Among the Nation's Top Programs for Children With Heart Disease

Young baby has stethoscope placed on chest.

Department of Pediatrics Annual Report – 2023

Cardiology

Banner graphic for the Department of Pediatrics Annual Report for 2023
Christopher Petit, MD

Members of the Division of Cardiology, founded in 1956 by Dr. Sylvia Griffiths:

  • Provide state-of-the-art non-surgical interventional therapies for infants, children, and adults with congenital heart disease through transcatheter and other methods
  • Manage children with severe forms of heart failure with mechanical ventricular assist devices and novel use of total artificial heart pumps
  • Guide complex surgical treatment through diagnostic imaging procedures which can derive heart image replication in 2- and 3-dimensions
  • Lead our field in innovative basic science, translational, and clinical research to transform the delivery of heart care, and set new definitions of successful therapy
  • Educate the next generation of pediatric cardiology leaders in all aspects and subdisciplines of pediatric cardiology

Our team’s ultimate goal is to cure heart disease one gene, one cell, one heart at a time through clinical, scientific, and academic excellence.

As part of NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, we are among the top pediatric cardiology programs in the U.S.

As the team that performed the first successful pediatric heart transplant in the world, we continue to be one of the largest programs in the country, offering advanced cardiac therapies for the most fragile and at-risk infants and children.

Our Team

Our team of 47 faculty provide clinical excellence through nationally recognized clinical and research programs, including:

Our Program

Our program has achieved many measures of distinction. We:

  • Are leaders in the care of babies born with a single ventricle, through our Single Ventricle Interstage Monitoring Program
  • Have expanded the use of 3D pre-procedure planning models to guide surgeries and transcatheter interventions in children born with complex heart lesions, including ventricular assist device placement planning
  • Are pioneers in the initial and ongoing study of transcatheter valve placement for congenital heart disease
  • Have one of the nation’s first centers of excellence in pediatric pulmonary hypertension
  • Have expertise performing the hybrid approach for hypoplastic left heart syndrome and are one of a few centers in the U.S. to establish a formal pediatric hybrid program
  • Are leaders in treating low-birthweight infants who require early surgical or transcatheter interventions
  • Implanted the first Berlin heart as a bridge to transplant in the youngest patient ever to receive one – an infant only three days old
  • Are one of only a few institutions in the world to perform comprehensive multidisciplinary heart valve repair and replacement
  • Established the only cardiac intensive care unit in the nation exclusively dedicated to the care of newborn infants with congenital heart disease
  • Have demonstrated that whole-exome sequencing can serve as a valuable addition to standard prenatal genetic tests, with the potential to improve perinatal care for infants with genetic conditions
  • Have established one of the nation’s largest pulmonary vein stenosis programs offering novel medical, transcatheter, and surgical therapies

The Division of Pediatric Cardiology is committed to expanding scientific discovery in the field of pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery. To achieve this, several faculty members and staff are currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including two R01 awards and a K award, and by other large foundations through independent, collaborative, and mentored research awards.

Education

Our Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship is one of the most highly sought-after programs in the country. Our three-year bicampus program involves NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus and Komansky Children’s Hospital on the Weill Cornell Medicine campus. Trainees also have the option of an advanced fourth-year fellowship in a subspecialty area such as noninvasive imaging, interventional cardiology, heart failure/transplantation, or pulmonary hypertension.

