The UTHSC pediatric cardiology fellowship training program is a medium-sized but growing program expanding to nine fellows next year. It is based at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, the only subspecialty children’s hospital within a 100-mile radius.
Le Bonheur’s cardiothoracic surgical program is one of only 12 programs to receive the highest possible three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). The cardiology program also provides all pediatric cardiology services for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a premier research center for pediatric cancer and hematological diseases, and Regional One Health where approximately 4,500 babies are delivered each year.
Growth of the cardiology division from seven faculty in 2006 to the current 35 faculty has supported a focus on interventional cardiology, pediatric cardiomyopathy, cardio-oncology and adult congenital heart disease. The heart transplant program, started in 2016, established itself as a high-volume transplant center in its first year.
Learn more about UTHSC's Cardiology program and apply.
Research Interests:
- Multiple projects assessing the outcomes in children including mitral valve function, electrophysiological aspects, genetic and mechanistic basis of left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy
- Genetic, mechanistic and molecular basis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies
- Renal function monitoring in heart transplant patients: Is cystatin C a better biomarker than creatinine?
- The role of viral genome in the heart of transplant patients and rejection and coronary vasculopathy
- Discovery of common biomarkers in cardiac and skeletal myopathy
- Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation syndrome: Surgical ligation vs. transcatheter closure of PDA
- Neurodevelopmental outcomes after transcatheter closure of PDA, three year follow-up
- Creation of a national database registry for transcatheter PDA closure
Program Staff: Cardiology
Associate Program Director
Dr. Kramer is an interim co-director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) in the Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. She is a dual-trained, triple-boarded cardiac critical care intensivist who is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in pediatrics, with a cardiology subspecialty and a critical care subspecialty. Dr. Kramer completed fellowships in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and Pediatric Cardiology at Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland before joining the Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Swaminathan is a member of the Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital with expertise in general pediatric cardiology and non-invasive imaging and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. Prior to joining the Heart Institute faculty, Dr. Swaminathan completed her Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center in New York. She is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
