Celebrating more than 50 years of lifesaving excellence
As 2023 comes to a close and we embark on another year of progress and innovation at the Herma Heart Institute (HHI) at Children's Wisconsin, we are proud to share this Quality, Outcomes and Research Annual Report, which serves as a testament to the dedication and unwavering commitment of our exceptional team. This team has collectively steered HHI through more than half a century of transformative care, research and lifesaving breakthroughs.
As we reflect on our journey, we take immense pride in celebrating a significant milestone: HHI’s 50-year legacy of pioneering pediatric and adult congenital heart care. This remarkable history is a reflection of the continued dedication of our staff, the resilience of our patients and the unwavering support of our community.
It’s been more than three decades since HHI providers proudly performed this institution’s first heart transplant, a momentous occasion that forever transformed the landscape of cardiac care in Wisconsin. This achievement was a result of our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of congenital cardiac medicine. Since then, the HHI has continued to be a leader in the cardiac care field, providing hope and second chances to countless individuals.
Over the past year, we have been privileged to witness several members of our exceptional team receive well-deserved recognition for their outstanding contributions to the field of congenital heart care, education and research. Their tireless efforts, innovative research and commitment to patient-centered care have earned accolades that inspire us to reach even greater heights in the years to come. These awards underscore the exceptional caliber of professionals who call the HHI home, reinforcing our commitment to being at the forefront of congenital cardiac care.
As we look ahead, we remain steadfast in our commitment to improving pediatric and adult congenital heart health and outcomes. We are driven by the belief that every patient deserves the opportunity to lead a healthy, fulfilling life. Together, we will continue to break new ground, reach new milestones and change the lives of countless individuals and families.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated team members, esteemed peers, patient families and generous donors who have made our achievements possible. It is their unwavering commitment to our mission that fuels our determination to redefine what is possible in the realm of cardiac medicine.
Thank you for being a part of our journey, and we look forward to another year of groundbreaking discoveries, compassionate care and transformative impact.
Herma Heart Institute executive committee
Peter J. Bartz, MD
Medical director, Herma Heart Institute
George M. Hoffman, MD
Anesthesiologist-in-chief, Children’s Wisconsin
Joy Lincoln, PhD
Director, Cardiovascular Research, Herma Heart Institute
Michael Mitchell, MD
Surgical director, Herma Heart Institute
Robert A. Niebler, MD
Medical director, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Wisconsin
Nicholas Peterson, MS
Executive director, Herma Heart Institute
Maryanne Kessel, RN, MBA
Executive director of Development, Herma Heart Institute
Commitment to fund innovation and research
2023 Innovation Fund Award winners
Herma Heart Institute programmatic grants
Cord Blood Component of the Precision Medicine Program — Joy Lincoln, PhD
The Cord Blood Component offers pregnant parents the option to save their newborn’s otherwise discarded umbilical material, so that it is available if and when needed for their child’s medical treatments for a diagnosis such as cancer, blood disorder, immune disorder, metabolic disorder and in the future, congenital heart disease (CHD). This year, the HHI implemented and refined a pipeline at Froedtert Hospital Maternal Fetal Care in collaboration with Cord Blood Registry, Inc. Umbilical material of 73 newborns cared for at Children’s Wisconsin is now stored in an accredited laboratory, and our research team envisions many future treatments, such as growing the child’s own cells into patches for use in heart or valve surgery.
ACTION database Epic integration — Robert Niebler, MD
Creating documentation tools that transform the day-to-day work of the clinician to discrete data fields collected by a database has the potential to increase the efficiency and accuracy of this data transfer. These grant funds were focused on the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION) database data transfer and transforming it from the current manual process by an experienced clinician to an automated transfer of information that is documented by the clinician in real time and transmitted to the database at regular intervals. The project will help improve data access, transfer and visibility within Epic to improve the care of our patients across the HHI.
Herma Heart Institute research grants
Spatial transcriptomic profiling of bicuspid aortic valves — Joy Lincoln, PhD
In bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), up to 50 percent of young adult patients experience accelerated development of calcification and aortic stenosis. Despite this, clinical management is limited to periodic surveillance of valve dysfunction, and intervention is recommended only when the valve becomes stenotic. Children affected by BAV would benefit from a comprehensive risk profile assessment before calcification to develop more effective clinical management strategies. This study focuses on integrating computational modeling with spatial transcriptomic technology in BAV models to correlate changes in biomechanics with gene expression.
