Cardiology Faculty & Leadership

Dr. Thomas DiSalvo attended Harvard College and graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Following his residency and chief residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and subsequent service on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he completed fellowship training in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. After ten years of clinical practice as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard, he was recruited to Vanderbilt University as Medical Director of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine. In 2015, Dr. DiSalvo was recruited to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) as Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Cardiology. Throughout his career, he has been an active and dedicated clinical cardiologist, committed to the highest standards of excellence.

Daniel Steinberg, M.D., serves as Section Chief of Interventional Cardiology, holds the Michael Gold Chair in Structural Heart, and is a Professor of Medicine.

Dr. Steinberg earned his medical degree from UMDNJ–New Jersey Medical School in 2001. He completed his residency at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in 2004, followed by fellowship training at Georgetown University Hospital in 2007 and Washington Hospital Center in 2008.

His academic and clinical interests focus on coronary artery disease and structural and valvular heart disease. He specializes in diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization, including advanced structural heart procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and transcatheter mitral valve repair. His expertise also includes intravascular imaging and percutaneous ventricular support.

Dr. Tedford is an internationally recognized clinical researcher and has published over 100 peer-reviewed original research manuscripts, invited expert reviews, editorials and book chapters. His research efforts are focused on hemodynamic assessment of right ventricle function and its interaction with the pulmonary circulation and left heart. This spans the fields of pulmonary hypertension, left heart disease, exercise physiology, systemic sclerosis, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. His group is currently investigating the diagnostic and prognostic value of right ventricular reserve and is relation to resting RV-PA coupling.

Jeffrey Winterfield, M.D., is the Hank and Laurel Greer Endowed Chair in Electrophysiology, with primary clinical responsibilities as Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He has a background in basic scientific research, with early work in ion channel biophysics.

Dr. Winterfield completed a clinical cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His interest in long QT syndrome, developed during translational electrophysiology research with Dr. David Milan, led him to pursue a career—and additional fellowship training—in heart rhythm disorders.

During his training with Dr. William Stevenson at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, his interests shifted toward ventricular arrhythmias in patients with cardiomyopathy, with a primary focus on the management of ventricular tachycardia (VT).

At MUSC, his clinical and research efforts focus on the management of VT in complex substrates, particularly in cases where conventional ablation tools fail to provide effective therapy. In addition, he and his team work at the intersection of computer science, signal processing, and imaging, using digital twin models of ventricular structures to develop comprehensive, patient-specific approaches to VT targeting and ablation.

His work has been published in some of the most prestigious cardiac electrophysiology journals, including JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and Heart Rhythm.

Dr. Amoroso is an interventional cardiologist who specializes in catheter-based procedures and innovation for the treatment of heart valve disorders (aortic/mitral/tricuspid/pulmonic), cardiac septal defects (PFO/ASD/VSD), coronary artery disease (stents/PCI/complex coronary interventions), and stroke prevention with left atrial appendage occlusion.

Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, he went on to medical school at George Washington University followed by internal medicine residency at NYU in New York City. He completed his cardiovascular disease fellowship at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and returned to NYU for advanced fellowship training in interventional cardiology with a dedicated training for transcatheter structural heart disease interventions (TAVR/Mitraclip/TMVR/valvuloplasty/PFO closure/ASD closure/PVL closure/etc).  He is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology, and vascular imaging interpretation.

During his career, he has participated in numerous cutting-edge clinical trials, published research in leading cardiology journals, and is a regular speaker at national conferences. His academic interests focus on innovation in the treatment of valvular heart disease and coronary artery disease but, he most values taking care of patients.In his personal time, he enjoys travel, lacrosse, Charleston's food culture, and spending time with his wife and children.

Jennifer Atkins, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Cardiology specializing in heart failure and cardiac transplantation. Her clinical interests include the management of advanced heart failure, with a particular focus on Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) therapy.

Dr. Atkins earned her medical degree from the Medical University of the Americas in 2015. She completed her residency at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in 2018, followed by a fellowship in cardiology at the Medical University of South Carolina Medical Center in 2021.

