Dr. Garson teaches health policy in the medical school curriculum, develops new cross-Grounds initiatives in health policy, and serves as special consultant to the UVa Office of Development.  

Dr. Garson was previously Executive Vice President and Provost and before that served as Vice President and Dean of the Medical School.  He is a national leader in health care reform efforts, and has served on the White House Panel on Health Policy, and as President of the American College of Cardiology and Chair of the AHRQ National Advisory Council. Dr. Garson is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Garson graduated (Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude) from Princeton University in 1970 and received his M.D. from Duke University. He completed his pediatric cardiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, becoming chief of pediatric cardiology in 1988. In 1992, he received a master's degree in public health from the University of Texas Houston. From 1992 to 1995, he was associate vice chancellor for health affairs and professor in the Sanford Institute of Public Policy. In 1995, he returned to Houston to be Baylor College of Medicine's dean for academic operations. He was also vice president of Texas Children's Hospital.

He has been a visiting professor in more than 100 institutions and is on the faculty of the Children's Hospital in Paris. He is the author of more than 450 publications and eight books, including "Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality."

In 1999 and 2000, Garson served as president of the American College of Cardiology. He has served on the White House Panel on Health Policy and the Institute of Medicine Task Force on rapid improvements in the health care system. He was appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson to chair the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003 and was appointed by Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to chair the Health Reform Commission's Health Care Workforce subcommittee from 2006 through 2008.

In 2007, Garson was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine. In 2009, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius appointed him to the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

He has chaired the health reform committees for the American College of Cardiology and the Association of American Medical Colleges and currently chairs the committee concerned with health care workforce for the American College of Cardiology.