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Honors and Awards

  • Priyanka Asrani, MD
    • 2023 Colin’s Molloy Award
  • Erika Berman-Rosenzweig, MD
    • Member, American Pediatric Society
    • Member, Columbia University Biobank (CUB) Steering Committee
  • Michael DiLorenzo, MD
    • Fellow, Society of Cardiovascular MR (FSCMR)
    • Co-director, pediatric cardiology fellows research boot camp
  • Tarif Choudhury, MD
    • 9T/CICU Attending of the Year 
  • Kanwal Farooqi, MD
    • Completed Winn Career Development Program
    • Appointed chair of 3D + special interest, Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
  • Julie Glickstein, MD
    • Awarded the Martha Hooven Award for Excellence in Community Service / CUIMC 2023
    • Named co-chair elect of the national conference and exhibition 2024 AAP Meeting, Section on Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery (SOCCS)  
    • Elected to the Executive Board of SOCCS by AAP SOCCS members, 2023-2026
    • Selected by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Workforce National Working Group to construct a pediatric subspeciality supply model
    • Selected by ACGME to serve on the National Pediatric Cardiology Milestones 2.0 working group
    • Co-creator and Co-director (with Dr. Matthew Crystal) of NewYork-Presbyterian Children’s Heart Center Junior Faculty Coaching Initiative
  • Usha Krishnan, MD
    • Julie Vincent Leadership in Medicine Award, 2023     
  • Stephanie Levasseur, MD
    • 2023 Fetal Heart Society QI Workgroup
  • Irene Lytrivi, MD
    • Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Lead for the Pediatric Heart Transplant Program 
  • Christopher Petit, MD
    • Conference Director: Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions – Fellow Course
    • Co-Director, NewYork-Presbyterian Integrated Pediatric Cardiology Program
  • Kimara Targoff, MD
    • Received a second year of funding for her collaborative Research Initiatives in Science & Engineering (RISE) award from Columbia University. With Co-I, Dr. Nandan Nerurkar, the project focuses on the design and implementation of innovative mechanobiology tools to study cardiac chamber development.
  • Hannah Lee, NP
    • Nominated to represent CUIMC pediatric heart transplant within the American Society of Transplantation Pediatric Community of Practice Workgroup (for transition of care)
    • Mentor to Mailman School of Public Health HPM Student Mentorship Program
  • Warren Zuckerman, MD
    • Appointed Associate Chief, NYP Integrated Pediatric Cardiology Program

Major Grants

  • Mechanism of myocardial regeneration mediated by Nkx2.5 in zebrafish. NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01 (HL162989-01A1). PI: Kimara Targoff
  • Essential functions of extracellular matrix in outflow tract morphogenesis. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01 (HL170188-01A0). PI: Kimara Targoff
  • Validation of Accelerated Cardiac MRI Using Deep Learning in Children on 1.5 T Platforms. GE Healthcare. Investigator: Michael DiLorenzo
  • Fontan Udenafil Exercise Longevity-2 (FUEL-2) Trial. Sponsor: Mezzion Pharma. Investigator: Christopher Petit
  • NIH RECOVER: A Multi-site Observational Study of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pediatric PopulationsRole. NIH, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (OT2HL161847). Site MPI: Stockwell/Berman Rosenzweig/Milner):  Site-Co-I; Study-wide Health Equity/PRO/Community Engagement Committee.
  • NIH, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences 5UL1 TR001873-06 (PI:  Reilly) ASPIRE! Peer Mentoring Role: Program Co-Director; Co-direct training program in peer mentorship for KL2 Scholars. (NEED VERIFICATION FOR THIS)
  • American Heart Association Winn Clinical Investigator Leadership Award. Kanwal Farooqi
  • NHLBI K23- Year 2 – Kanwal Farooqi

