Cardiology Grand Rounds | 2025-2026
Since its founding in 1962, The Texas Heart Institute has remained dedicated to improving the standard of care and advancing knowledge through cardiovascular education and research. The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine Cardiology Grand Rounds is an esteemed tradition that attracts leading experts from around the world each year. Grand Rounds is hosted in the Denton A. Cooley Auditorium at 6770 Bertner Avenue in Houston, TX.
Series attendees include cardiology fellows and faculty, members of the Departments of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Surgery, as well as visitors from other clinical and teaching institutions in the Texas Medical Center. Grand Rounds is live-broadcasted for online viewing on any desktop computer or mobile device.
Cardiology Grand Rounds
12:00 PM –1:00 PM (Central Time – US & Canada) on Fridays.
Participate in person in the Denton A. Cooley Auditorium
Or, view online through the link below
2025-2026 Schedule
Cardiac Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Michael J. Reardon is a native Houstonian who attended Baylor College of Medicine where he graduated with honors and as a member of AOA. He did his general surgery residency under Dr. Michael DeBakey and cardiothoracic residency under Dr. Denton Cooley. He joined the staff of the Houston Methodist Hospital in 1985 and ran a private practice until 1993. He then joined the full time faculty of BCM rising to Professor of Surgery with tenure, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the thoracic residency program. He subsequently joined the academic group at the HMH as Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Chief of Cardiac Surgery.
His interests have centered on aortic surgery, cardiac valve surgery and cardiac tumors. His recent research and clinical interests have focused on minimally invasive, catheter-based approaches to these areas.
Academic Appointments
Allison Family Distinguished Chair In Cardiovascular Research, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery
Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Academic Institute
Member, Research Institute, Academic Institute
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College
Lecture CME Information & Disclosures
Presentation Video (No-CME)
Director, Electrophysiology Clinical Research & Innovations
Associate Professor of Medicine - Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine
Teaching Staff, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
Program Director, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship
Dr. Razavi is involved with numerous clinical trials assessing the efficacy of cutting edge technology in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. His innovations have been featured in Scientific American, InnovationMap, Voice of America News, and Texas Heart Institute News. In addition, he develops, oversees, and executes long-term collaborations with engineering colleagues at The Texas Heart Institute’s Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, and with exceptional collaborators at Rice University, the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, and UCLA.
Academic & Clinical Affiliations
Baylor College of Medicine
Rice University
Rice Neuroengineering Initiative
Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center
Hall-Garcia Cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine
Lecture CME Information & Disclosures
Presentation Video (No-CME)
Cardiac Surgeon, CHUV
Geneva University Medical School
Lausanne, Switzerland
Dr. Patrick Myers is a consultant cardiac surgeon in Switzerland. After finishing medical school in Geneva, Switzerland, he completed cardiovascular surgery residency at the Geneva University Hospitals, then served as senior fellow in adult cardiac surgery at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (Larry Cohn) and Harvard Medical School and then as fellow in cardiac surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital (Pedro del Nido). Since 2017, he has focused on adult cardiac surgery in private practice in Geneva and serves as consultant cardiac surgeon at CHUV Lausanne. He served as member of the board and secretary of the European Board of for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, then as chair of the Acquired Cardiac Diseases Domain of EACTS, and now Secretary General of EACTS. He also has the privilege serving as international director of STS and president of CTSNet. His clinical practice and research interests focus on arterial coronary artery bypass grafting, evolving transcatheter techniques to treat structural heart disease, and critical appraisal of clinical trials and their discussions on social media, and guideline development processes.
Affiliations
Association des Médecins de Genève
Fédération des médecins helvétiques
European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
European Board for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Swiss Society of Cardiac Surgery
Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Cardio-thoracic surgery network (CTSNet.org)
System Director, Cardiogenic Shock Program, Inova Health System
Cardiac Intensive Care, Medical Director, Cardiology
Director, Cardiovascular Critical Care Research Program at Inova Fairfax Hospital
Dr. Shashank S. Sinha is an advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support and transplant cardiologist at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, where he serves as Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Medical Director of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Critical Care Research Program. He is board certified in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, cardiovascular diseases, and internal medicine. He is an Assistant Professor of Medical Education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Affiliations
Inova Fairfax Hospital
President George H.W. Bush Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine Director of the Division of Medical Genetics
Vice-Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) McGovern Medical School
Dr. Milewicz completed her postgraduate training in internal medicine, specialized further in medical genetics, and forged a career in translational studies focused on genetic predisposition to vascular diseases. She has received numerous honors and awards for her research, including the Antoine Marfan Award, the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, and the University of Texas Presidential Scholars Award for Excellence in Research. She has been inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Milewicz has been the Director of the M.D./Ph.D. Program offered jointly between the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center institutions for over 10 years and is Chair of the GREAT MD/PhD Section Committee.
