Jennifer Sue Lawton (born 1966)[notes 1] is an American cardiothoracic surgeon who specializes in adult cardiac surgery.
[2] Growing up, Lawton wished to become a paediatrician but the death of a grandparent caused her to begin studying heart disease.
[4] Upon the completion of her medical residency and fellowship, Lawton married surgeon Mark Grimm in 1996 and joined the faculty at the Washington University School of Medicine as an assistant professor.
[6] Two years later, she received a five-year, $1.33 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to fund her research project "Exploitation of the KATP Channel Opener Diazoxide during Cardiac Surgery.
[4] Lawton also served in various leadership roles including as the president of Women in Thoracic Surgery (WTS), chair of the Basic Science Surgery Study Section of the American Heart Association, and vice chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Thoracic Residency Review Committee.