Mount Sinai Heart promotes heart health with a world-class multidisciplinary team. Physicians, nurses, dieticians, patient educators, and support staff join together to help patients lead better lives.

Mount Sinai Heart is led by founding director Valentin Fuster, MD. PhD, Professor of Cardiology. A past president of the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation, Dr. Fuster is dedicated to ending heart disease worldwide. Under his leadership, Mount Sinai Heart conducts groundbreaking research and offer patients prevention strategies at every opportunity.

Other cardiologists include:

Jonathan L. Halperin, MD, Professor of Cardiology and Director of Clinical Cardiology Services, serves as Director of the Urban Community Cardiology Fellowship Training Program. This educational initiative partners with Mount Sinai's principal municipal hospital affiliate, the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, NY. In addition to his widely respected work with individual patients, Dr. Halperin leads large-scale clinical trials. The results of his studies prevent tens of thousands of cardiovascular events every year.

Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, is Associate Professor of Cardiology and Medical Director of the Cardiac Health Program and Director of the Women's Cardiac Assessment and Risk Evaluation Program. She has made it her mission to improve the care of women, the elderly, and minorities. Dr. McLaughlin has published widely and is on the editorial board of the Focus on Healthy Aging. She is often quoted in newspapers and magazines and performs outreach in Mount Sinai's New York community.

Mario J. Garcia, MD, Professor of Radiology and Cardiology and Director of Non-Invasive Cardiology, is a national leader in diagnostic imaging. He directs Mount Sinai Heart's Cardiovascular Imaging Center, pioneering techniques to detect heart disease earlier and more safely. He was selected as one of the top five most prominent cardiac imaging specialists in the United States by Diagnostic Imaging magazine.

Zahi A. Fayad PhD, Professor of Radiology and Cardiology and Interim Director of the Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, is one of the world's foremost experts in the development and application of imaging to study cardiovascular disease. He currently focuses on noninvasive ways to detect atherosclerosis and improve its treatment with targeted drug delivery.

Michael E. Farkouh, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiology, directs Mount Sinai's Clinical Trials Unit. The Clinical Coordinator of the Grenada Heart Project, Dr. Farkouh has designed and conducted numerous pivotal cardiovascular studies, including the largest NIH-sponsored trial in history.

Kevin Dunsky, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiology, is the Director of Cardiovascular Institute Practice Development and the Associate Director of Quality Assurance. He is a general cardiologist who works closely with interventionists and surgeons.

Other heart health physicians are David A. Vorchheimer, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiology and Director of Cardiovascular Education; Barry D. Stimmel, MD, Professor of Cardiology and Medical Education; W. Lane Duvall, MD, Assistant Professor of Cardiology; and Bruce Darrow, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cardiology. Dr. Darrow also serves as a consulting specialist to geriatric patients receiving care at the Martha Stewart Center for Living.

Members of the heart health team are part of Mount Sinai Medical Center's Faculty Practice Associates, a multidisciplinary group of more than 800 physicians who provide primary care, ambulatory specialty care, psychiatric care, and rehabilitation services both at Mount Sinai and in the community. In addition, more than 1,400 private physicians have a close relationship with the hospital, sending patients to Mount Sinai for further testing, procedures, and surgeries.

Other Team Members

Mount Sinai Heart's success depends in large part on our dedicated and enthusiastic team of nurse educators, dieticians, physical therapists, and rehabilitation specialists.

Beth Oliver MSN, BSN, Senior Director of Nursing for Mount Sinai Heart, has led the nursing staff for more than a decade. She supervises and manages a large, complex staff of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, and other support staff.

"They are an integral part of the cardiac team," Ms. Oliver says of her staff. "They make independent and collaborative decisions alongside their physician colleagues to deliver the best possible care for all patients."

Nurses have direct and constant contact with patients. This makes them very effective patient educators. "We meet patients when they are at their most vulnerable — they have survived an event and are scared," says Ms. Oliver. "They know that smoking is bad, but stopping is hard. We break things down into smaller, more manageable tasks."

The 360-degree comprehensive care model at Mount Sinai Heart allows nurses and patients to interact continuously during their hospital stay and make a seamless transition to preventive care.