UM Miller School of Medicine Makes Bold Moves in Cardiology, Hiring Several Key Clinicians to Join Faculty

1/11/2008

The Cardiovascular Division of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine is taking major steps to move itself into the top tier of cardiology research and treatment centers in the nation.  Joshua M. Hare, M.D., F.A.C.C., chief of the Cardiovascular Division and director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, is expanding the Miller School’s already renowned faculty by adding more physicians with national and international recognition in the field of cardiology.

“We are extremely excited about having these very talented individuals join our growing cardiovascular program, said Dr. Hare.  With the top researchers and clinicians already on board, adding these physicians from around the globe will only cement the Cardiovascular Division at the Miller School as one of the best places for treatment in the nation.  Our recruits have expertise in both general cardiology as well as in highly specialized areas such as electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, heart transplantation and cardiac imaging.

Vivek Y. Reddy, M.D., will be joining the Miller School as director of the electrophysiology section in the Cardiovascular Division, assembling a team of top clinicians/researchers in cardiac arrhythmia.  Dr. Reddy has been the director of experimental electrophysiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

During his career, Dr. Reddy has focused on the use of catheter ablation to treat complex cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, as well as resynchronization therapies to treat congestive heart failure.  He led a landmark multicenter clinical trial on ventricular tachycardia ablation that was recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. 

Dr. Reddy says he is coming to the University of Miami to build a world-class cardiovascular center specializing in heart rhythm disorders.  With that in mind, Dr. Reddy has assembled a team that includes his colleague, Andre d’Avila, M.D., also an attending at Massachusetts General Hospital.  Dr. d’Avila will be the associate director of the electrophysiology section and shares Reddy’s intense interest in cardiac arrhythmias, publishing nearly 70 articles on related studies in medical journals.

Srinivas Dukkipati, M.D., will be joining the team of electrophysiology experts from William Beaumont Hospital in Michigan, where he has been the director of basic electrophysiology research.  Dr. Dukkipati has been involved in the use of advanced balloon catheter technologies for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, and has worked with Dr. Reddy on the application of real-time MRI in electrophysiology procedures.

Kyoko Soejima, M.D., was training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital when she met Dr. Reddy.   She became an assistant professor in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School before returning to the Institute of Advanced Cardiac Therapy in Tokyo.  Dr. Soejima has been involved in cutting edge treatments and been at the forefront of research on catheter ablation, publishing more than 40 articles in high-profile medical journals such as Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, making her a natural fit for this elite team.

Dr. Hare describes these physicians as a team of four electrophysiologists who together represent world-renowned expertise in cutting edge techniques for catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias and ventricular resynchronization for congestive heart failure.  The University of Miami has a very distinguished tradition of contributions in the area of electrophysiology, and we are absolutely thrilled to accelerate this trajectory with the work of Reddy and colleagues.  The intensely sophisticated translational work being conducted by this team fits beautifully with our division and will allow us to serve the health needs of our community in an optimal way.

Other physicians in the division are just as excited about the addition.  I am extremely pleased that Dr. Reddy and his team have accepted our invitation to join the UM faculty, said Robert J. Myerburg, M.D., a cardiac electrophysiologist on the faculty of the Cardiovascular Division.  Vivek has evolved as an academic and clinical leader in the field and will bring new and exciting dimensions to a program which has long contributed to the field of cardiac arrhythmias.  Dr. Myerburg says the future of this program is extraordinarily bright.

Gervasio Antonio (Tony) Lamas, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A., will be joining the faculty of the Cardiovascular Division.  Dr. Lamas will be the medical director of the Coronary Care Unit at the University of Miami Hospital, and director of the fellowship training program.  Dr. Lamas, who is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology, is leaving Mt. Sinai Medical Center as director of cardiovascular research and academic affairs after 15 years.  He will continue his private practice at the University of Miami Hospital.  Dr. Lamas believes UM’s cardiology program is on track to become one of the best in the country.

Dr. Lamas is an internationally recognized cardiovascular researcher and an expert in the design and execution of clinical trials in the fields of coronary disease, heart failure, cardiac pacing, and alternative medicine.  As the chair or co-chair of large-scale trials involving thousands of patients and dozens of countries, Dr. Lamas brings a unique skill-set to UM Cardiology.  Currently, Dr. Lamas is the study chair of the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), an international $30 million NIH-sponsored trial, and the co-chair of the Occluded Artery Trial long-term follow-up, another NIH-sponsored trial. He just completed SAVE-PACe, a pacemaker trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Hare describes Dr. Lamas as an internationally recognized leader in the management of patients surviving heart attacks. His studies have changed the way in which we view and treat these patients, offering them therapies that meaningfully improve their well-being and life spans.  He’s also a world leader in the understanding of how to best use pacemakers so it’s a natural fit for him to join us with our research-oriented program.

Dr. Hare and Dr. Lamas were colleagues in the early ’90s at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, while Dr. Hare was in training.   That relationship will continue as these two top cardiologists work together to investigate new therapies in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.  My hopes are to support Dr. Hare in creating the country’s best research and clinical program in cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Lamas said.

Alan W. Heldman, M.D., professor of medicine and clinical chief of the Cardiovascular Division, calls Dr. Lamas one of the finest cardiologists in the country.  “Besides his academic reputation for numerous publications in top journals, he is also well known as an expert clinician and educator.  Dr. Heldman says Dr. Lamas will add to the growth of the Miller School’s cardiology program because he brings expertise both as a clinician and as a researcher, adding to our mission of becoming one of the top cardiovascular programs in the world.

The Division began adding key new faculty members late last year.  Victor Soto, M.D., F.A.C.P, F.A.S.N.C., joined the staff as the medical director of cardiac imaging at the University of Miami Hospital in December.  Dr. Soto, who has received numerous awards in the community, has been a voluntary faculty member at UM for many years and will now be a voluntary assistant professor.  He attended the University of Panama Medical School and is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography.

Richard Berger, M.D., F.A.C.C., has also joined the faculty as an assistant professor of clinical medicine.  In this role, Dr. Berger will be coordinating all transfers to the new University of Miami Hospital.  Dr. Berger’s ties to the University go back many years. After earning his medical degree from Tulane University, Dr. Berger completed his residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and he has been a voluntary professor of clinical medicine at UM since the 1970s.

Melissa Tracy, M.D., F.A.C.C., has accepted the position of assistant professor of clinical medicine.  Dr. Tracy is leaving her position as an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts-New England Medical Center and a cardiologist at Brockton Hospital in Massachusetts, to become the director of cardiac rehabilitation at the Miller School.  She will begin her new post in June, rounding out what will surely be a momentous year for the division.

Dr. Hare says bringing in these physicians in such highly specialized areas of care proves our goal is to serve the people of South Florida by providing cutting-edge, advanced cardiac care to everyone.  They represent the immense growth already under way at the University of Miami, including our programs at Jackson Memorial Hospital, the new University of Miami Hospital and the Miami VA Hospital.