Research Profile

My long-standing research interest is in the area of cardiac biomechanics. Specifically, the contractile and viscoelastic mechanical properties of cardiac biomaterials represent the focus and commitment of my research efforts. In the Zile laboratory, we perform multiple experimental studies in small and large animal models of cardiac disease, especially cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure induced by pressure overload. We continue to work closely with many collaborating investigators to evaluate various indices of cardiovascular function in our animal models of heart disease. My mentor, Michael Zile, M.D., and I closely collaborate on multiple basic, translational, and clinical research projects to define the extracellular molecular mechanisms that cause the development of myocardial remodeling, diastolic dysfunction, and chronic heart failure.

Our research laboratory has been supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, American Heart Association, Medical University of South Carolina, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, and US Department of Defense.

Dr. Balachandran is a board certified cardiologist. She specializes in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. She was born in Lincolnshire, England and moved to Connecticut, where her family still lives. She pursued a Bachelors in Science at Boston University in Human Physiology, and completed her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut. She completed her Internal Medicine training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital. She moved to Houston Texas, to the Texas Heart Institute for her general cardiology training, and finally to Los Angeles, CA at Cedars Sinai Medical Center for her advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology training.

As a member of the American College of Cardiology and the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Dr. Balachandran contributes to medical research and has published numerous papers. Dr. Balachandran welcomes new patients and referrals.

Jan N. Basile, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He earned his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. He completed his internship and residency at MUSC, where he also served as Chief Resident.

Dr. Basile is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Hypertension, and the American Heart Association. He is board certified in internal medicine and has been designated a specialist in clinical hypertension by the American Society of Hypertension. His research focuses on outcome-based clinical trials in hypertension, lipid disorders, and diabetes.

Dr. Matthew Belanger is a general cardiologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He earned his medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital in Boston. He then completed fellowship training in cardiovascular disease at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he developed expertise in preventive cardiology, sports cardiology, and cardiometabolic health. Dr. Belanger cares for patients with a broad range of cardiovascular conditions and is currently accepting new patients.

Research Profile

The Bradshaw laboratory is focused on cellular mechanisms controlling procollagen processing and collagen deposition in cardiac fibrosis and in periodontal ligament repair.

A fundamental question in cell biology is how cells regulate the synthesis and construction of tissue-specific extracellular matrices (ECMs) in their environment and, in turn, how changes in the structure and composition of the ECM can influence cell behavior in response to injury and disease. In particular, we are interested in cellular mechanisms of collagen fibril assembly in the ECM and the function of matricellular proteins in the regulation of this process. Matricellular proteins are defined as proteins that associate with the ECM but do not contribute structurally to the ECM in contrast to classical ECM proteins such as collagen and laminin. We have established that one matricellular protein, SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine, osteonectin, BM-40), influences the formation of collagen I fibers in connective tissues of mice. For example, collagen accumulation associated with cardiac pressure-overload hypertrophy is significantly reduced in SPARC-null mice. Elucidation of pathways by which SPARC and other collagen binding proteins influence collagen incorporation and stability in the ECM can lead to the design of strategies to control fibrotic processes in the heart and in other tissues. Alternatively, in diseases in which collagenous tissue is degraded, such as in periodontal disease, factors that improve collagen assembly could be used as essential tools to restore damaged tissues.

Recently, my laboratory defined a novel role of SPARC in regulating the activity of transglutaminase in collagen fibril assembly. We reported that inhibition of transglutaminase activity altered collagen content, fibril diameter, and mechanical properties of tissue. As transglutaminase is highly expressed by macrophages, an interesting speculation is functional differences in collagen deposition might be tightly regulated by macrophage expression of transglutaminase and SPARC thus contributing to the disorganized fibrotic deposition of collagen in disease. The Bradshaw laboratory has been supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Bishnu Dhakal is a cardiac electrophysiologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disorders. His clinical expertise includes the comprehensive management of complex ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation, with a focus on advanced and individualized treatment strategies.

Dr. Dhakal earned his medical degree from Kathmandu University College of Medical Sciences in Nepal. He completed his internal medicine residency at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City, followed by a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He then pursued advanced clinical training with a fellowship in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

He went on to complete a cardiology fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tucson, followed by subspecialty training in cardiac electrophysiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Prior to his current role, Dr. Dhakal served on the internal medicine faculty at West Virginia University.

