Structural Heart Disease

The University of Minnesota Cardiovascular Division established an Advanced Interventional Cardiology Fellowship in Structural Heart Disease training program in 2014. Our fellowship program is very progressive with a structured curriculum and emphasis on patient care skills, developing procedural skills and research. The program is designed to provide widespread clinical and academic education that covers a collegial working relationship with a dedicated team of 7 Interventional Cardiologists at the University of Minnesota, 3 at the VA Medical Center, and 7 at Fairview Southdale.

This one-year fellowship is designed for interventional cardiology fellows whose career focus is on catheter-based therapy for valvular and myocardial lesions. The training provides experience in the interventional and medical therapy of structural heart disease with a special focus on transcatheter valve therapeutics. This program is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary fellowship with supervised training in evaluating patients and participating in the full spectrum of transcatheter structural heart procedures, including aortic and mitral valve therapies, atrial and ventricular septal occlusion, catheter-based repair of mitral regurgitation, and left atrial appendage intervention with a specific emphasis on transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Program Eligibility

  • Completion of ACGME-accredited Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
  • Completion of ACGME-accredited Interventional Cardiology Fellowship
  • Board eligible in both Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology at the start of training

Application Process

Interested applicants should send the following documents to Elizabeth Gorka at cvfellow@umn.edu.

  • Current CV which includes citizenship status
  • If foreign medical graduate, ECGME certificate
  • USMLE scores
  • Personal Statement
  • 3 Letters of Recommendation (including one from current Program Director)

Expand all

Faculty

  • Stefan Bertog, MD: Dr. Stefan Bertog is the co-director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and a staff cardiologist at the CardioVascular Center in Frankfurt, Germany. He is board-certified in Cardiology in the US and Germany and in interventional cardiology, vascular medicine, endovascular therapy, echocardiography and hypertension in the US.
  • Timinder Biring, MD
  • Lin Yee Chen, MD, MS: I am a practicing cardiac electrophysiologist who complements my clinical expertise with research on the epidemiology of heart rhythm disorders. My research is focused on elucidating the determinants and health impact of heart rhythm disorders, particularly atrial fibrillation.
  • Santiago Garcia, MD: Dr. Santiago Garcia completed medical school at the University of Buenos Aires and his Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at the University of Miami in Florida. After that, he completed a Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship and an Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at the University of Minnesota.
  • Greg Helmer, MD: Active in research, Dr. Helmer's special interests include interventional cardiology, as well as angiogenesis for collateral blood vessel growth.
  • Ganesh Raveendran, MD, MS: A graduate of the University of Minnesota’s general- and interventional-cardiology fellowship programs, Dr. Ganesh Raveendran joined the faculty in 2005 after practicing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In addition to interventional cardiology, Dr. Raveendran is board-certified in critical care medicine. In March 2010, he became the medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and the administrative director for interventional cardiology.
  • Rizwan Siddiqui, MD
  • Robert Wilson, MD: Dr. Wilson has dedicated his professional life to developing new methods for diagnosing and treating heart disease, and to training new physicians. He presently directs the University of Minnesota interventional-cardiology fellowship program and University of Minnesota Physicians clinical cardiovascular services.
  • Demetris Yannopoulos MD: Born in London, UK, Dr. Yannopoulos received his M.D. from the University of Athens in Greece. He completed his medicine residency and general cardiology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. Following an interventional-cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Yannopoulos joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 2008. In March 2010, he became the research director for interventional cardiology.

CURRENT FELLOW

Fellow Tsangaris


Adam Tsangaris, MD

Medical School: University of Athens School of Health Sciences, Greece 
Residency: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School