Herma Heart Institute and Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin pilot grants
*Explore heart muscle cell division and its impact on heart repair — Lu Han, PhD
Adult ischemic heart injury causes significant loss of cardiomyocytes (CMs), leading to heart failure over time. Developing methods to therapeutically stimulate cardiomyogenesis promises to improve the lives and survival of these patients. However, cardiomyogenesis in the adult heart is challenging due to the limited proliferative capacity of adult CMs.
The team’s goal is to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate CM mitosis during embryogenesis and early postnatal maturation to ultimately achieve cardiac regeneration after ischemic injury.
*Evaluating the efficacy of human recombinant dornase alfa on cell-free DNA — Justinn Tanem, MD
This is part of the lab’s broader work to document and potentially reduce cell-free DNA (cfDNA) levels during pediatric cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The idea of intentionally decreasing cfDNA levels evolved from the group’s clinical study that demonstrated high cfDNA levels are significantly associated with poor outcomes. These include cardiac arrest, need for ECMO support, prolonged hospital stays after surgery and death. The overall question is: if we lower cfDNA levels, can negative outcomes be mitigated or avoided altogether? To answer that question, this study takes the important first step, using a laboratory model of CPB surgery to ascertain if human recombinant dornase alfa lowers cfDNA levels in human blood.
*Funding for this research was provided by Children’s Wisconsin, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment and the Herma Family Foundation.
Herma Heart Institute seed grants
Investigation of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations in single ventricle congenital heart disease — Andrew Spearman, MD
The pathophysiology of single ventricle pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) is unknown, but Dr. Spearman hypothesizes that infiltrating immune cells and subpopulations of endothelial cells drive it. This work aims to investigate the pathogenesis of single ventricle PAVMs mechanistically.
The role of MYH6 and NPR3 variants in coarctation of the aorta — Aoy Tomita-Mitchell, PhD
The etiology of coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is unknown. The Mitchell Lab studies the impact on heart development of variants of the gene called MYH6. To date, their findings suggest having a MYH6 variant hinders normal development of the left ventricular outflow tract, which may contribute to CoA. This study examines rare, predicted damaging variants in MYH6 in patients with CoA. A second aim of this grant is to extend previous work with the LaDisa Lab and explore a second gene called NPRC (NPR3), to further aid understanding into long-term complications associated with CoA
Lab Spotlight
Cardiac precision medicine team drives innovation
A targeted approach means brighter futures for kids with congenital heart disease
Precision medicine has been gaining wider adoption for its potential to deliver medical care that is optimized for each individual person. This level of personalization requires a multidisciplinary approach that considers a patient’s genetics, environment, health history and lifestyle.
Cardiac precision medicine at the Herma Heart Institute applies these concepts to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease (CHD) in babies, teens and adults. It is anchored by an invested team of medical professionals and researchers, including cardiologists, physician assistants, anesthesiologists, surgical teams and technical teams. They all work in concert with patient families to determine the best course of action for a patient.
This team approach has facilitated some recent breakthroughs in cardiac precision medicine.
Breakthrough 1: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
A research team, including Aoy Tomita-Mitchell, PhD, and Michael E. Mitchell, MD, has been studying how variants in the a-myosin heavy chain (MYH6) gene are implicated in hypoplastic left heart syndrome and other congenital heart defects.
“We have a hardworking team focusing on this because it is a very important problem, and this genetic defect seems to be causative of hypoplastic left heart syndrome in over 10 percent of cases,” said Dr. Mitchell, surgical director of the Herma Heart Institute at Children’s Wisconsin. “This is a discovery that came from our institution: MYH6 variants are responsible for more cases of HLHS than any other known genetic disorder. In addition, they are associated with significantly worse clinical outcomes. We’ve come to understand more about the mechanism of the variant and how we can use medications that are targeted to treat heart failure in patients with this variant.”
This knowledge has led to personalized treatment plans that will help many patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome live into adulthood instead of passing in infancy.
Breakthrough 2: Cord Blood Program
Collecting umbilical material (cord blood and tissue) can be extremely valuable because it can be used in two different ways: research and potential therapy.
“Contained in cord blood are stem cells,” said Dr. Mitchell. “And what we hope to achieve from drawing cord blood is to generate different cell types, including those that make up the heart. We hope to then create biomaterials from the patient’s own cells that can be used for surgical repair of patients with CHD.”
Identifying pregnancies involving a fetus with hypoplastic left heart syndrome or other CHDs and getting the families to sign up for the Cord Blood Program allows for the collection of cord blood at the timeof delivery.
