Chief Heart Failure Program
Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine); Chief, Heart Failure Program
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Overview
We are delighted that you are considering the Yale training program in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology. The section of Cardiovascular Medicine, led by Eric Velasquez, MD comprises over a dozen clinical programs and five specialized research centers. The comprehensive heart failure program has over 14 faculty members and is growing. We are a high-volume heart transplantation and MCS center with an additional focus on clinical, outcomes and basic science research, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and advanced cardiac imaging. If you pursue training at Yale, you will gain the experience, academic expertise, and mentorship opportunities needed to launch a successful career as an Advanced Heart Failure and and Transplant Cardiologist.
Program Goals
- Prepare for a career as an academic heart failure and transplant cardiologist by gaining the skills and experience to practice in a high-volume transplant and/or VAD center
- Develop clinical and analytical skills needed to appropriately manage complex issues in heart transplantation, including desensitization, use of high-risk donors and post-transplant graft dysfunction.
- Become proficient at managing patients with durable left ventricular assist devices and temporary mechanical support as well as critically ill patients with cardiogenic shock. Develop expertise in echo and catheter-based RAMP studies, adjustment of device settings and management of device complications.
- Acquire expertise in the diagnosis, workup and management of patients with infiltrative, genetic and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies.
- Master required procedures, including right heart catheterization and endomyocardial biopsy, cardiopulmonary stress testing, optimization of implantable pacemakers and defibrillators and management and adjustment of LVADs.
- Achieve Level 3 COCATS Certification in Advanced Heart Failure, UNOS certification as a transplant cardiologist and pass the ABIM Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation Board Certification Exam following completion of the program.
- Develop research interests and skills within the field.
- Hone leadership and teaching skills.
Clinical Training
• Yale Inpatient HF-1 Service: Primary and consultation service where fellows gain expertise in the management of patients 1) pre and post heart transplantation 2) pre and post LVAD implantation 3) critically ill with cardiogenic shock 4) requiring left or right sided temporary mechanical support 5) s/p placement of ECMO
• Yale-SRC Inpatient HF-2 Service: Primary and consultation general heart failure service that where fellows can gain independence managing patients with decompensated heart failure.
• Procedural Training / Cath Lab: Fellows will become certified in the performance of right heart catheterization and endomyocardial biopsy. There are additional opportunities for advanced training in provocative testing for suspected pulmonary hypertension, invasive CPET and implantation of remote monitoring devices.
• Outpatient Experience: Fellows rotate through specialty clinics in Heart Transplant, LVAD, General Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies.
• Cardiopulmonary stress testing and EP device interrogations: Fellows will have the opportunity to gain recommended competence in cardiopulmonary stress testing and device interrogations.
• Electives: Fellows may design and pursue electives that fit their personal training goals. Rotations include Pulmonary Hypertension, Cardiothoracic-ICU, Palliative Care, Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Academic Training
- Interdisciplinary Mechanical Support Boot Camp: Day-long “boot camp” designed for fellows in Cardiology, Cardiac Anesthesia and Critical Care to develop expertise and gain hands-on experience with durable and temporary mechanical support devices. There is a monthly case based MCS conference that follows this boot camp.
- Fellow Lecture Series: Organized and led by faculty member Dr. Michael Beasley, the lecture series represents a cross-institutional collaboration highlighting important topics in advanced heart failure with lectures given by experts from several institutions.
- Advanced Heart Failure Academic Conference: Periodic series featuring global experts in the field presenting their research as well as fellow led journal club.
- Pathology Conference: Fellows and faculty from Heart Failure and Pathology review post-biopsy and explant pathology specimens on a weekly basis.
Training Location and Institution
- Training Location: Training occurs at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the outpatient Yale clinics. The hospital is a two-campus, 1,541 bed quaternary care hospital with over 100 sub-specialties and over 600 graduate medical trainees. Yale-New Haven Health System consists of multiple hospitals and over 360 locations. Yale University School of Medicine, founded in 1810, is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and among the most highly regarded institutions of biomedical research in the world.
- New Haven and Costal Connecticut: New Haven is the region’s hub for academics, culture, dining, innovation and history. The city, home to Yale University, is walkable and filled with shopping, restaurants, museums and historic architecture. It is located a short distance to both beaches and hiking and has rail connections to New York City and Boston. Quality of life for medical trainees is high given the lower cost of living in comparison to other alternative regional urban centers.
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Research
The robust heart failure research program is led by Jeffrey Testani, MD, MTR. Fellows undertake mentored work in investigational or clinical research. A few of the many current interests and projects include:
- Diuretic therapies and diuretic resistance, cardio-renal syndrome
- Digital tools to heart failure population risk and predict patient outcomes
- High risk cardiac donation strategies
- Non-invasive assessment and novel biomarkers for allograft rejection
- Clinical research in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Research in medical education
Recent Graduates
Our graduates have gone on pursue successful careers in academic medicine as clinician educators, physician-scientists. We are committed to ensuring that our future trainees continue this tradition of excellence.
2023
Abdul Nuqali, MBBS, Queen’s Health System, Honolulu, HI
2022
Katherine Clark, MD, MBA. Faculty, Yale University School of Medicine
Adrian DiSilva de Abreu, MD, PhD, Faculty, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
2021
Jasjit Bhinder, MD, Faculty, Hofsta University-Northwell
Jesus Pino-Moreno, MD, Queen’s Health System, Honolulu, HI
2020
Michael Harry Beasley, MD, Faculty, Yale University
2018
Christopher Maulion, MD, Faculty, Yale University
2017
Benjamin Vacarro, MD, Faculty, University of Pennsylvania
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Application Information
- Applications are accepted through ERAS from physicians who have completed or are scheduled to complete a three year ACGME fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease.
- Interviews are conducted by invitation only on select dates during the months of September and October via Zoom.
- Visit the Graduate Medical Education website for more information
Cardiology Education Administrative Contact: Corianne Brennan (corianne.brennan@yale.edu)
Program Leadership:
- Tariq Ahmad, MD, MPH (tariq.ahmad@yale.edu), Program Director
- Nikhil Sikand, MD (nikhil.sikand@yale.edu), Associate Program Director
Medical Director, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support
Assistant Professor; Medical Director Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Heart Failure Program; Co Director Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program, Cardiomyopathy & Inherited Cardiovascular Disease Program
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine); Associate Program Director, General Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship , Cardiovascular Medicine; Associate Program Director Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship Program, Cardiovascular Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine)
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine); Physician Advisor, Yale-New Haven Hospital; Medical Director, Safety & Performance Improvement HVC; Co-Chair, Pharmacy & Therapeutics Anticoagulation & Cardiology Subcommittee; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Medicine; Director of Heart Failure Research, Cardiovascular Medicine; Co-Director Heart & Vascular Center Clinical Research, Heart & Vascular Center
Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine (Cardiology); Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine; Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital; Physician-in-Chief, Heart and Vascular Center, Yale New Haven Health System; Deputy Director, Clinical Trials Innovation, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI); Co-Chair, Clinical and Translational Research Oversight Committee; President’s contingency planning committee, Clinical Practice/Clinical Research Subcommittee
In December of 2018, during her final year of Emergency Medicine residency, Dr. Alin Gragossian went into cardiogenic shock. She was urgently transferred to the neighboring transplant center, and become a heart transplant recipient.
Program Coordinator
Contact Corianne Brennan if you have questions about the fellowship program.
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