Cardiothoracic Surgery near Jamaica, NY

Care Philosophy: "Because of my good fortune in training with some of the pioneers in general and cardiac surgery, I had opportunities to join the faculty of many well established cardiovascular surgery programs throughout the country. I chose to return to Weill Cornell because I could not find a program anywhere in the United States that could provide the same high level of care to patients that the nurses, anesthesiologists and technicians do here at Weill Cornell. I take great pride in being a member of a team that can handle the most complex patient situation, regardless of the time, whether day or night, the circumstances or the nature of the problem."

Biography: Dr. David Kalfa is a Board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon with a subspecialization in pediatric cardiac surgery. A Native of France, Dr. Kalfa graduated from Marseilles University Graduate School of Medicine with the highest level of distinction in 2004. During his certification, he developed a research program in Tissue Engineering applied to the field of Congenital Heart Diseases that led to the attainment of numerous grants including a European Research FP7 Grant. He completed a research fellowship in Fondation Alain carpentier/INSERM in Paris and received his PhD degree in 2011 with the highest level of distinction. He then performed a 2-year clinical fellowship in Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery in one of the highest-volume centers (Marie Lannelongue Hospital in Paris) with exposure to highly complicated cases from all age groups (from neonates to adults). He completed a clinical fellowship in Adult Cardiac Surgery at Laval University Hospital in Quebec, Canada (2012-2013). He was then Assistant Attending in Congenital Cardiac Surgery at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital/NYP (2013-2015) and is currently Associate Professor of Surgery (tenure track) in the Section of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery, Columbia University, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College.

Care Philosophy: "The Diagnosis of cancer can be overwhelming. At Cornell, we utilize a multidiciplinary team approach in the treatment of patients with lung and esophageal cancers. Our dedicated team is involved from the initial evaluation through the completion of a patient's post-operative course. This unparalleled attention to the patient helps to ease the burden of the diagnosis. For those of us involved in research as well as care, this is a very important time -- several novel treatment approaches recently have been developed here at Cornell, and we currently are showing promising results."

Care Philosophy: David H. Adams is the Marie-Jos?e and Henry R. Kravis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He is a recognized leader in the field of heart valve surgery and mitral valve reconstruction. As Program Director of the Mount Sinai Mitral Valve Repair Center, he has set national benchmarks with greater than 99% degenerative mitral valve repair rates, while running one of the largest valve repair programs in the United States.

Biography: Dr. Raja Flores, MD is a Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialist who practices in New York, NY. He has been practicing for 33 years. Dr. Raja Flores, MD is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Queens, Mount Sinai Brooklyn and Mount Sinai Morningside.

Care Philosophy: "What we hope to do is assemble a world class medical and research team that can provide our patients with first rate medical care and bring them the most advanced treatments."

Biography: Dr. Andrew J. Kaufman, an expert in advanced minimally invasive thoracic surgery and thoracic surgical oncology, is the Director of The Thoracic Surgery Airway Program and The Asian Thoracic Surgery Program at Mount Sinai, as well as the Associate Program Director for the Thoracic Surgery Residency Program. He attended New York University School of Medicine for medical school and general surgery training. He completed a two year research fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and was awarded a national TSFRE Research Fellowship Grant and the Chairman's Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research. Dr. Kaufman went on to complete his residency on the Thoracic Surgery track in cardiothoracic surgery, specializing in thoracic surgery, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center/New York Hospital Weill-Cornell Medical Center as the Memorial Fellow in General Thoracic Surgery where he received the Alumni Foundation Award for All-Around Clinical Excellence. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Kaufman especially enjoys spending time with and getting to know the people he meets in the office and hospital. He is dedicated to the compassionate care of people and their families across all social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Having lived and studied in China for two years, Dr. Kaufman is fluent in Mandarin and conversational in Cantonese. His background in Asian language and culture inspired the development of the Asian Thoracic Surgery Program at the Mount Sinai. The program focuses on providing the most advanced multidisciplinary care for the Asian community with the goal of integrating community outreach, patient education, and scientific research to provide comprehensive care in this important New York City population. Dr. Kaufman is clinically focused on advanced minimally invasive and lung sparing surgery for thoracic malignancies. These specialized cancer operations conserve lung tissue and preserve respiratory function with faster recovery times. Andrew has published and presented widely on his lung sparing techniques of Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) segmentectomy for early lung cancers as well as pleurectomy and decortication for malignant pleural mesothelioma. His research interests are focused on combining clinical, pathologic, and genetic data to better understand lung cancer in smokers and non-smokers. Dr. Kaufman works closely with the Interventional Pulmonary Division to locate and mark small early cancers with Navigational Bronchoscopy in order to facilitate VATS lung sparing segmentectomy. This collaboration is also essential to The Thoracic Surgery Airway Program, which focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the trachea and airways, such as tracheobronchomalacia and tracheal stenosis, utilizing both surgical and interventional techniques. In his spare time, Dr. Kaufman enjoys spending time with his wife and two terrific daughters. He is an avid cook, guitarist, and tennis player.