“There are many situations where you see cord blood thrown away because people aren’t aware of the difference it can make or aren’t informed about an opportunity they might have to save it,” said Joy Lincoln, PhD, director of cardiovascular research at the Herma Heart Institute. “In our case, we have partnered and collaborated with the largest national stem cell banking company, the Cord Blood Registry. They have a clinical-grade storage facility, so after families join our program, we can store their samples at no cost, in preparation for clinical application.”
The Cord Blood Program was started in 2020, and in 2022, it collected 58 samples from patients’ umbilical-derived cord tissue and cord blood. From the samples, Dr. Lincoln and her team have been isolating stem cell populations and using them in the lab to better understand the cause of CHD.
“The goal is to use patients’ own cells extracted from umbilical material to develop surgical material,” said Dr. Lincoln. “We can use those cells to develop a tissue that will be implanted back into the child at the time of their surgical intervention. If they ever need corrective surgery, we have the potential to differentiate the stem cells derived from the umbilical material into necessary cardiac cells.”
Making breakthroughs possible
Without sponsors, these and other programs wouldn’t be possible.
“The Herma family and so many other gracious donors have been so crucial to the strides we’ve made,” said Dr. Lincoln. “The community is generous and rallies behind health in a way that is rare. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Children’s Wisconsin also looks to federal programs, national organizations and industry partnerships for support for important initiatives like the Cord Blood Program and cardiac precision medicine. “There is a great deal of hope, but it will take the support and generosity of many to get to where we want to be,” said Dr. Lincoln.
Preparing the next generation of researchers
Spotlight on educational research program
Physician-scientists and basic and translational scientists play critical roles in advancing medicine and the search for better cures and treatments for congenital heart disease (CHD) patients. Unfortunately, many institutions face challenges with providing accessible and equitable research opportunities to trainees due to financial insecurities and high competition for faculty openings.
At the Herma Heart Institute (HHI), we have made it a priority to instill a culture of discovery in the lab and clinic by providing robust training programs for individuals considering an academic career in research. Our goal is to ensure that trainees can see and appreciate the impact their research contributions have on the advancement of the medical field and improving health in the community.
Through partnerships with the Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Wisconsin Foundation, Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Heart Association, the HHI has provided paid opportunities in pediatric cardiovascular medicine research for more than 100 trainees in just five years. Trainees include high school, undergraduate, medical and graduate school students, residents, and fellows-in-training from diverse backgrounds.
These programs have enhanced the critical thinking and technical skills required to perform high-quality and impactful research related to CHD while engendering lifelong mentoring relationships.
Andrew Kim, MD, PhD, is one trainee who has benefited from this pipeline. The third-year Pediatrics resident at the Medical College of Wisconsin joined Dr. Lincoln’s lab as part of an NIH-funded physician-scientist immersion program, led by Michael E. Widlansky, MD, MPH, and Mary Eapen, MRCPI, MS, MBBS. This award has provided a unique opportunity for Dr. Kim to pursue his passion as a clinician-investigator with significant research time during his clinical residency. During this two-year, research-focused pathway, Dr. Kim is exploring effective therapeutics in the treatment of the rare disorder of neonatal Marfan syndrome that leads to premature lethality due to complex cardiovascular complications.
“The HHI views the training of future physician-scientists as an important part of its mission,” said Dr. Kim. “By being able to integrate clinical care with laboratory research during my residency training, I have been able to draw from patient experiences to generate important research questions as well as evaluate scientific studies from a clinical perspective.”
To advance the field of pediatric cardiology and recruit and retain outstanding researchers with an interest in research careers, it is critical that education pipelines like those offered by the HHI support Dr. Kim and others like him, who are the next generation of medical researchers.
Clinical Spotlight
Long-term success
Spotlight on heart failure and heart transplant program
Steven J. Kindel, MD, program director of the Pediatric Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Program at Children’s Wisconsin and associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin, understands that success in these cardiology programs means going beyond the intensive medical and surgical procedures to support patients and families in a holistic manner.
“It’s my job to help them get to where they want to be,” said Dr. Kindel. “We don’t want these kids in a hospital. We’re focused on treatments and approaches to normalize their lives as much as possible, so they can grow, develop and get back to being kids again.”
Launched in 2015, the Pediatric Heart Failure Program takes a multidisciplinary approach to utilize the expertise of the Herma Heart Institute (HHI) and other Children’s Wisconsin programs. We strive to provide personalized treatment plans for each patient that can include mental and behavioral health care, art and music therapy and working with our child life team and social workers to help patients and families cope with the mental and social aspects of their condition, not just the physical components.