Dr. Dhakal has authored numerous publications on the management of heart failure, ventricular tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation, and has received multiple research awards. His work reflects a strong commitment to advancing the care of patients with complex cardiac arrhythmias.

Dr. DeLeon-Pennell was trained in cardiovascular sciences at Baylor University, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  She has >10 years’ experience with all aspects of the inflammatory and fibrotic components of cardiac remodeling following a heart attack. Her current research projects focus on the role of the adaptive immune system and how it interplay with the innate immune system to regulate cardiac wound healing. This includes evaluating how existing confounding variables such as gender or aging changes these processes.

Research Profile

The DeLeon-Pennell Lab focuses on all aspects of the inflammatory and fibrotic components of cardiac remodeling following a heart attack (myocardial infarction; MI). This includes evaluating how existing variables such as gender or aging changes these processes. Our major research focus is on the role of the adaptive immune system and the interplay with the innate immune system to regulate cardiac wound healing. These changes include cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, which both affect and react to processes involved in tissue repair.

Overall our goal is to:

1. Develop multidimensional approaches to examine the mechanisms whereby the innate and adaptive immune system influences cardiovascular remodeling
2. Understand the dynamics and function of bio-molecules involved in cardiac remodeling
3. Improve current therapeutic strategies to prevent, slow, or reverse the progression to heart failure

Recently our lab has identified new mechanisms implicating CD8+ T-cells as regulators of the post-MI wound healing process. Our data indicated without functional CD8+ T-cells there was a decrease in left ventricular dilation and improved mortality post MI. In addition CD8+ T-cells were found to facilitate removal of necrotic tissue and the development of the fibrotic scar. The DeLeon-Pennell laboratory has been supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Research Profile 

Dr. del Monte’s lab focuses on basic cardiac muscle pathophysiology and translational research to understand the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies and heart failure (HF) as an Alzheimer’s disease and for the discovery of novel therapies. The lab utilizes an interdisciplinary approach in-vitro and in-vivo physiology, molecular biology and imaging as well as biophysical and structural-chemistry approaches. The early work from Dr. del Monte’s lab focused on Ca2+ homeostasis in the failing heart and gene therapy. For those studies, Dr. del Monte is a recognized leader in cardiomyocytes physiology and Ca2+ handling in animal models and human hearts. Dr. del Monte’s research has evolved towards cutting edge and innovative unexplored territories linking Alzheimer’s Disease and heart failure. The latest discoveries are recognized as a major breakthrough that opened a new era for the understanding of the pathogenesis of HF.

Dr. del Monte discovered, in dilated cardiomyopathy (iDCM), plaque and tangles-like protein aggregates similar to the pathological defects in Alzheimer Disease (AD). Since this first discovery the lab determined that Alzheimers Disease and cardiomyopathy share the same pathogenic defect changing the paradigm of the pathogenesis of iDCM. The lab characterized the cell response to misfolded proteins; identified genetic variants in common between iDCM and AD; purified and chemical characterized the composition of amyloid fibrils of cardiac plaques identifying an actin-polymerizing protein-Cofilin-2 to be comprised within the aggregates and characterized its role on cardiac function; identified how misfolded proteins exert their toxic effect and developed the new concept of metastatic transmissibility of pre-amyloid oligomers.

In addition to identifying Alzheimer’s like plaques and tangles in the heart of patients with cardiomyopathy the lab determined that the heart of patients with primary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s contains Ab deposits and present diastolic dysfunction. Given the commonality of the structure/function of misfolded proteins, the results obtained on cardiomyocytes can be translated to any cell, and studying the heart can provide insights for the detection of onset and progression of brain disorders using the heart as a window to the brain and offering a common therapeutic target for diseases affecting millions of people. Supporting activities for the cardiology division are mentoring students and fellows, from experience as reviewer for K08, K99-R00, R01 NIH grants. Dr. del Monte is also the Director of the human hearts biorepository at MUSC.

Dr. Thomas DiSalvo attended Harvard College and graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Following his residency and chief residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and subsequent service on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he completed fellowship training in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. After ten years of clinical practice as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard, he was recruited to Vanderbilt University as Medical Director of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine. In 2015, Dr. DiSalvo was recruited to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) as Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Cardiology. Throughout his career, he has been an active and dedicated clinical cardiologist, committed to the highest standards of excellence.

