My approach to medicine, as a physician specializing in cardiovascular disease, is to help my patients to achieve desired outcomes by fully participating in the management of their heart problems. I see myself primarily as a consultant who listens to complaints, provides evidence-based advice, and assists patients with their health-related decisions based on their own specific expectations. To best achieve that, I have focused my areas of expertise, remained quite active in educating future cardiovascular specialists, and participated in cutting-edge research related to my specialty.
I am a cardiologist at St Luke's University Health Network. My practice is dedicated to non-invasive cardiac imaging, evaluation of heart valve disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and sports cardiology. My research has focused on the use of advanced imaging for the assessment of heart disease and new treatments for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I am board-certified in cardiovascular disease and in echocardiography. As part of a multidisciplinary group, my colleagues and I offer patients a team approach to treating heart valve disease, muscle disease, and rhythm abnormalities. I joined St. Luke’s University Health Network in 2010 to initiate a program (cardiology fellowship) to train future cardiovascular specialists. That program has now been in place for eight years and has graduated 10 such subspecialists, some of whom have chosen to join St. Luke's to serve our community with their cardiovascular healthcare needs.
I earned my medical degree at Shiraz (formerly Pahlavi) University School of Medical Sciences, completed a residency in internal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and St. Mary’s Hospital, and fellowships in cardiovascular diseases at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine; cardiovascular pathology at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Health; and in echocardiography at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Medical College of Virginia, VCU Medical Center.
Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, reading, writing and translating poetry, and spending time with my grandchildren.
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