Selected Publications

  • Petit CJ, Glatz AC, Goldstone AB, Law MA, Romano JC, Maskatia SA, Chai PJ, Zampi JD, Meadows JJ, Nicholson GT, Shahanavaz S, Qureshi AM, McCracken CE, Mascio CE, Batlivala SP, Asztalos IB, Healan SJ, Smith JD, Pettus JA, Beshish A, Raulston JEB, Hock KM, Pajk AL, Goldstein BH. Pulmonary Artery Hypoplasia in Neonates With Tetralogy of Fallot. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2023 Aug
  • Marella N, Montes-Gil A, Fan W, Angueyra C, Asrani P, Harrington J, Channing A, Setton M, Shah A, Levasseur S, Glickstein J, Farooqi K. 3D Printed Cardiac Models for Fetal Counseling: A Novel Approach to Improve Communication. Pediatr Cardiol. May 18:1-8 2023. PMID: 37199756
  • Singh P, Gollapalli K, Mangiola S, Schranner D, Yusuf MA, Chamoli M, Shi SL, Bastos BL, Nair T, Riermeier A, Vayndorf EM, Wu JZ, Nilakhe A, Nguyen CQ, Muir M, Kiflezghi MG, Foulger A, Junker A, Devine J, Sharan K, Chinta SJ, Rajput S, Rane A, Baumert P, Schönfelder M, Lavarone F, Lorenzo GD, Kumari S, Gupta A, Sarkar R, Khyriem C, Chawla AS, Sharma A, Sarper N, Chattopadhyay N, Biswal BK, Settembre C, Nagarajan P, Targoff KL, Picard M, Gupta S, Velagapudi V, Papenfuss AT, Kaya A, Ferreira MG, Kennedy BK, Andersen JK, Lithgow GJ, Ali AM, Mukhopadhyay A, Palotie A, Kastenmüller G, Kaeberlein M, Wackerhage H, Pal B, Yadav VK.  Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging. Science, 380(6649): 9257, 2023.  (PMID: 37289866)
  • Fujita KT, DiLorenzo MP, Krishnan US, Turner ME, Barry OM, Torres AJ, Bacha EA, Kalfa D, Crystal MA. Outcomes and Risk Factors of Interventions for Pediatric Post-operative Pulmonary Vein Stenosis. Pediatr Cardiol. 2023 Dec;44(8):1778-1787. doi: 10.1007/s00246-023-03214-w.
  • Kailas M, Layton AM, Pesce M, Liberman L, Starc TJ, Fremed MA, Garofano R, Rosenzweig EB, Krishnan US.  Exercise-Induced Electrocardiography Changes in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Am J Cardiol. 2023 Dec 1;208:60-64. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2023.09.014.
  • Linder AN, Hsia J, Krishnan SV, Bacha EA, Crook S, Rosenzweig EB, Krishnan US (cosenior authors). Management of systemic to pulmonary shunts and elevated pulmonary vascular resistance. ERJ Open Res. 2023 Nov 6;9(6):00271-2023. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00271-2023.
  • Girvin ZP, Silver ES and Liberman L. Comparison of AliveCor KardiaMobile Six-Lead ECG with Standard ECG in Pediatric Patients. Pediatr Cardiol. 2023; 44:689–694
  • Fremed MS, Healy EW,  Choi NH, Cheung EW, Choudhury TA, Jiang P, Liberman L, Zucker J, Lytrivi ID and Starc TJ. Elevated Cardiac Biomarkers and Outcomes in Children and Adolescents with Acute COVID-19. Cardiol Young. 2023; 33(2):183-189
  • Chou FL, Donovan DJ, Weller RJ, Fremed MA, Glickstein JS, Krishnan US. Disparities in resource utilisation by families of children with cardiac conditions. Cardiol Young. 2023 Jul 7:1-9. doi: 10.1017/S1047951123001634.
  • Nguyen SN, Schiazza A, Richmond ME, Zuckerman WA, Bacha EA, Goldstone AB. Trends in pediatric donor heart discard rates and the potential use of unallocated heart for allogenic valve transplantation. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Open. 2023 15: 374-381.
  • Parwani P, Chen T, Allen B, Kallianos K, Ng MY, Kozor R, Aremu OO, Farooqi KM, Secinaro A, Ricci F, Moharem-Elgamal S, Liberato G, Narang A, Ojha V, Ducci CB, Plein S, Ordovas KG. Challenges and opportunities for early career medical professionals in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging: a white paper from the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2023 Nov 16;25(1):65. doi: 10.1186/s12968-023-00968-3.

Highlights

Living Life With a Full Heart

Jack Foley, 12-year-old hockey player

Born with half a heart, Jack Foley underwent three surgeries at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital to re-engineer how his heart pumps. Now a 12-year-old hockey player, “Super Jack” is a superstar on and off the ice.

Health Matters

Expert Insights on Pulmonary Hypertension from World Congress for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery

The World Congress for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery (World Congress) provides an opportunity for experts in the field to gather as an interdisciplinary community to learn about the most up-to-date research for pediatric and congenital heart disease (CHD). During this year’s session, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia was a featured institution hosting its first satellite symposium on pulmonary hypertension (PH).

NYP Advances