Biography: Dr. Dong-Seok Lee, MD is a Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialist who practices in Flushing, NY. He is 47 years old and has been practicing for 21 years. Dr. Dong-Seok Lee, MD is affiliated with Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens.

Care Philosophy: ``I take great pride in being a cardiac surgeon in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital, as I am practicing with a group of the finest cardiac and thoracic surgeons in the country. I

Biography: Dr. Daniel Nicastri, MD is a Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialist who practices in New York, NY. He is 51 years old and has been practicing for 23 years. Dr. Daniel Nicastri, MD is affiliated with Mount Sinai Morningside, Mount Sinai Brooklyn and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Care Philosophy: We are committed to delivering the best care and an exceptional patient experience. We are devoted to providing services that are patient-centered and compassionate, and care for you as a person.

Biography: Peter Pastuszko, MD, is the Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and the Director of Pediatric Cardiovascular Services at the Mount Sinai Health System and Co-Director of the Children's Heart Center at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital.

Biography: Dr. Joshua B. Goldberg is a board-certified Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the Surgical Director of the Structural Heart Surgery Program.Dr. Goldberg earned his Medical Degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he was a Rudin Scholar, he was awarded the prestigious David E. Rodgers Fellowship from the New York Academy of Medicine for his research, and where he graduated with a degree of distinction in Cardiac Surgery.He completed his General Surgery Internship and Residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he also spent 2 years dedicated to cardiovascular outcomes research, resulting in numerous publications and national presentations. While at Dartmouth, he was awarded the "Best of the Best Award" for "superior patient care, delivered with kindness and compassion".Dr. Goldberg then completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship and served as Chief Resident at Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital and while there, trained at Boston Children's Hospital. While at the MGH, Dr Goldberg continued his research, and was throughout awarded the opportunity to present his research at National and International conferences.Dr. Goldberg is honored to be recruited to join the world class Cardiothoracic Surgery team at Weill Cornell. He brings with him a decade of experience and expertise caring for some of the highest risk patients, with the most complex cardiac surgical problems. There are few surgeons in the world who are as skilled with both open surgical and transcatheter skills in treating complex diseases of the aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valves, aortic aneurysms, coronary arteries, heart failure, transplants, and pulmonary embolisms. Dr. Goldberg's extensive experience treating high-risk complex diseases and his passion for delivering the highest quality care with the utmost safety, has resulted in his development of numerous novel techniques and protocols to safely manage patients with complex problems. His focus on quality and safety, as well as his personalized bedside manner, has resulted in numerous annual Top Doc awards.Dr. Goldberg has authored numerous scientific publications and book chapters. He served as the Chair for the American Heart Association's Scientific Statement on the surgical management of pulmonary embolisms and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Consensus Statement on endocarditis. His research has been recognized with numerous awards including "Best Journal Article of the Year", "Editor in Chief's Top Picks of the Year", and "Most Important Article of the year". Dr. Goldberg is an active member of numerous national and international academic societies such as the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, and the American Heart Association where he holds positions on the workforce on evidence based surgery, workforce on ethics, and structural heart working group.

Biography: Dr. Paul Stelzer, MD is a Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialist who practices in New York, NY. He is 78 years old and has been practicing for 53 years. Dr. Paul Stelzer, MD is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital.

Biography: Dr. Ahmed El-Eshmawi, MB BCH is a Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialist who practices in New York, NY. He has been practicing for 25 years. Dr. Ahmed El-Eshmawi, MB BCH is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital.

Care Philosophy: Dr. Gulkarov believes in providing caring and compassionate surgical care, combined with outstanding clinical results.