William Edwards, MD is an Associate Professor of Cardiology with specialized expertise in the diagnosis and management of cardiac arrhythmias. His clinical interests include atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, and other disorders affecting the heart’s electrical system. Dr. Edwards is dedicated to providing evidence-based, patient-centered care and is actively involved in advancing cardiovascular medicine through teaching and clinical practice.

Dr. Valerian Fernandes received his MBBS degree from St. John's Medical College, Bangalore in 1989 and his post graduate M.D. (internal medicine) degree from Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh, India in 1992. He received his MRCP degree in 1994 (Member of Royal College of Physicians-UK). In the U.S. he did his internship at St. Luke-Roosevelt Hospital in New York and completed his internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota in 1997. His cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowship training was done at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas from 1997 to 2001. Since his training, he has been on the MUSC faculty as an assistant professor of medicine and as a staff physician and director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center.

Dr. Fernandes is board certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology. He is level III echocardiography trained and certified and also level II nuclear cardiology trained and certified. Dr. Fernandes' clinical and research interests include complex coronary interventions, rotational atherectomy, vulnerable plaque evaluation and treatment, acute coronary syndromes, alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, peripheral arterial intervention and Doppler and transesophageal echocardiography. He is the only certified percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty practitioner in the state of South Carolina. Dr. Fernandes has been a principal investigator in several trials and has also co-authored many publications. He is very active in teaching and medical education and has received many teaching awards and nominations. He is a reviewer for medical journals and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

Research Profile

Dr. Fernandes’ clinical and research interests include complex coronary interventions, rotational atherectomy, vulnerable plaque evaluation and treatment, acute coronary syndromes, alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, peripheral arterial intervention and Doppler and transesophageal echocardiography. He is the only certified percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty practitioner in the state of South Carolina.

Michael R. Gold, M.D., Ph.D. is an academic cardiologist and clinical cardiac electrophysiologist who serves as the Michael E. Assey Professor of Medicine in Cardiology. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology.

Dr. Gold is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and is widely recognized for his contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine. His clinical and research expertise includes cardiac electrophysiology, cardiac arrhythmias, implantable cardiac devices, and advanced heart failure therapies.

He is considered a pioneer in the development of novel defibrillation techniques and device-based therapies, including innovative pacing strategies for the management of congestive heart failure. His work has significantly advanced the treatment of arrhythmias and improved outcomes for patients with complex cardiovascular disease.

Dr. David Gregg is an academic cardiologist specializing in adult congenital heart disease and non-invasive cardiovascular imaging. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and adult congenital heart disease, and is widely recognized for his contributions to clinical care, program development, and the advancement of adult congenital cardiology.

Dr. Gregg completed his residency in internal medicine with additional training in cell biology and cardiovascular genomics at Duke University Medical Center. He subsequently pursued fellowship training in cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco, focusing on adult congenital heart disease and advanced non-invasive imaging.

Since 2006, Dr. Gregg has led the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at the Medical University of South Carolina, which he founded in collaboration with pediatric cardiology. In addition to coordinating comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care for adults with congenital heart disease, he maintains an active general cardiology practice with a particular interest in valvular heart disease.

Dr. Brian Houston is a cardiologist specializing in the management of advanced heart failure, including the care of patients before and after heart transplantation or left ventricular assist device (LVAD). After graduating from Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Houston completed residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He was invited to serve as an assistant chief of service of the Thayer Firm at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and he spent that year caring for patients and instructing residents and medical students. He remained at Johns Hopkins for his general cardiology fellowship and spent an additional year of fellowship there training in the care of advanced heart failure, LVADs, and transplantation.

Dr. Houston has been invited to present his research work at international scientific meetings. He has a particular interest in cardiac sarcoidosis and in the effects of LVAD support on the gastrointestinal tract, blood, and the right side of the heart. He was honored to be named a finalist for the American Heart Association's Young Clinician Award in 2015. Dr. Houston believes that each patient with heart failure is unique and that, to live their best life, they require a caring and comprehensive approach from a dedicated medical team.

