Join GW Cardiologists on Feb. 15 (during National Heart Month) to learn about how to keep your heart healthy! Whether you are trying to manage stress or just trying to age in a healthy way – our clinicians will speak to strategies to maintain a healthy heart and a healthy life. Our clinicians will also talk about cutting-edge research taking place at GW and modern approaches to heart health emerging in cardiology today.
Panelists:
William Borden, MD
Interim Chair of the Department of Medicine
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Health Policy and Management
William Borden, MD, FACC, FAHA, is the interim chair of the Department of Medicine, professor of medicine and of health policy at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the chief quality and population health officer at the GW Medical Faculty Associates (GW MFA). He specializes in preventive cardiology, the treatment of complex cholesterol disorders, and diagnosing and treating general cardiovascular diseases. In addition to practicing cardiology, Borden leads the GW MFA initiatives to provide high-quality, appropriate, patient-centered care.
Borden previously served as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and as a medical officer at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Borden’s research focuses on policy approaches to improving quality of care. He has been published in journals such as JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, Circulation, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and has served as an associate editor of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Borden is an active volunteer with both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
Borden earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University. He completed his internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship at the University of Chicago, where he also served a year as chief medical resident and earned an MBA. Borden is board certified in cardiovascular diseases.
Andrew Choi, MD, FACC, MSCCT
Associate Professor of Medicine
Associate Professor of Radiology
Andrew D. Choi, MD ’08, BA ’03, FACC, MSCCT, serves as associate professor of medicine and of radiology at GW SMHS, the co-director of multimodality cardiac imaging at the GW MFA. In addition, Choi provides expert consultation on complex cholesterol/lipid disorders and general cardiology for patients in the DC metropolitan community. As a national cardiovascular imaging thought leader, his research in cardiac imaging is multifaceted and he widely published as author of more than 200 abstracts and publications. He is Co-Chair of the yearly Society of Cardiac CT (SCCT) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Symposium, a member of AI Working Group of the American College of Cardiology Imaging Leadership Council and editorial board member at the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging. His current research interests focus on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to cardiac computed tomography angiography to enhance the detection of coronary atherosclerosis. He believes novel approaches may potentially improve the prediction of heart attacks, response to common heart medications like statins and enhance risk models for potentially millions at risk around the world.
Choi earned Bachelor of Arts degrees from the GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 2003, and he received his MD from GW SMHS in 2008. He completed his medical training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Georgetown University, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Washington Hospital Center. At GW he currently serves on the Executive Committee of the SMHS Faculty Assembly. He was recognized in 2021 by the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (for Distinguished Service, is a Master of the SCCT (MSCCT) (awarded to only <1% of global cardiac CT practitioners) and has been consistently named a Washingtonian Top Doctor including for 2023.
Ramesh Mazhari, MD
Professor of Medicine
Ramesh Mazhari, MD, MSHS ’14, RESD ’06, is a professor of medicine at GW SMHS. She is an interventional cardiologist specializing in management of patients with coronary disease, peripheral vascular disease, and valvular heart disease.
Mazhari is an expert in the use of minimally invasive, trans-radial procedures in treatment of coronary and peripheral arterial disease. Her research interest is in management of cardiogenic shock and women's health. Mazhari’s professional activities include membership in the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. She has been consistently named a Washingtonian Top Doctor since 2012.
Mazhari received her medical training at the Iran University of Medical Sciences and the SABA School of Medicine and completed her internship and residency training at GW SMHS. Mazhari completed a postdoctoral hypertension fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine, as well as a cardiology fellowship at GW. She spent two years at Johns Hopkins University for a research fellowship in stem cell therapy, and interventional cardiology fellowship. Prior to joining GW faculty, Mazhari completed a peripheral vascular fellowship at Washington Hospital Center. In 2014 she earned a Master of Science Health Sciences from GW SMHS in clinical and translational research.
Christian Nagy, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Christian Nagy, MD, serves as Associate Professor of Medicine at GW SMHS, and director of structural health disease at GW MFA, and director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, cardiovascular disease, pediatric cardiology, interventional cardiology, and adult congenital heart disease.
Nagy attended medical school at the Friedrich-Alexander University School of Medicine Erlangen in Germany. Upon completion of a combined residency at Yale University and Bridgeport Hospital in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, where he also served as chief resident, he was the first fellow to complete dual training in Adult and Pediatric Cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. He then completed a two-year fellowship in interventional cardiology at Toronto General Hospital, specializing in adult congenital, structural, and coronary interventions. He later finished a year of interventional cardiology training at Tufts Medical Center with a special focus on structural interventions and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. As a cardiologist he has been able to foster his love for education, precepting medical students and educating residents, fellows, and colleagues.
Nagy is a published author with a particular interest in structural heart interventions. His love for cardiology and his vast training experience leaves him open to many different treating modalities, providing the highest standard of care. Nagy is interested in building long lasting relationships with his patients and hopes to foster clear communication and trust.
Gurusher Panjrath, MD
Professor of Medicine
Gurusher Panjrath, MD, is a professor of medicine at GW SMHS, director of the Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program, the Infiltrative Cardiomyopathy Program, and GW Heart and Vascular Institute at the GW MFA. He has a keen interest in education and planning educational programs nationally and internationally and in developing innovative solutions and clinical program building to improve equitable heart failure care. He has served as co-editor of heart failure self-assessment programs, on editorial boards, and directed development of heart failure curriculum for PCPs in Latin America. He has spoken at both national and international meetings.
Panjrath is the governor elect for the Washington, D.C., chapter of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), past chair of the Heart Failure and Transplantation Section and chair-elect of the solution set oversight committees of ACC. He recently co-chaired the consensus document on HFpEF management.
Panjrath believes in fostering long lasting partnerships with patients, so they can have a better understanding and control over their health. He believes that excellent relationships with community and providers are crucial to optimal access for advanced therapies and care. His recent research has focused on interface of technology and heart failure care. He has published in peer reviewed high impact journals and has received several research awards.
Panjrath earned his medical degree from Kasturba Medical College in India, and completed his internship and residency at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he served as chief resident. He completed fellowship training in cardiovascular medicine and advanced heart failure and transplantation at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In addition to his fellowship training, he has undergone research training both at Johns Hopkins University, as well as, Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
Cynthia Tracy, MD
Professor of Medicine
Cynthia Tracy, MD, serves as professor of medicine at GW SMHS and associate director of the Division of Cardiology and director of electrophysiology at the GW MFA. She joined the GW SMHS faculty in 2004 after many years at Georgetown University, and has been an active member of the Washington, D.C., cardiology community. She is active in the Heart Rhythm Society, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. She has helped develop the state-of-the-art cardiac electrophysiology laboratory at the George Washington University Hospital and has led the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology training program which has graduated multiple highly trained and skilled electrophysiologists. She is active in humanitarian efforts and has led teams to Honduras to deliver advances cardiac care to indigent patients.
Tracy earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio, and completed her residency and a cardiology fellowship at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology.
Tracy is expert in cardia arrhythmia management, catheter ablation, cardiac implantable electrical device therapy, and syncope. She involved in NIH-sponsored and other atrial fibrillation investigations. She has been deeply involved in the development of cardiology practice guidelines and other documents used by the cardiology community worldwide.
Moderated by:
Barbara Lee Bass, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery
Walter A. Bloedorn Chair of Administrative Medicine
Vice President for Health Affairs
Dean, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Chief Executive Officer, The GW Medical Faculty Associates
Join us for our first installment of the GW Medicine Bicentennial Series: Staying Heart Healthy.