As an example, Dr. Kindel pointed to the case of Jackson Radandt, who was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) in 2001. This serious condition affects 1 out of every 3,841 babies born in the United States and requires surgical intervention for survival. About 50 percent of children with HLHS experience heart failure by age 15, and Jackson was no exception. When he had heart failure at age 11, he became the youngest patient in the country with a prior Fontan procedure to receive a ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplant.
His device implant came with immediate success, allowing him to be at home with family and even in school before he received a heart transplant at age 12. After the transplant, Jackson was discharged after only 11 days and through his recovery, was able to engage in a level of physical activity he hadn’t before, joining his school basketball team
While heart transplantation is a journey that extends into adulthood, Dr. Kindel and his Pediatric Heart Transplant Program team strive to reduce limitations for their patients as much as possible.
“One of our big goals for our patients and their families is to decrease the medical intensity and work toward lowering the number of visits and tests — especially invasive testing — so that we’re not forcing patients to have as many procedures or time in the hospital,” he said.
Today, Jackson is thriving as an adult. He went to Marquette University to double-major in biomedical sciences and political science and is currently working in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Senate.
“You don’t do this job just to get to a transplant,” said Dr. Kindel. “You do this for the graduations, weddings, etc. That’s the part we are striving to provide all our patients, and the stuff that makes all the hard work worth it.”
Bringing care closer to home
Spotlight on new Children’s Wisconsin Appleton Clinic
In 2023, Children’s Wisconsin expanded its cardiology services and offerings in Northeast and Central Wisconsin with the opening of the new Children’s Wisconsin Appleton Clinic. The new clinic makes cardiac care more accessible and closer to home for patients and families, reducing the need to travel outside of the region for care.
With more than 50,000 square feet of clinical space, the Appleton Clinic brings together more than 20 pediatric specialties, including fetal, pediatric and adult congenital cardiology. The clinic features five cardiology exam rooms, three echocardiogram labs and a stress test lab, and has ten rotating cardiologists and advanced practice providers on staff. The Appleton Clinic is the only Children’s Wisconsin regional clinic that can provide full comprehensive cardiopulmonary exercise testing for patients with congenital heart disease as well as new patients needing cardiac clearance.
The Appleton Clinic also supports Connected for Kids, a pediatric joint venture with Bellin Health and ThedaCare. Together, the three health systems are working to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children and adolescents by connecting families to the highest level of pediatric health and wellness services.
Where heart care comes full circle
Spotlight on adult congenital heart disease program and pregnancy
Since its inception in 2004, the Herma Heart Institute (HHI) has been growing and developing one of the nation’s leading adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) programs, and the largest in Wisconsin. Scott B. Cohen, MD, serves as the director of this program, which works in conjunction with Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin health networks.
With training in pediatric and adult medicine, in addition to advanced training in adult congenital cardiology, Dr. Cohen and the ACHD team are uniquely qualified to care for patients through every age and stage of life, including pregnancy.
“We know that with pregnancy, there’s an increased workload and stress on a woman’s heart,” said Dr. Cohen. “There are types of heart disease that can put that woman at a higher risk of having heart-related adverse events, like heart failure or arrhythmias. We also know that women with ACHD have improved pregnancy and birth outcomes when they are cared for by a team of multidisciplinary specialists who understand their unique care and treatment.”
The ACHD program is part of the Heart Disease in Pregnancy Clinic at Froedtert Hospital, where women with congenital heart disease get individualized care from a team that includes ACHD specialists, general cardiologists, maternal fetal medicine specialists and OB/anesthesiologists. The ACHD program also partners with one of the nation’s top fetal cardiac programs, the Children’s Wisconsin Fetal Concerns Center.
An important aspect of treating ACHD during pregnancy is assessing the fetus. The risk of a fetus developing congenital heart disease increases to approximately 6 to 7 percent when the mother also has congenital heart disease.
Women in the Children’s Wisconsin ACHD program who become pregnant undergo a specialized fetal echocardiogram to assess their unborn baby’s heart structure, rhythm and function. “If a developing baby has been diagnosed with congenital heart disease, then the mother and baby are followed closely by our fetal heart program specialists to determine a care plan for pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the postpartum period,” said Dr. Cohen.
The HHI is dedicated to providing the best possible care to pregnant ACHD patients and their developing baby through pregnancy, birth and beyond.