Dr. Chakradhari Inampudi is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and a specialist in advanced heart failure, cardiac transplantation, and pulmonary hypertension. He cares for patients with all forms of heart failure, including those requiring IV therapies, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), and heart transplantation.

Dr. Inampudi earned his MD from Kurnool Medical College, India, and completed residency training in internal medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he received the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching and clinical acumen. He completed fellowship training in cardiovascular disease at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

His clinical and research interests focus on improving outcomes and quality of life for patients with heart failure, optimizing evidence-based therapies, managing worsening heart failure, and exploring the intersection of cardiovascular and kidney disease.

Dr. Gregory Jackson is a cardiologist specializing in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida with highest honors and his medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine. After completing residency at the Cleveland Clinic and a cardiology fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he served as chief fellow, he pursued advanced heart failure and transplantation training at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Dr. Jackson is board certified in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and internal medicine. A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Failure Society of America, he treats heart failure, left ventricular assist devices, and cardiac transplant patients, and conducts research on sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Rachel Kaplan is a cardiac electrophysiologist and Director of the Electrophysiology Fellowship Program in the Department of Medicine. She earned her medical degree and a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency, cardiology fellowship, and electrophysiology fellowship at Northwestern. Dr. Kaplan specializes in comprehensive atrial fibrillation management, including cryoballoon ablation, left atrial appendage occlusion, and complex left atrial arrhythmias, and has published extensively on stroke risk estimation in atrial fibrillation.

Education

Fellowship:  MUSC
Residency: Duke
Medical School: Emory
Undergraduate: UNC

Dr. Fred Kranin, MD, is a cardiologist specializing in heart rhythm disorders. His clinical interests include arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, and supraventricular tachycardia.

Dr. Sheldon E. Litwin is a cardiologist with nationally recognized expertise in advanced cardiac imaging and its use in the diagnosis of heart disease and treatment of patients with heart disease. Dr. Litwin is board-certified in general cardiology, nuclear cardiology, echocardiography, and cardiovascular computed tomography (CT). He was recognized in 2014 in America's Top Doctors (Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.). He is a strong proponent of preventive cardiology and has a longstanding interest in weight loss as prevention and treatment for cardiovascular disease. He is an avid outdoorsman and exercise advocate who is passionate about caring for active adults who participate in sports or recreational exercise.

Prior to coming to MUSC Health, Dr. Litwin was chief of the division of cardiology at Georgia Regents University from 2011 to 2014 and director of cardiac imaging at the University of Utah from 1993 to 2011. Dr. Litwin is involved in clinical trials using new therapies for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). He has published more than 100 scientific papers and serves on several editorial boards and national committees.

Dr. Litwin's medical degree was awarded by Washington University School of Medicine. He completed a residency at the University of Arizona and completed a cardiology fellowship at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Nawabi brings over 24 years of cardiology experience to MUSC, including 15 years as an invasive cardiologist in private practice. She now focuses on general noninvasive cardiology with an emphasis on patient-centered care. Her clinical interests include coronary CT angiography, arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, cardio-oncology, women’s cardiac health, and preventive cardiology.

Dr. Christopher Nielsen is a cardiologist at MUSC, specializing in complex coronary interventions and structural heart procedures. He earned his M.D. from Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest and completed internal medicine and cardiology training at MUSC. His clinical and research interests include acute coronary syndromes, alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects and patent foramen ovale, coronary CT angiography, and renal artery stenosis.

Dr. Terrence O'Brien is board certified in cardiovascular medicine and internal medicine. He is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. His undergraduate degree is in chemistry and he has a master's degree in biological sciences, both at Stanford University. Dr. O'Brien did his three-year internal medicine residency at Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas (Parkland Hospital), and a three-year clinical cardiology fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, where he also did a two-year research cardiology fellowship in molecular cardiology as a Bugher Fellow.

Dr. O'Brien is a professor of medicine and regenerative medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina where he has been since 1993. He also serves as Medical Director for the East Cooper Cardiology Clinic. 

Dr. O'Brien's clinical interests include all aspects of inpatient and outpatient general cardiology including coronary disease, heart failure, valvular disorders, lipid management, arrhythmias and prevention. 

