Cardiology Grand Rounds | 2025-2026

Commitment to Learning & Professional Fellowship

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

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

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

Presentation Video (Non-CME)

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

Director, Center for Clinical Research, The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine

Clinical Professor of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine

Interventional Cardiologist, The Texas Heart Institute Center for Cardiovascular Care

Medical Director, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, CHI St. Luke’s Health – Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center

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.

Emerson C. Perin, MD, PhD, was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and spent equal amounts of time in the United States and Brazil growing up. He studied graduate violin and obtained his MD at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. His training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology was completed in the United States, where he graduated as the Outstanding Fellow of his class from The Texas Heart Institute (THI) in Houston, Texas. He remained at THI as an interventional cardiologist and has been ranked in the top 1% of interventional cardiologists in the United States.

Dr. Perin was appointed Director of New Interventional Cardiovascular Technology at THI in 2001 and has remained at the forefront of developing cutting-edge treatment options for patients with cardiovascular diseases.

In 2008, he assumed a leadership role as Director of Research in Cardiovascular Medicine at THI. As a pioneer in clinical regenerative medicine, Dr. Perin performed the first stem cell injection in a patient with heart failure in 2001 and subsequently published the first clinical trial to evaluate stem cell therapy in heart failure patients.

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

Associate Professor of Cardiology, Houston Methodist Institute of Academic Medicine

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
System Director, Advanced Heart failure Program, Houston Methodist System

Director, Heart Failure Disease Management Service
Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center
Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center
Houston Methodist Hospital Houston Methodist DeBakey Cardiology Associates

Arvind Bhimaraj, MD, MPH, FACC, FHFSA, is a nationally recognized advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist and the System Director of Advanced Heart Failure for the Houston Methodist Health System. He also serves as Director of the Bradley Z. Naifeh Amyloidosis Clinical and Research Program and Director of Heart Failure Disease Management Services, where his leadership has driven quality improvement, optimized patient transitions, and advanced interdisciplinary care delivery.

Dr. Bhimaraj earned his medical degree from Gandhi Medical College and a Master of Public Health from the University of Kansas Medical Center. He completed his internal medicine residency at Drexel University College of Medicine, followed by a cardiology fellowship at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County and a subspecialty fellowship in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic. He joined Houston Methodist in 2011, where he has held multiple leadership roles, including Interim Chief of the Division of Heart Failure and Medical Director of the Heart Transplant and LVAD Programs.

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

No Grand Rounds schedule for this date.

Professor and Executive Vice Chair, Department of Surgery

Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair, Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Joseph S. Coselli specializes in the clinical evaluation and surgical treatment of diseases of the aorta, including the aortic valve and root, ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending thoracic aorta, and thoracoabdominal aorta. He was mentored by the pioneering aortic surgeon Dr. E. Stanley Crawford and continues to immerse himself in evolving approaches to aortic repair. Dr. Coselli is an innovator and a leader in his field and he is highly experienced in complex aortic repair, such as repair performed in patients with connective tissue disorders (such as Marfan and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), as well as emergent repair performed in patients with conditions such as acute aortic dissection or aortic rupture.

Chief of Advanced Cardiac Imaging, Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine

Juan C. Lopez-Mattei, MD is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of Cardio-Oncology, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Dr. Lopez-Mattei has over 120 peer reviewed publications and holds numerous leadership positions within cardiovascular societies such as American College of Cardiology, Society of Cardiovascular Computer Tomography, Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and American Society of Echocardiography. He is currently the Medical Director of Cardiac Imaging at Lee Health System where he oversees all aspects of cardiac imaging operations to ensure excellent patient care.

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
Houston, Texas United States

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

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.

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

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.

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

Coming Soon

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

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

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).

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

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

The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine’s  Director, Joseph G. Rogers, MD, is a cardiologist and an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Cardiology at Duke University. He is an internationally recognized and widely published thought leader in heart failure, heart transplantation and mechanically assisted circulation.

Dr. Rogers is passionate about value-based care initiatives, the delivery and implementation of care management and population health strategies. Dr. Rogers’ research focuses on clinical aspects of advanced heart failure, including pharmacologic and electrical treatments for systolic heart failure, the use of mechanical circulatory support devices, cardiac transplantation, and palliative care.

Before joining The Texas Heart Institute as President and CEO, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Duke University Health System (DUHS) in Durham, North Carolina, where he was responsible for providing clinical and strategic direction for physician activities across all of its clinical entities.

Dr. Rogers received his medical degree from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Nebraska and his fellowship in cardiology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He joined the faculty at Duke in 2004 and served in several leadership roles, including Associate Chief Medical Officer for strategic growth and implementation, interim chair of the school’s Department of Medicine, and member of the Board of Managers for Duke Connected Care, the health system’s Accountable Care Organization. He also served as a key strategic health system liaison to the Private Diagnostic Clinic, the physician practice organization for Duke providers, where he championed innovations in safety and quality across the health system.

Lecture CME Information & Disclosures

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:

  •      Integrate evidence-based guidelines and emerging research into the diagnosis, management, and lifetime care of cardiovascular patients, including as relevant and appropriate, the use of advanced imaging, pharmacologic therapies, and/or procedural innovations.
  • Enhance clinical decision-making and multidisciplinary collaboration by applying updated standards and risk stratification tools to complex cardiovascular cases across inpatient, outpatient, and surgical settings.
  • Evaluate performance data, guideline updates, and literature to improve care delivery, patient safety, and health outcomes.
  • Implement strategies for continuous performance improvement through quality initiatives, interprofessional education, and the translation of new technologies and standards into clinical practice.

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™.