Meet Our Heart Institute Team

Published On 07/11/2011

The Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital uses the combined expertise of an advanced pediatric cardiac team to provide specialized care for children with congenital heart disease. Pediatric cardiologists, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiac intensivists, pediatric intensivists and anesthesiologists make up the Heart Institute. Advanced practice nurses, perfusionists, cardiac nurses, respiratory therapists and lab and imaging technicians are specially trained in pediatric cardiology care.

Heart Institute Leadership

Christopher Knott-Craig, MD

Dr. Knott-Craig is the co-director of the Heart Institute and professor of surgery at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is certified by the South African Medical & Dental Council in Cardiothoracic Surgery and specializes in minimally invasive valve surgery, infant cardiac surgery and has pioneered surgical treatments for Ebstein’s anomaly. Knott-Craig is a founding member of the World Society of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and recipient of South Africa's Officio tua Dilligmus Award for humanitarian service in the field of medicine.

Jeffrey Towbin, MD

Dr. Towbin co-leads Le Bonheur’s Heart Institute and also serves as chief of Pediatric Cardiology for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Towbin specializes in diagnostic and therapeutic advances for cardiomyopathies (heart muscle disease), heart failure, heart transplantation and cardiovascular genetics. His research work and clinical expertise in pediatric heart failure is internationally known, and he is widely thought of as a leader in pediatric cardiology.

Cardiology

Mohammed Absi, MD

Dr. Absi is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is certified in advanced cardiac life support.

Hitesh Agrawal, MD

Dr. Agrawal is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Gary Beasley, MD

Dr. Beasley is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Jason Goldberg, MD

Dr. Goldberg is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Karine Guerrier, DO

Dr. Guerrier is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. She is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Benjamin Hendrickson, MD, MS

Dr. Hendrickson is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in Adult Congenital Heart Disease.

Jason Johnson, MD

Dr. Johnson is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. He is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. His areas of focus include non-invasive imaging including advanced echo, fetal cardiology and cardiac MRI.

Vijay Joshi, MD

Dr. Joshi is medical director of Noninvasive Cardiology, and is associate professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and specializes in fetal cardiology and imaging, echocardiography and sports related cardiology.

Hugo Martinez, MD

Dr. Martinez is an Assistant Professor at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. His areas of focus include Pediatric Transplant Cardiology, Cardiomyopathies, and Cardio-Oncology.

Mario Briceno-Medina, MD

Dr. Briceno-Medina is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. He is an instructor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Anthony Merlocco, MD

Dr. Merlocco is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. He is an instructor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Ronak Naik, MD

Dr. Naik is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in non-invasive imaging including stress echocardiography, fetal echocardiography, 3-D echocardiography."

Nirbhay Parashar, MD

Dr. Parashar is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Govinda Paudel, MD

Dr. Paudel is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. He is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Ranjit Philip, MD

Dr. Ranjit Philip is an instructor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in telemedicine, 3-D echocardiography and non-invasive cardiology.

Michael Rebolledo, MD, MBA, MPH

Dr. Rebolledo is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. He is an associate professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in transthoracic, transesophageal and fetal echocardiography, as well as congenital and acquired pediatric heart disease.

Kaitlin Balduf Ryan, MD

Dr. Ryan received her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine. She was a PGY-6 Pediatric Cardiology Fellow at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center/Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.

Shyam Sathanandam, MD

Dr. Sathanandam is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in interventional cardiology, transcatheter valve implantation and catheter based intervention for complex congenital heart disease.

Sushitha Surendran, MD

Dr. Surendran is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. She is an Assistant Professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Nithya Swaminathan, MD

Dr. Swaminathan is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty. She is an assistant professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

B. Rush Waller, MD

Dr. Waller is the medical director of cardio-imaging, certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in interventional pediatric cardiology, including therapeutic catheterizations for critically ill neonates, critically ill preoperative patients and complex cases of adults with congenital heart disease; transcatheter closure of intracardiac shunts.

Glenn Wetzel, MD

Dr. Wetzel is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and is a professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in electrophysiology, cardiac arrhythmias, radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation.

Thomas Yohannan, MD

Dr. Yohannan is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics with a cardiology subspecialty and is an instructor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He specializes in non-invasive cardiology, preventive cardiology, cardiomyopathies, cardiac failure and cardiac transplantation.

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Umar Boston, MD

Dr. Boston is the surgical director of the heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support program at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, surgical director of Le Bonheur's adult congenital heart disease program and an associate professor at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He is board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and completed residency and fellowship at Mayo Clinic.