Excellence in care and innovation
This past year, we had several staff members receive various prestigious awards, both locally and nationally, that highlight their passion for our mission as well as their dedication to their craft. These five individuals have challenged the standard of care, discovered breakthroughs in technology and are making incredible impacts in both the clinical setting and in the community. We are very proud of their achievements and look forward to another year of innovation and excellence.
This year’s awardees (from left to right): George Hoffman, MD, Nancy Rudd, APNP, Cheryl Brosig Soto, PhD, Alli Thompson, MBA, Peter Frommelt, MD
This year’s awardees (from left to right): George Hoffman, MD, Nancy Rudd, APNP, Cheryl Brosig Soto, PhD, Alli Thompson, MBA, Peter Frommelt, MD
Newburger-Bellinger Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Award, Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative and Heart Hero Award, Conquering CHD
Dr. Brosig Soto was recognized twice this year for her work pioneering the first neurodevelopmental follow-up program and being the first psychologist to be fully integrated within a cardiology division at the Herma Heart Institute. The Newburger-Bellinger award is one of the highest honors in the field, presented to an individual within the cardiac neurodevelopmental community.
Excellence in Teaching in Pediatrics Award, American Society of Echocardiography
Dr. Frommelt was recognized for his long-standing commitment to training and mentoring in pediatric cardiology. During his decades-long career, he has mentored more than 60 pediatric cardiology fellows and has been a pioneer in establishing standards for echocardiographic technique and structured echo reporting.
Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and Foundation for Anesthesiology Education and Research (FAER) Career Recognition Award
For the past two years, MCW has won the academic giving competition for FAER, in honor of Dr. Eckhard A.E. Stuth (2022) and Dr. Hoffman (2023). This award recognizes each of them for their contributions to research and education as well as their dedication to advancing the scientific basis of anesthesiology in pursuit of clinical excellence.
George Hoffman Superhero Award, Project Bubaloo
This award bears Dr. Hoffman’s name and was created to honor him for his generous heart, commitment to his patients and silent presence during so many families' darkest hours; he has been known to come and check in on patients on his days off.
Excellence in Clinical Practice Award, American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing
Nancy was honored for all of the work that she’s done during her 25-year career at Children’s Wisconsin to understand, treat and improve cardiac care and clinical outcomes for single ventricle patients, as well as mentor peers around the world. She has established herself as an international expert in this field as a clinician, educator and researcher.
40 under 40 Award, Citizen CPR Foundation
Alli has helped grow and develop Project ADAM into a national organization that helps schools and communities prepare for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The program has saved the lives of more than 200 people and has 41 affiliates in 31 states. Alli is currently working to expand the program’s footprint through its new Heart Safe initiatives, aimed at ensuring youth sports teams and community sites have access to AEDs and a plan to respond to SCA.
Making strides in clinical care management
Herma Heart Institute takes a collaborative approach to improve patient outcomes
Angelia Espinal, director of clinical outcomes for the Herma Heart Institute, views Children’s Wisconsin as an innovator. And she knows a leading institution can’t innovate without a sustainable foundation and focus on quality and outcomes improvement.
Such focus “requires the Herma Heart Institute to maintain real-time, continuous evaluation of clinical outcomes and drive improvement efforts through quality science” said Espinal. “We must also remain adaptive, particularly as things evolve in terms of new technologies or clinical advancements.” The Quality, Outcomes and Research (QOR) team at the Herma Heart Institute supports clinical teams, operational leaders and researchers in the collaborative effort toward improving whole health across the continuum of care.
Collaborating for quality improvement
According to David Saudek, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and associate medical director for the Herma Heart Institute, a key change in the field of pediatric cardiology and general heart surgery in the last decade is a more collaborative approach across centers. The Herma Heart Institute works with several national collaboratives, including the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC) and the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4). “Each of these collaboratives is a group of cardiac care centers that share outcome data and practices so that we can work together to improve care,” said Dr. Saudek.
Espinal pointed to Hearts to Home as a quality-focused national initiative, coordinated by the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3). This initiative promotes “a system goal of discharging patients within 120 minutes of medical readiness and removing barriers that would prevent them from getting discharged in a timely fashion,” she said.
Diving into outcomes
The Herma Heart Institute has built data applications to readily access congenital heart surgical outcomes data, echocardiographic data and Kaplan-Meier survival curves for long-term outcome analysis. These applications allow providers to quickly access local outcomes data to help guide clinical decisions. Additionally, the HHI internal outcomes, combined with national collaborative data, allow clinical care teams to compare outcomes with other centers, analyze areas where there could be improvement and recognize where we are excelling.