Affiliations
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center
Board Certifications
American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics
Medical Genetics and Genomics
American Board of Internal Medicine
Internal Medicine
Medical Director, The Texas Heart Institute
Dr. Perin has provided leadership at The Texas Heart Institute for over 25 years and is an alumnus of The Texas Heart Institute Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology Fellowship programs. He is a world-renowned cardiologist known for his leadership in the development of stem cell therapies for cardiovascular diseases. He currently serves as the Director of the Center for Clinical Research, Director of the Stem Cell Center and the Medical Director of THI appointed by the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Bhimaraj earned his medical degree from Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, India. He worked for the World bank on a Public health project on urban poverty and then attended a Master of Public Health program at The University of Kansas Medical center, Kansas City. He then completed his residency at Drexel University Read More
Professor, Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine
Medical Director, Faculty Group Practice, Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine
Chief - Adult Medical Specialties, Texas Children's Hospital
Chief - Adult Infectious Diseases, Texas Children's Hospital
Dr. Sohail is a Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He graduated from The Aga Khan University in Pakistan and then pursued Internal Medicine residency at University of Illinois at Chicago-Michael Reese Medical Center, followed by Infectious Diseases fellowship at Mayo Clinic. His research interest is in cardiovascular infections, including cardiovascular implantable electronic device infections, infective endocarditis, ventricular assist device infections, and vascular graft infections. He has published over 200 original peer-reviewed articles in major medical journals. These papers address important clinical questions related to the epidemiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, complications, outcomes and cost associated with cardiovascular infections. In addition, he has authored 29 book chapters on endocarditis and device infections.
Memberships
American Heart Association
Infectious Diseases Society of America
American Society of Transplantation
Mayo Clinic Alumni Association
Senior Dean of Faculty, Baylor College of Medicine
Professor Medicine-Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine
Mary and Gordon Cain Chair of Internal Medicine in the Winters Center for Heart Failure Research
Medicine-Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine
W. A. "Tex" and Deborah Moncrief, Jr. Chair
Medicine-Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine
Heart Failure, The Texas Heart Institute Center for Cardiovascular Care
Nikolaos A. Diakos, MD, PhD is an interventional cardiologist and specialist in heart failure who is pioneering new treatments and devices. He is recognized for his substantial clinical and translational research accomplishments in the areas of heart failure and mechanical cardiac support.
Dr. Diakos has authored many papers in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. He has also won almost a dozen awards for his research, including an award from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, a Research Merit Scholarship from the Acute Cardiac Unloading and Recovery Working Group (A-Cure), and numerous awards from the Hellenic Cardiological Society.
He is certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, the American Board of Internal Medicine (Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease), and the National Board of Echocardiography.
Professor of Surgery, Cardiothoracic Transplantation & Circulatory Support, Baylor College of Medicine
Director, Center for Device Innovation, TMC / Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Medical Director, BiVACOR
Dr. William E. Cohn is one of the leaders of the team of experts developing a total artificial heart that will deliver blood by means of continuous flow rather than pulsation. This research has grant support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the John S. Dunn Research Foundation; the Alexander Family Trust; and the McIngvale family Trust. This new artificial heart is smaller, less expensive, and predicted to be more reliable than previous generations of artificial hearts. William E. Cohn currently has 170 active or pending patents for his inventions and is the founder or co-founder of five venture-backed life science startups. In addition, Dr. Cohn is a venture partner at Santé Health Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on capitalizing early-stage life science technology.
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast
Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Bariatric and Acute Care Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine
Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine
Director, Thoracic Surgical ICU & ECMO Program, Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center
Professional Staff, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The Texas Heart Institute
Associate Professor, Medicine-Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Mahboob Alam has been working at Baylor College of Medicine as an Associate Professor in Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology since 2012. Dr. Alam is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and a Fellow of the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI).
As an interventional cardiologist, Dr. Alam focuses on management of coronary and peripheral artery disease. He is actively involved in taking care of patients with high-risk coronary artery disease requiring advanced mechanical circulatory support including cardiogenic shock, complex anatomy including chronic total occlusions and heavily calcified plaques requiring coronary atherectomy, intravascular lithotripsy or mechanical thrombectomy.
Dr. Alam is involved in various multicenter clinical trials, enrolling patients at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Houston TX. Other interests include primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and thromboembolic pulmonary arterial diseases.
When not providing clinical care, Dr. Alam dedicates his time to clinical research and has been an active voting member on various committees of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (SCAI).
The Texas Heart Institute – A Year in Review
Director, The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine
Willerson-O'Quinn Endowed Chair
The Texas Heart Institute Center for Cardiovascular Care
Faculty, Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
St. Luke’s Health – Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center
Houston, Texas
Overview:
This Grand Rounds will highlight the accomplishments of The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine and Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center (BSLMC) over the past 12 months.
A Continuing Medical Education Activity
Professional Practice Gaps
By examining the release of new guidelines, care standards, literature (e.g., systematic reviews, trials) and monitoring clinician, trainee, and learner performance, the planning team identified professional practice gaps relevant to the practice standards in cardiovascular medicine.
Target Audience
This activity is intended for cardiologists, cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensivists, primary care physicians, fellows, residents, medical students, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, other advanced practice providers, and perfusionists at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, and the greater Texas Medical Center.
Educational Needs
Clinicians engaged in the practice of cardiovascular medicine including physicians in practice, faculty members, fellows, residents, medical students, allied health and other healthcare practitioners and care team members in related disciplines need to receive regular updates on evidence-based clinical practices, and technological and pharmaceutical advances in cardiovascular medicine. The series aims to expand the knowledge of learners, advance their clinical skills and competencies, address the challenges of healthcare delivery in the clinic, hospital, diagnostic, and surgical settings to, enhance the quality of cardiovascular care, and improve patient outcomes by providing education to address gaps arising from the continually evolving practice standards, how to implement them, and the steps for performance change.
Objectives
At the conclusion of the series, the participants should be able to:
Educational Methods
Educational methods will include lectures, case presentations, and audience response.
Activity Evaluation
Participants may be asked to complete a session evaluation.
Accreditation/Credit Designation
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Baylor College of Medicine and The Texas Heart Institute. Baylor College of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
This activity is approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
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