The new faculty cardiologists bring expertise in cardiac imaging, cardio-oncology and interventional cardiology.
The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center welcomed three cardiologists to its faculty this past month. Tushar Acharya, MD, Olivia Hung, MD, PhD, and Nader Makki, MD recently joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson, Division of Cardiology as assistant professors and are now seeing patients at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson.
“With the addition of Drs. Acharya, Hung, and Makki we continue the rapid growth in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Arizona and Banner University Medical Center-Tucson and enhance our ability to provide highly personalized care to patients. Dr. Acharya is a general cardiologist with particular strength in cardiac imaging diagnostics. Dr. Hung is also a general cardiologist, with broad interests and experience including preventive cardiology, women’s heart disease, and the growing field of cardio-oncology. Dr. Makki is a skilled interventional cardiologist who, like all our interventional cardiologists, will routinely manage acutely ill and complex cardiovascular patients, performing life-saving procedures,” said Nancy K. Sweitzer, MD, PhD, director of the UA Sarver Heart Center and chief of cardiology.
Dr. Acharya is board certified in cardiovascular disease, echocardiography and internal medicine and board eligible in nuclear cardiology. His clinical interests include integrating multi-modality cardiovascular imaging into routine patient care, and delivering evidence-based cardiovascular care with an emphasis on preventative cardiology. His research interests include improving cardiovascular care and outcomes through application of advanced cardiovascular imaging modalities, such as cardiac CT and cardiac MRI, as well as through scholarly conduct of population-based studies, clinical effectiveness and implementation research in order to optimize cardiovascular care strategies. He has authored and co-authored multiple original research publications and has presented his research at national and international scientific meetings.
At the University of California, San Francisco, in Fresno, Dr. Acharya completed his residency in internal medicine in 2013, followed by a fellowship in cardiovascular disease in 2016. He then completed an advanced cardiovascular imaging fellowship in 2018 at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, and is completing a Master’s in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Dr. Hung is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in cardiovascular disease. Her clinical interests include non-invasive cardiology, heart disease prevention, women’s heart disease, cardio-oncology and cardiac imaging. Her research interests include cardiovascular disease in women and coronary physiology. She has authored multiple original research publications and textbook chapters.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., where she graduated cum laude, Dr. Hung completed a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her medical degree and postgraduate training at the Emory University School of Medicine, including the ABIM Research Pathway with combined training in the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency and Academic Clinical Investigator Pathway in Cardiovascular Diseases (cardiology fellowship).
Dr. Makki is board certified in cardiovascular medicine, vascular imaging and nuclear cardiology and board-eligible in interventional cardiology. His clinical interests include interventional cardiology specifically pertaining to complex coronary artery disease, structural heart disease and above-the-knee peripheral artery disease.
His research interests include structural heart disease outcomes evaluation in special populations such as chronic kidney disease and evaluating pacemaker dependency following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). In addition, he is interested in developing quality measures to guide improvements in anticoagulation and hemodynamic monitoring in the cardiac catheterization lab. He has authored and co-authored more than 30 research publications.
After earning his medical degree from the American University of Beirut Medical School in 2011, Dr. Makki completed his internal medicine residency at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City in 2014. He completed a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in 2017 and a fellowship in interventional cardiology in 2018 also at OSU in Columbus.
To make an appointment at Banner – University Medical Center, please call 520-MYHeart (520-694-3278).
The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center’s 150 members include faculty from cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric cardiology, neurology, vascular surgery, radiology, endocrinology, emergency medicine, nursing, pharmacy and basic sciences. The UA Sarver Heart Center emphasizes a highly collaborative research environment, fostering innovative translational or “bench-to-bedside” research and working toward a future free of heart disease and stroke. If you would like to give permission for Sarver Heart Center to contact you about heart research studies, please complete a Cardiology Research Registry Information Form. The academic mission of the Sarver Heart Center encompasses four fellowship programs in cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, and electrophysiology.
About Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and South
Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and Banner – University Medical Center South are part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. These institutions are academic medical centers for the University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson. Included on the two campuses are Banner Children’s Diamond Children's Medical Center and many clinics. The two academic medical centers are part of Phoenix-based Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/UniversityTucson or www.bannerhealth.com/Universi...