Dr. O'Brien's research career has involved both basic laboratory research examining the mechanisms of heart hypertrophy and failure as well as participation in human clinical trials evaluating new medications and diagnostic techniques in patients with various forms of heart failure.

Dr. O'Brien is the author of over 55 peer reviewed publications. He is a member of a number of professional societies including the American Society of Echocardiography, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, the Heart Failure Society of America and the International Society for Heart Research. Dr. O'Brien's research has been supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Heart Association, the Medical University of South Carolina and numerous other sponsors.

Dr. Prins is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology and Director of the Gazes Cardiac Research Institute at MUSC. He trained at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and then completed an integrated research and clinical cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He also runs a NIH-funded laboratory aimed at understanding and treating right heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.

Dr. Prins cares for patients with multiple cardiovascular diseases. He is particularly interested in right heart failure, tricuspid regurgitation, dyspnea, and pulmonary hypertension.

Dr. Eric Powers is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and interventional cardiology. He is director of the Acute Coronary Syndrome Center and medical director of the cardiology inpatient progressive care unit at MUSC. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, he trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and previously led cardiac catheterization labs at Columbia University and the University of Virginia. His clinical interests include invasive, interventional, and general cardiology, and his research focuses on acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, and valvular disease. Dr. Powers has authored over 100 publications and is active in major professional societies.

Dr. Daniel Silverman is a cardiologist specializing in heart failure, with a focus on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and myocardial recovery in reduced ejection fraction. He earned his medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and completed internal medicine and cardiology training at Loyola, followed by fellowships at the American Heart Association, University of Vermont Medical Center, and MUSC.

Dr. Graham Smith is a cardiologist at MUSC specializing in arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation. He earned his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Emory.

Daniel Steinberg, M.D., serves as Section Chief of Interventional Cardiology, holds the Michael Gold Chair in Structural Heart, and is a Professor of Medicine.

Dr. Steinberg earned his medical degree from UMDNJ–New Jersey Medical School in 2001. He completed his residency at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in 2004, followed by fellowship training at Georgetown University Hospital in 2007 and Washington Hospital Center in 2008.

His academic and clinical interests focus on coronary artery disease and structural and valvular heart disease. He specializes in diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization, including advanced structural heart procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and transcatheter mitral valve repair. His expertise also includes intravascular imaging and percutaneous ventricular support.

Dr. Tedford is an internationally recognized clinical researcher and has published over 100 peer-reviewed original research manuscripts, invited expert reviews, editorials and book chapters. His research efforts are focused on hemodynamic assessment of right ventricle function and its interaction with the pulmonary circulation and left heart. This spans the fields of pulmonary hypertension, left heart disease, exercise physiology, systemic sclerosis, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. His group is currently investigating the diagnostic and prognostic value of right ventricular reserve and is relation to resting RV-PA coupling.

Dr. Thomas Mark Todoran, M.D., MS, is an interventional cardiologist specializing in arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, cardiac catheterization, and peripheral vascular disease. He earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed residency and multiple fellowships at Duke University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Adrian Van Bakel is a cardiologist and longtime faculty member at MUSC, where he served as Medical Director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program from 1991 to 2017. He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Louisville and completed residency and cardiology fellowship at MUSC. His clinical and research interests include heart failure management, cardiac transplantation, novel immunosuppression strategies, and pharmacogenomics. He is active in major professional societies and has led numerous multicenter clinical trials.

Dr. Ashley Waring is an adult cardiologist specializing in preventive cardiology, with a focus on reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. She participates in clinical trials investigating new therapies for lipid disorders in patients with cardiovascular disease. Dr. Waring is a graduate of Amherst College and the Medical University of South Carolina, where she also completed her residency in internal medicine and cardiology fellowship. She is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and clinical lipidology.

Marcus Wharton, M.D. is a professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, specializing in cardiac electrophysiology with a focus on catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias. He trained at Vanderbilt University, UCSF, and Duke University, where he also served as faculty and director of clinical cardiac electrophysiology. Dr. Wharton has published widely in leading cardiology journals, serves on multiple editorial boards and scientific advisory committees, and has lectured internationally on arrhythmia management.

