ensure no risk factor—from diabetes to chronic kidney disease—goes unaddressed.
“The future of cardiology isn’t about treating heart attacks,” Mills added. “It’s about identifying risk earlier… and giving people the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives. That’s the vision we’re building here.”
