Pediatric Cardiologists and Cardiac Surgeons

Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery

The Heart Institute's pediatric cardiac surgeons perform a wide range of heart procedures, including surgical repair of complex congenital heart defects.

Joseph M Forbess, MD

Chief, Cardiovascular Surgery

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Congenital heart surgery from birth to adulthood, neonatal cardiac reconstructions and biventricular repairs in infants and young children


Redmond P Burke, MD

Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgeon

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complex aortic arch reconstruction, minimizing surgery trauma, surgical innovation and technology


Pediatric Cardiology

The pediatric cardiologists at the Heart Institute diagnose, treat and manage the care of children of all ages with heart problems.

Danyal M Khan, MD

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Congenital heart disease, cardiac intensive care.


Yadira L Martinez-Fernandez, MD

Director, Outpatient Cardiology
Co-Director, NeuroCardiac and Development Program

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Congenital heart disease, preventive cardiovascular medicine, neurodevelopment in children with congenital heart disease, management of cardiovascular conditions in neuromuscular disorders


Joanna M Lowisz, DO

Medical Director, Preventive Cardiology Program 

Primary Office: Palm Beach Gardens

Additional Office: Palm City

Clinical Interests: Preventive cardiology, fetal cardiology and echocardiography


Himanshu Adlakha, MD

Fetal and Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Boynton Beach

Additional Offices: Miami, Palm City

Clinical Interests: Fetal cardiology, congenital heart disease, echocardiography and preventive cardiology


Dana M DeCarlo, MD

Fetal and Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Miami Beach

Additional Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Preventive and congenital heart disease, fetal cardiology


Nancy C Dobrolet, MD

Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Weston

Additional Office: Plantation

Clinical Interests: The care of infants, children and young adults with congenital heart disease, with a particular interest in the neurodevelopment care of these patients


Farah H Garmany, MD

Fetal and Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Coral Springs


Ryan Halickman, MD

Fetal and Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Fetal cardiology, congenital heart disease and preventive cardiology


Michael Manuel Lopez, MD

Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Miami

Additional Office: Pinecrest

Clinical Interests: Congenital heart disease, arrhythmia and cardiac channelopathies


Anthony F Rossi, MD

NCPS Director of Research, Section of Cardiovascular Medicine

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Congenital heart surgery, congenital heart defects, improvement of post-operative care


Cardiac Noninvasive Imaging

Cardiac imaging doctors use the most advanced technology to capture images of a patient’s heart. These various techniques allow physicians to make accurate diagnoses and determine the best treatment for each patient.

Juan Carlos G Muniz, MD

Director, Cardiac Non-Invasive Imaging

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Multimodality heart imaging and 3D modeling of complex anatomical lesions.


Elizabeth Welch, MD

Director, Echocardiography Lab

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Morphology, 3D imaging.


Mubeena Abdulkarim, MD

Pediatric Cardiologist Non-invasive Imaging

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Non-invasive cardiac imaging, including MRI, CT and echocardiography


Cardiac Intensive Care

Cardiac intensivists are doctors with special training in pediatric cardiac intensive care. The Heart Institute features a state-of-the-art 34-bed dedicated pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) with an entire team of doctors and nursed devoted to the care of children with cardiac conditions.

Juan M Bolivar, MD

Director, Cardiac Intensive Care

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Pediatric intensive care


Ariella G Barhen, MD

Pediatric Cardiac Intensivist 

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Congenital cardiovascular disease, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and cardiopulmonary interactions


Christopher J Carafa, MD

Pediatric Cardiac Intensivist 

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, cardio-renal interactions and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome


Alejandro J Martinez Herrada, MD

Pediatric Cardiac Intensivist

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and ventricular assist device use, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and virtual reality-based simulation


Bhavi Patel, DO

Cardiac Intensivist

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Early extubation post-cardiac surgery, quality improvement, safety and efficiency in transfer of patient care.


Darline Santana-Acosta, MD

Cardiac Intensivist

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Risk factors influencing clinical outcomes in neonatal congenital heart disease surgery


Interventional Cardiology

Interventional cardiologists use non-surgical techniques to diagnose and treat certain conditions that affect the heart. This technique uses catheters that are threaded through a patient's blood vessels. 

Lourdes Rosa Prieto, MD

Interventional Cardiology

Primary Office: Miami

Additional Office: Palm Beach Gardens

Clinical Interests: All types of transcatheter interventions for congenital heart disease in both children and adults.


Daniel Duarte Caceres, MD

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Transcatheter valve replacements, patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occlusion in extremely premature infants, septal defect closures, pulmonary artery and vein rehabilitation


Electrophysiology

Our Cardiac electrophysiologists are specialized cardiologists that have been trained to diagnose and monitor the electrical activities of the heart.

Ronald J Kanter, MD

Director, Electrophysiology

Primary Office: Miami

Additional Office: Palm Beach Gardens

Clinical Interests: Electrophysiology, cardiac channelopathies, syncope, arrhythmia, pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, catheter ablation of tachycardia substrates


Sherrie Joy A Baysa, MD

Pediatric Electrophysiologist

Primary Office: Miami

Additional Offices: Aventura, Coral Springs, Weston

Clinical Interests: Arrhythmias, cardiac channelopathies, sudden cardiac death, congenital heart disease, catheter ablation, pacemakers and implantable defibrillators


Cristina Abuchaibe, DO

Fetal and Pediatric Cardiologist

Primary Office: Wellington

Clinical Interests: Echocardiography and preventive cardiology


See all Pediatric Cardiologists.

Cardiac Anesthesiologists

Richard G. Lagueruela, MD

Medical Director, Cardiac Anesthesia

Primary Office: Miami

Clinical Interests: Pediatric cardiac anesthesia, heart and lung transplants


Jaime L Bozentka, MD

Pediatric Anesthesiologist 

Primary Office: Miami


Nelson R Riveros Perez, MD

Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiologist

Primary Office: Miami


Maricarmen Roche Rodriguez, MD

Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiologist

Primary Office: Miami


Nurse Navigators

Our nurse navigators coordinate care for patients and communication between all team members. They will provide continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient settings. This includes educating families and staff about heart conditions, ordering diagnostic tests and managing medications, keeping your family, your child and the referring physician informed about progress and visiting your child daily while they are in the hospital.

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Jessica Quiñones, RN, BSN, CPN

Nurse Navigator, Cardiology and Prenatal Heart Program


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Xoana Zampieri, BSN, RN, WCC, CPN, CWOCN

Nurse Coordinator, NeuroCardiac & Development Program


Advanced Practice Professionals Specialized in Pediatric Cardiology

  • Melissa Olen, APRN (Supervisor of Advanced Practice Professionals)

Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU)

  • Carmen Fraga-Soto, APRN
  • Luisa Angel, APRN
  • Lisa Sosa Tuesta, APRN
  • Melissa Vidaechea, APRN
  • Allyson Gobus, APRN
  • Marcelle Reyes, APRN
  • Mayra Perrotta, APRN

Catheterization Lab

  • Gina Diaz, APRN
  • Antonio Chantilla, APRN

Cardiovascular Surgery

  • Chantel Mouttet, APRN
  • Jessica Miller, APRN
  • Cristi Tyler, APRN
  • Natalie Llama, APRN
  • Jason Inoa, PA
  • Francisco Alonso, RNFA

Electrophysiology

  • Melissa Olen, APRN

High Risk Clinic

  • Stefania Sarno, APRN

 A clinician identified with a Nicklaus Children’s Pediatric Specialists logo is an affiliate of Nicklaus Children's Health System. All other clinicians listed on the website are in independent medical practices.