A relentless focus on quality improvement initiatives and evaluating outcomes ultimately drives the most important result: providing the best care for patients.
Carrying on a legacy
The Herma Heart Institute is proud of its 50-year legacy, advancing the field of congenital heart care. Leading the way are our six endowed chairs, who are each distinguished individuals and leaders in their respective specialties. The work of these esteemed physicians and researchers is made possible by the generous philanthropy of key donors. These endowments provide the necessary resources and support that our staff need to push the boundaries and shape the future of congenital heart care.
The Leigh Gabrielle Herma Chair in Cardiology
Peter J. Bartz, MD
Dr. Bartz is committed to ensuring research and innovation is at the core of the treatment and diagnosis of all congenital heart disease patients — from fetal into adulthood.
The Patricia & Paul Jones Endowed Chair in ACHD
Scott B. Cohen, MD
Dr. Cohen plays a pivotal role in addressing the unique health care needs of the patients in our adult congenital heart disease program, to help ensure longevity and quality of life.
The James S. Tweddell Endowed Chair in Clinical Cardiac Research
George M. Hoffman, MD
Dr. Hoffman is dedicated to transforming how we improve patient outcomes and experience to provide bedside care in the most compassionate, yet effective way.
The Peter Sommerhauser Chair for Cardiac Quality of Life
Joy Lincoln, PhD
Dr. Lincoln is focused on finding ways to innovate and discover breakthroughs in the laboratory that will impact the way we diagnose and treat cardiac patients from birth through adulthood.
The S. Bert Litwin Chair in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
Michael E. Mitchell, MD
Dr. Mitchell is the driving force behind innovation and advancements in the operating room, always pushing the boundaries of what is possible to provide the best outcomes for our patients.
The Albert O. Nicholas Endowed Chair in Heart Transplant
Ronald K. Woods, MD, PhD
Dr. Woods is helping to improve outcomes and quality of life for heart failure and heart transplant patients through his pioneering efforts in surgical treatment and management.
New clinical faculty
Children’s Wisconsin welcomes the following faculty members to the Herma Heart Institute
David Segar, MD, is a pediatric cardiologist with expertise in transthoracic, transesophageal and fetal echocardiography. He is also an assistant professor of pediatric cardiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Adam Striker, MD, is a pediatric anesthesiologist with a focus on pediatric cardiac anesthesiology and an associate professor of pediatric anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Graduated fellows
Children’s Wisconsin congratulates our graduated fellows
Ramya Billa, MBBS, completed her advanced critical care fellowship in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care at Children’s Wisconsin and is now a clinical associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
Victor Kieu, MD, completed his pediatric cardiology fellowship at Children’s Wisconsin and is now in an advanced imaging fellowship at Nemours Children’s Hospital.
- Academic product: “Multimodal Assessment and Intramodal Comparison of Imaging Techniques for Pediatric Pulmonary Vein Stenosis And Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension.”
Ashley Phimster, MD, completed her pediatric cardiology fellowship and is now in an advanced imaging fellowship at Children’s Wisconsin.
- Academic product: “Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits in Extremely Premature Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Pulmonary Hypertension atFive Years.”
Key learnings on hypoplastic left heart syndrome
During the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, which took place in Washington, D.C., from Aug. 27 – Sept. 1, the Herma Heart Institute at Children’s Wisconsin hosted a dinner symposium. The evening’s lectures were focused on “New discoveries and strategies for every stage of life in hypoplastic left heart syndrome.”
The dinner symposium brought together a wide range of HHI experts who shared groundbreaking insights into the research, diagnosis and treatment of patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. It was also a catalyst for learning, collaboration and solution-focused ideas that will continue to drive the work that we do, from the research labs to the cardiac exam rooms to the elementary schools in our community.
Herma Heart Institute zoo gathering returns
After a three-year hiatus, the Herma Heart Institute hosted its annual gathering at the Milwaukee County Zoo, an enjoyable and inspiring day that helps bring patients, their families and providers together in a unique and meaningful way. It provides families an opportunity to see the clinical staff in a setting outside of the hospital, and it’s also incredibly gratifying for the providers to see their patients out and about, smiling and just being kids.
Staff volunteers organized fun, engaging activities for the kids, including face painting, cookie decorating, CPR training and more. Several community organizations also came out to engage with patients and their families, including Camp Odayin, Conquering CHD, Make a Wish and Project ADAM.
“We enjoy the family feel of the event. It allows us to be back with our Children’s Wisconsin family and celebrate everything that our child has overcome!”
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