Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center
and Research Institute

HCM Clinical Experts

Martin Maron, MD is the Director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center and an Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. He was the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association’s 2011 “Clinician of the Year,” and currently serves on the association’s Board of Directors. His research interests involve the role of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in the evaluation and management of patients with HCM as well as investigating new therapies to treat the disease. He is currently the national primary investigator on the first clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a novel drug for the treatment of HCM symptoms (LIBERTY-HCM). Dr. Maron has published more than 100 original scientific articles on HCM in many of the top leading cardiology and medicine journals, including: The New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Circulation, and The Journal of American College of Cardiology.

Contact Dr. Maron: mmaron@tuftsmedicalcenter.org or 617-636-8066 option 1

Barry J. Maron, MD is the Director of Clinical Research in the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center. He is also a Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Maron was the Director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center program at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation for 23 years. Prior to that, he was Senior Investigator in the National Institutes of Health (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute) Cardiology Branch for 21 years. Dr. Maron has led clinical advancements in HCM through more than 40 years of clinical practice and more than 900 published research studies.

Ethan Rowin, MD is the Associate Director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center and the Director of Cardiac MR Imaging at Tufts Medical Center. He is an Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. He specializes in HCM and cardiac MRI and completed his cardiology and HCM training at Tufts Medical Center, focusing on clinical management and research of HCM under the mentorship of Dr. Maron. His research focuses on improving the understanding of the natural history of HCM and improving outcomes within this disease. Dr. Rowin has also published numerous original scientific articles on HCM in top cardiology journals, including: Circulation, The Journal of American College of Cardiology, and The American Journal of Cardiology.

Contact Dr. Rowin: erowin@tuftsmedicalcenter.org or 617-636-8066 option 1

Sophie Wells, MD is an attending Cardiologist at the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center and an Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine who specializes in echocardiography, cardiac imaging and HCM. Before she joined the HCM Center in 2016, she completed her medical training at Johns Hopkins University and her cardiovascular disease training—with a focus on cardiac imaging—at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Her studies focus on the use of echocardiography in HCM in predicting outcomes and better understanding the natural history of the disease.

HCM Team

Noreen Dolan, NP is a Nurse Practitioner in the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center. Before joining the HCM Center in 2010, Ms. Dolan worked as a nurse practitioner in cardiac surgery for 18 years.  She has extensive experience in both medical and surgical management of HCM patients and has a strong dedication towards HCM patient care. She was awarded the Tufts Medical Center “Nursing Excellence Award” in 2013 for her unwavering commitment to HCM patient education and empowerment. 

Contact Noreen: ndolan@tuftsmedicalcenter.org or 617-636-8066 option 1

Catherine Carroll, NP-C is a Nurse Practitioner in the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center.  Before joining the HCM center in 2015, Ms. Carroll worked as a cardiac surgery nurse for eight years. She is dedicated to educating all her HCM patients and family members about the disease and their treatment options.

Contact Catherine: ccarroll2@tuftsmedicalcenter.org or 617-636-8066 option 1 

Paula Mooney, NP is a Clinic Nurse in the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center. Joining the HCM Center in 2012, Ms. Mooney has been a nurse within the Cardiology Department of Tufts MC for more than 25 years—previously in the Critical Care Unit and in Cardiovascular Research.

 

 

Susan Costa is the Program Coordinator at the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center.  She has been working with the HCM clinic since 2011. Ms. Costa is often the first contact person for patients of the HCM Center and is dedicated to providing them and their family members with all the necessary information and assistance to make their visit and stay as easy and comfortable as possible.

Contact Susan: scosta2@tuftsmedicalcenter.org or 617-636-8066 option 1 

 

Brenda Bettinelli is a Practice Coordinator in the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at Tufts Medical Center. Joining the HCM team in October 2017, Ms. Bettinelli has been with Tufts Medical Center since 2014—previously as the Administrative Assistant for cardiologist Dr. Andrew Weintraub. 

 

 

Surgical Team

Hassan Rastegar, MD is a senior cardiothoracic surgeon at Tufts Medical Center and a Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Rastegar has extensive experience in the surgical management of HCM. He has been performing septal myectomy for 15 years, with now one of the highest volumes for this operation anywhere in the world. In 2012 U.S. News & World Report acknowledged Dr. Rastegar as a “Top Doctor” in the top 1% in the nation in his specialty and Boston Magazine named him a “Top Doctor” in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

Frederick Y. Chen, MD is Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Tufts Medical Center and a professor of surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Chen is a multidimensional, internationally renowned cardiac surgeon with significant contributions in all areas of academic cardiac surgery—patient care, translational laboratory research, and education. At Tufts MC, he performs approximately 150 cardiac surgeries annually that cross the full spectrum of expertise—valvular, coronary, and aortic—and is one of the nation's high volume myectomy surgeons. His research focuses on engineering aspects of heart failure, and he has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.  He is known for his outstanding patient care in all of New England. Boston Magazine named Dr. Chen a "Top Doctor" in 2016 and 2017.

HCM Interventionalist

Carey Kimmelstiel, MD is the Director of the Interventional Cardiology Center at Tufts Medical Center and an Associate Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. He specializes in interventional cardiology, was the first person to perform an alcohol septal ablation in New England, and has been performing this procedure for more than 15 years. Dr. Kimmelstiel has been published extensively regarding the alcohol septal ablation technique and its outcomes in numerous top-tier cardiology journals. He was named a “Top Doctor” by U.S. News and World Report in 2012 and Boston Magazine in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

HCM Arrhythmia Team

Mark Estes, MD is the Director of the New England Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at Tufts Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. He has served as President of the Greater Boston Board and Northeast Affiliate of the American Heart Association (AHA), Chairman of the AHA Council on Clinical Cardiology, and President of the Heart Rhythm Society. His honors include the President’s Award of the Heart Rhythm Society (2013), the Outstanding Achievement Award of the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (2014), the AHA’s Distinguished Achievement Award (2014), and the University of Cincinnati’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2017). He has more than 500 publications and has authored/ co-authored eight books.

Christopher Madias, MD is the Co-Director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at Tufts Medical Center and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine. Dr. Madias specializes in the diagnosis and management of cardiac arrhythmias related to HCM, including catheter ablation techniques for atrial fibrillation and device therapy for prevention of sudden death. He has published numerous original scientific articles on arrhythmia management in cardiomyopathies, sudden death in athletes, and device therapy in top cardiology journals including: Heart Rhythm, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology and The American Journal of Cardiology.

Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant

David DeNofrio, MD is the Medical Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program at Tufts Medical Center which performs the most heart transplants in US Region 1 (2017). He is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, a longtime member and current Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant Cardiology.

Division Chief 

Jim Udelson, MD is the Chief of the Division of Cardiology and Director of the Nuclear Cardiology Laboratory at Tufts Medical Center. He is also a Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Udelson was responsible for the creation of the HCM Clinic at Tufts Medical Center more than 15 years ago. He is one of the top thought leaders nationally in HCM and was co-author on the most recent expert consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and management of HCM, published by the American Heart Association.

HCM Basic Science

Michael T. Chin, MD is a Research Director for the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Research Institute, Molecular Cardiology Research Institute, Cardiovascular Center and the Division of Cardiology at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Chin is a trained virologist, molecular biologist, biochemist and cardiologist, who studies the molecular biology of the cardiovascular system. In the lab, he identifies basic pathways that influence the development of hypertrophy and fibrosis. His goals are to illuminate potential new treatment paradigms and drug targets for HCM. Dr. Chin also investigates mechanisms and treatments for other genetic causes of heart failure and explores mechanisms by which air pollution causes cardiac failure.