Robert J. Rosen, MD
Co-Director, Division of Peripheral & Endovascular Intervention
Dr. Rosen is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of interventional radiology and endovascular surgery, having pioneered several techniques and medical devices now in common use. After completing his fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980, he was recruited to establish the Division of Interventional Radiology at New York University Medical Center, where he remained for 25 years, performing more than 70,000 interventional and endovascular procedures and training 45 fellows. In April 2005, Dr. Rosen joined the newly formed multidisciplinary cardiovascular group at Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute in New York, where he continues to treat patients, train fellows, and conduct clinical research.
Dr. Rosen is best known for his original work in the management of children and adults with congenital vascular malformations. He has also developed techniques and instrumentation for the treatment of patients with aortic aneurysms, atherosclerosis, and hepatic tumors.
Howard Cohen, MD
Director, Division of Cardiac Intervention
Co-Director of Cardiovascular Interventional Laboratories
Dr. Cohen was named director of the Division of Cardiac Intervention and co-director of the Interventional Cardiovascular Laboratories in October 2004. He was recruited from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he was professor of medicine and served as director of clinical cardiology, and associate director of the Cardiovascular Institute. During his tenure as the clinical leader of the program, the Cardiovascular Institute of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center achieved national acclaim, being named in the US News & World Report as one of the leading cardiology programs in the country.
In collaboration with cardiovascular surgeons, Dr. Cohen and his colleagues were the first to report a series on integrated "hybrid" coronary revascularization, a technique combining minimally invasive surgery with coronary stenting in patients with coronary anatomy that was difficult to treat with standard techniques. Dr. Cohen is well known both nationally and internationally for his pioneering work with the TandemHeart, a percutaneous left ventricular assist device that has proven to be powerful adjunctive therapy for patients with cardiogenic shock as well as for patients with severe coronary artery disease whose severe left ventricular dysfunction previously precluded treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention.
Kirk Garratt, MD, MSc
Director, Clinical Research
Dr. Garratt joined Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute in 2005. Initially entering a PhD program in molecular biology and biochemistry at University of California, Irvine, he moved into that institution's medical school in 1979. After training in interventional cardiology at the Mayo Clinic, he was invited to join the faculty there. Working in the animal laboratory as well as the clinical cath lab, he helped develop key devices in interventional cardiology including coronary stents, lasers, and atherectomy catheters. Dr. Garratt served as director of the Interventional Cardiovascular Unit for 8 years before becoming chair, Department of Cardiology at Franciscan-Skemp Healthcare, a Mayo Clinic affiliate hospital, for 3 years. During this time he oversaw a pioneering telemedicine system for the delivery of angioplasty services to rural hospitals with cath labs but no cardiac surgery. Seeking to expand his horizons, Dr. Garratt left Mayo Clinic to join his current colleagues in Manhattan in February 2005.
Sriram Iyer, MD
Associate Chairman, Department of Interventional Cardiology
Director, Division of Peripheral & Endovascular Intervention
Dr. Iyer, a nationally and internationally recognized interventional cardiologist, came to Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1997. In addition to coronary interventions, his expertise and focus extends to peripheral vascular interventions. Dr. Iyer is also well known for his pioneering work and original contributions in the development, research, and practice of percutaneous interventional techniques for treatment of extracranial carotid artery disease. He was the National PI of two large, multi-center carotid stent trials and co-investigator in several other device trials. A gifted teacher, he has been a principal organizer of Lenox Hill Hospital's Continuing Medical Education conferences and is recognized by the American College of Cardiology as a preceptor for training physicians in peripheral vascular interventions under the Foundation for Advanced Medical Education (FAME).
Carlos Ruiz, MD, PhD
Director, Structural and Congenital Heart Disease Program
Professor of medicine and pediatrics at University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. Ruiz recently stepped down as chief of pediatric cardiology to become director of the Structural and Congenital Heart Disease Program of the Department of Interventional Cardiology at Lenox Hill Hospital of New York. He is an internationally renowned interventional cardiologist recognized for his pioneering work in the field of interventions for structural heart disease and congenital heart disease.
Dr. Ruiz is an accomplished clinician, educator, and researcher who has published more than 150 articles on the subject of interventional cardiology, including interventions in coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, and structural and congenital heart disease. He is a coeditor of several interventional cardiology books and numerous book chapters. He is one of the pioneers of the double-balloon mitral and aortic valvuloplasty technique and has been a pioneer in the emerging field of percutaneaous cardiac valve implantations.
Valavanur Subramanian, MD
Chairman, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
In 1987, Dr. Subramanian joined Lenox Hill Hospital, where he served as the director of the Department of Surgery and is now the chairman of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department. Dr. Subramanian is widely recognized in the United States and abroad as a distinguished academic for his pioneering work in advancing cardiac surgery. He is the originator of the percutaneous intraaortic balloon pump used as a temporary heart-assist device, which has saved more than 1 million heart attack victims. He also co-developed an artificial heart at the University Hospital of Minnesota and the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center. Dr. Subramanian worked on several intensive research projects with Dr. CW Lillehei, pioneer and father of open heart surgery. Since 1995, Dr. Subramanian has been developing various innovative techniques for minimally invasive (MIDCAB) and beating-heart coronary bypass surgery. Most recently, he and his colleagues started developing robotic heart surgery.
Jiri Vitek, MD
Neuroradiologist, Endovascular Section
Dr. Vitek is an internationally renowned neuroradiologist and chief of neuro-vascular intervention in the department of interventional cardiac and vascular services. A neuroradiologist with special expertise in angiography and interventional procedures, Dr. Vitek was a professor of radiology, neurosurgery and neurology at University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham until 1997, when he relocated his practice to Lenox Hill Hospital.
A graduate of Charles University School of Medicine in the Czech Republic, Dr. Vitek practiced neurology and neurosurgery, and in 1976 became board certified in radiology. Dr. Vitek has published extensively in peer-reviewed national and international journals and has been invited as a lecturer to multiple national and international congresses and courses. Dr. Vitek is a member of multiple national and international radiological and neuroradiological societies.
