Current Environment: Development

Dev

Medical Services

Specialties

Programs & Services

Languages

  • English

Education

Undergraduate School

Biochemical Sciences

Harvard University

2000, Boston, MA

Medical School

Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons

2004, New York, NY

Internship

Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

2005, Bronx, NY

Residency

Pediatrics

Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

2007, Bronx, NY

Fellowship

Pediatric Cardiology

Boston Children's Hospital

2009, Boston, MA

Fellowship

Chief Fellow, Pediatric Cardiology

Boston Children's Hospital

2010, Boston, MA

Fellowship

Pediatric Cardiology; Heart Failure; Transplantation Senior Fellow

Boston Children's Hospital

2011, Boston, MA

Certifications

  • American Board of Pediatrics (Cardiology)
  • American Board of Pediatrics (General)

Professional History

I am a pediatric cardiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital specializing in Heart Failure & Transplantation. My clinical work is focused on the evaluation and management of children with advanced heart failure and those requiring mechanical circulatory support and/or heart transplantation. I am also a translational researcher focused on the development of biomarkers and novel imaging technologies which will allow for non-invasive diagnosis of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV).

 
I am a clinical expert in the diagnosis and management of the highly sensitized pediatric heart transplant patient and those who develop antibody mediated rejection. I have published our center’s experience with peri-operative desensitization for crossmatch positive heart transplantation and utilized eculizumab (a terminal complement inhibitor) and bortezomib (a proteasome inhibitor) for the treatment of antibody mediated rejection. I am the only transplant physician in our group to perform intracardiac hemodynamics, endomyocardial biopsies, and coronary angiography in transplant patients and have expertise in the diagnosis of CAV.
 

I have demonstrated that VEGF-A can be used to stratify risk for development CAV in children after heart transplantation. We are planning a prospective study to determine if VEGF-A testing can safely reduce the frequency of invasive coronary angiography procedures in pediatric heart transplant recipients. In addition, I am leading a multi-center collaboration to design and perform the first randomized control trial of maintenance immunosuppression in pediatric heart transplantation. We expect this trial will support the first FDA approved indication for maintenance immunosuppression in pediatric heart transplantation.

Publications

Having a sick child can leave parents feeling scared and powerless. My goal is to help children and parents understand their illness so that they can regain some amount of control. Educating children, families, and other medical providers about heart failure is a key component of that process. We can then discuss treatment options and make the best decision for each individual child and family.

Medicine is a calling. I became a doctor because I wanted to be able to help, protect and heal. Since I was a child, I been fascinated with how things work and how we can make them work better. Medicine challenges me to understand how to modify complex diseases processes with a goal of improving patient outcomes and quality of life.