Biography: Dr. Emile Bacha is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon with a subspecialization in pediatric cardiac surgery. From 2000-2004, he was the Surgical Director of the Congenital Heart Center at the University of Chicago. From 2004-2009, he was Senior Associate in Cardiac Surgery at the Children's Hospital Boston and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, as well as Cardiac Surgery Fellowship Program Director, and Director of the Pediatric Heart Valve Center. Since January 2010, Dr. Bacha has been Director of the Congenital and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery program at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Weill Cornell Medical School. In July 2011, he was appointed Chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Biography: Dr. Balaram previous role was as Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Quality and Performance for Cardiovascular Surgery for Mount Sinai Heart at Mount Sinai Morningside. She has over two decades of experience in the care of cardiac surgical patients in New York City. Dr. Balaram earned her BA/MD at the accelerated 6-year medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of the only clinically integrated programs in the country. After graduating with honors, she pursued a General Surgery residency at Creighton University. While in training, she earned her PhD doing atherosclerosis bench research on the immunologic factors in atherosclerosis. She then completed her Cardiothoracic Residency in 2003 at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. At a time when techniques for robotic and minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery were just beginning, she arrived in New York in 2003 for this specialized training at St. Luke's Roosevelt, ?During her subsequent years at this hospital, (now called Mount Sinai Morningside), she developed an interest in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a congenital disorder of the heart muscle. She assisted in the advancement of surgical techniques for HCM and consolidated the data collection and careful analysis of clinical research. This led to the creation of the leading HCM program in the region, and one of the few nationally-recognized specialized HCM centers of excellence in the world. Dr. Balaram has spent much of her career caring for a population of inner city and underserved patients who have had little previous exposure and access to medical care. The New York State cardiac surgery registry continually recognized the patients of her program as some of the highest risk in the state to undergo cardiac surgery. Her successful surgical care of these complex patients required expert knowledge and experience that is of benefit to all patients. Her program earned the prestigious 3-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgery over multiple years. Dr. Balaram also studied clinical outcomes of women after heart surgery. Women are known to be at higher risk for cardiac surgery and may not always enjoy the same long-term benefits as men. Dr. Balaram collaborated with medical experts in gender studies and is able to offer surgical approaches and postoperative therapies that can help women recover from surgery. In her free time, Dr. Balaram enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and playing the piano. Her current passion is the creation of Team Cardiac, a new cardiac surgical chapter of the 501c3 charity Operation International. This surgical mission group was co-founded by her husband , Ravi Kothuru, 25 years ago and has provided free surgical care to thousands of patients around the world. She is also publishing a book "Complications in Cardiac Surgery: Strategic Analysis and Clinical Review", that will help young surgeons learn about how to improve cardiac surgical outcomes. Dr. Balaram understands that beyond the technical aspects, having heart surgery can be an anxious time for patients. Her goal is to deliver an individualized, patient-centered approach towards cardiovascular therapies. She strives to use her surgical expertise and experience to provide the best operation at the correct time and to do so with compassion and care. She is dedicated to helping each patient navigate this journey so they may once again enjoy their life and community.

Biography: Andrew B. Goldstone, MD, PhD is a member of the Section of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery in the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at the NYP/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Weill-Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Goldstone trained in pediatric heart surgery at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the nation's first children's hospital. Prior to that, he completed residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he graduated first in his class. Dr. Goldstone is also a graduate of Duke University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Chemistry, and Stanford University, from which he earned his PhD in Epidemiology and Clinical Research. With a focus on neonatal surgery, complex biventricular repair, pulmonary artery reconstruction, and the surgical management of heart failure, Dr. Goldstone treats the full spectrum of congenital heart disease, with patients spanning from birth through adulthood. He believes in a personalized approach to the treatment of heart disease, tailored to each patient's specific needs. As the father of a child who required chest surgery at birth, he understands the importance of an individualized approach to care, as well as the unique challenges faced by parents of children with complicated medical conditions. Dr. Goldstone has been recognized nationally and internationally for his clinical and basic science research. By applying rigorous statistical methods, his research group leverages population-based data to investigate questions that could not otherwise be answered by the conventional randomized trial. His work has led to changes in the guidelines for the management of heart valve disease. His long-term goal is to continue adding high-level evidence to better inform the surgical treatment of pediatric and adult cardiovascular disease. In the lab, he focuses on mechanisms underlying collateral artery formation and cardiac regeneration. Dr. Goldstone has authored several publications in the top medical and scientific journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Cell, Circulation, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has also served in several national leadership roles, including as President of the Thoracic Surgery Resident's Association (TSRA) and as the Resident Director to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Board of Directors. Dr. Goldstone was born and raised in Manhattan, and is a proud graduate of New York City public schools, including the Bronx High School of Science. Click here for a complete list of publications from Dr. Goldstone.