Jeffrey Winterfield, M.D., is the Hank and Laurel Greer Endowed Chair in Electrophysiology, with primary clinical responsibilities as Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He has a background in basic scientific research, with early work in ion channel biophysics.

Dr. Winterfield completed a clinical cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His interest in long QT syndrome, developed during translational electrophysiology research with Dr. David Milan, led him to pursue a career—and additional fellowship training—in heart rhythm disorders.

During his training with Dr. William Stevenson at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, his interests shifted toward ventricular arrhythmias in patients with cardiomyopathy, with a primary focus on the management of ventricular tachycardia (VT).

At MUSC, his clinical and research efforts focus on the management of VT in complex substrates, particularly in cases where conventional ablation tools fail to provide effective therapy. In addition, he and his team work at the intersection of computer science, signal processing, and imaging, using digital twin models of ventricular structures to develop comprehensive, patient-specific approaches to VT targeting and ablation.

His work has been published in some of the most prestigious cardiac electrophysiology journals, including JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and Heart Rhythm.

Dr. Zile is a graduate of Rush University School of Medicine. He did his internal medicine residency at Rush Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Center in Chicago, a clinical cardiology fellowship at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston and a research cardiology fellowship at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boston.

Dr. Zile is currently the Charles Ezra Daniel professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. He also serves as the director of cardiology at the Ralph H. Johnson Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Charleston. He is an adjunct professor of bioengineering at Clemson University.

Dr. Zile's research career has involved both basic laboratory research examining the mechanisms of disease development and progression and translational clinical research examining the application of these basic mechanisms to development of effective treatment methods.

Dr. Zile is a recognized leader in the areas of cardiac function, congestive heart failure, diastolic heart failure and valvular heart disease. His research is supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Zile is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He is a member of a number of professional societies including the American College of Physicians, American Federation of Clinical Research, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, the Heart Failure Society of America, International Society of Heart Failure, and the American Physiology Society. Dr. Zile has served on the research, educational and program committees of these organizations. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation and is an editorial consultant to a number of others including Circulation Research, Journal of Clinical Investigation and the American Journal of Physiology. Dr. Zile is a member of the Association of University Cardiologists and a member of the ABIM Subspecialty Board on Cardiovascular Disease.

Research Profile

Effective management of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) remains one of the most critical unmet needs in cardiology in the United States and in the world. The fundamental goals of our research efforts over the last 35 years have been to define the ventricular, myocardial, cellular, and molecular mechanisms that cause the development and the progression of CHF and then to use these identified mechanisms as targets to improve diagnostic techniques, prognostic prediction, and therapeutic management of patients with CHF. In particular, I have focused my efforts on the clinical syndrome of heart failure (HF) with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). More than 50% of all HF patients have HFpEF. HFpEF results in morbidity and mortality rates that are staggering: 50 to 60% 5-year mortality rate, 50% 6-month rehospitalization rate, and severe clinical disability. However, as stated in the current HF guidelines: “to date, no treatment management strategies have yet been shown, convincingly, to reduce morbidity or mortality in patients with HFpEF”.

Together with collaborators, we have developed state-of-the-art imaging techniques to characterize the structural and functional remodeling that occur in CHF patients. In addition, we have applied these techniques in an echocardiographic core laboratory used for all of our clinical, translational, and basic science studies. We have also developed clinically relevant animal models of human disease, state-of-the-art methods to assess cardiovascular remodeling, extracellular matrix homeostasis and myocardial function, and applied innovative advanced progenitor cell, transgenic and viral-based alterations in gene expression, translation, and activity to define the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying CHF.

The Zile laboratory has been supported by research grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, the Medical University of South Carolina, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Defense.

bulla@musc.edu

Adult Congenital Nurse Practitioner

Nurse Practitioner
kidwella@musc.edu

Speech-Language Pathologist, MUSC Health
Areas of Expertise: Pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders, multidisciplinary g-tube weaning, pediatric concussion and traumatic brain injury, early language development

Heart Failure Nurse Coordinator
dowlerk@musc.edu

hajjjen@musc.edu

Heart Failure Nurse Coordinator
hayesja@musc.edu