Heart Attack & Intervention

Dr. Emmanouil S. Brilakis is director of the Center for Complex Coronary Interventions at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute and chairman of the Center for Coronary Artery Disease at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.

After graduating from Lycée Léonin de Patissia, Dr. Brilakis earned his medical degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece. He completed training in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology at the Mayo Clinic, where he also earned a master’s degree in clinical research. He later obtained a PhD in clinical research from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. From 2004 to 2016, he served as director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories at the VA North Texas Health Care System and was a faculty member at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School from 2004 to 2018.

Dr. Brilakis leads a robust clinical research program focused on chronic total occlusion interventions, prevention and treatment of saphenous vein graft disease, lipid‑lowering therapies, management of procedural complications, intracoronary imaging, optimization of antiplatelet therapy following coronary stenting and radiation safety in the catheterization laboratory. He has authored or co‑authored more than 600 peer‑reviewed manuscripts and is the author of The Manual of CTO Interventions (now in its third edition) and The Manual of PCI. He also created the Manual of CTO Interventions and Manual of PCI YouTube series.

Dr. Brilakis serves on the board of the Cardiovascular Innovations Foundation, is an associate editor for Circulation and sits on the editorial boards of multiple journals and grant review committees. He is also an active international lecturer and procedural proctor. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the European Society of Cardiology and a Master Interventionalists of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

Dr. Yader Sandoval is an interventional cardiologist with the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute and serves as co-chair of the Center for Coronary Artery Disease at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. He is also an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

Dr. Sandoval is a physician-investigator focused on the diagnosis and management of patients with acute and chronic coronary syndromes and complex percutaneous coronary interventions. He has expertise in coronary artery disease, including coronary physiology, coronary imaging, coronary revascularization and cardiac biomarkers. He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts, with publications in The Lancet, JAMA, JACC and Circulation. He served on the writing committee for the 2025 AHA/ACC ACS guidelines and has held leadership roles such as chair of the SCAI/SCCT Scientific Roundtable on coronary computed tomography angiography to guide percutaneous coronary intervention and co-chair of the 2024 SCAI expert consensus statement on the management of patients with STEMI referred for primary PCI. He is also a member of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry Committee on Clinical Applications of Cardiac Biomarkers.

Additionally, Dr. Sandoval has served on the American College of Cardiology Interventional Section Leadership Council and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Ischemic Heart Disease Council. A dedicated educator, he was selected for the 2022 ACC Emerging Faculty Leadership Academy and previously received the Mayo Clinic Interventional Cardiology Teacher of the Year Award. Dr. Sandoval is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the European Society of Cardiology.

Dr. Burke is an interventional cardiologist at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute and has been practicing since 1995. For 15 years, he also served as director of cardiovascular emergency services and director of cardiovascular operations at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, where he co-directs the Chronic Total Occlusion and Complex High-Risk Indicated Procedures (CHIP) program. Dr. Burke specializes in interventional cardiology, including the treatment of chronically totally occluded arteries and cardiovascular emergencies, particularly myocardial infarctions (heart attacks).

Pedro E.P. Carvalho, MD, joined the Center for Coronary Artery Disease as the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation’s inaugural Raymond Ames and Barbara Thorndike International Scholar. In this role, Dr. Carvalho supports the expansion of CCAD research in intracoronary imaging, coronary physiology, microvascular disease and CT-guided PCI, in addition to the existing portfolio of research studies.

Originally from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Dr. Carvalho graduated from medical school in December 2023 and received his medical degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. During medical school, he worked as a research assistant at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, contributing to research groups focused on improving outcomes for patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Dr. Carvalho has published systematic reviews and meta-analyses as both first and contributing author in leading cardiology journals such as JACC, International Journal of Cardiology and Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, and has presented his work at ACC Latin America, the European Society of Cardiology and other local congresses in Brazil. He also has experience as an instructor for statistical methods in meta-analysis through an online course attended by students from more than 40 countries.

Dr. Mario Goessl is director of transcatheter valve therapies at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute, a role he has held since joining the organization in 2016. He previously served as director of the structural heart disease program at Dean Clinic in Madison, Wisconsin, and as a clinical adjunct assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He was also an assistant professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Goessl has authored or co-authored more than 100 published manuscripts and book chapters and is a frequent national and international speaker on valvular and coronary heart disease.

His special interests include structural heart interventions such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR), MitraClip procedures, transcatheter tricuspid valve repair, left atrial appendage closure (Watchman), atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale closure, and other similar therapies.

Olga joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation in October 2021 as a research associate and now supports the Center for Coronary Artery Disease team as a clinical research coordinator. She works on various investigator-initiated CCAD projects, including REBIRTH, PROGRESS-CTO, PROGRESS Bifurcations, PROGRESS Complications and others.

Prior to MHIF, Olga spent four years as a research analyst at the Minnesota Department of Health. More recently, she was part of an ad hoc team that interviewed and monitored health care workers exposed to COVID-19, led a team of interviewers and conducted quality checks of the database. Olga has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and is looking forward to expanding her experience in cardiovascular research and pursuing graduate school in the future.

Sophie Macy is a research associate with the Center for Coronary Artery Disease at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. In this role, she supports a range of investigator-initiated studies, including the PROGRESS Registries, the REBIRTH Trial and the VOICE-B study.

Sophie earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and microbiology from Washington State University, graduating magna cum laude. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in the Duttke Laboratory, where she focused on bioinformatics and cellular mechanisms. She brings additional experience in customer service, retail and food service, along with strong laboratory and analytical skills.

A former Division I varsity swimmer, Sophie demonstrates discipline, time management and teamwork. She also has experience in social media management, enjoys baking and is proficient in American Sign Language.

Coco serves as a clinical research manager on the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation’s Center for Coronary Artery Disease team, bringing more than 10 years of clinical research experience, most recently in the oncology space. She has a strong track record in clinical operations and a creative spirit, paired with a passion for leadership that informs her approach to work. Her expertise in regulatory compliance, budgeting, quality assurance and team mentorship are significant assets as the team continues making a difference together.

Coco is highly skilled at building strong partnerships, driving collaboration and supporting and inspiring those around her. She studied public health and biology and received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Rangan joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation in October 2018 as program director for the Center for Coronary Artery Disease. In this role, she focuses on expanding and enabling the vision of the CCAD Science Center by developing MHIF’s investigator-initiated research portfolio and funding, and mentoring CCAD international scholars. She also serves as global director for the PROGRESS-CTO global multicenter registry on chronic total occlusions, a major initiative involving more than 50 participating centers and more than 7,000 CTO PCI procedures. As program director, Dr. Rangan also serves on the MHIF Blueprint leadership group dedicated to advancing MHIF’s growth and strategies.

Originally from Bangalore, India, Dr. Rangan received her dental degree from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, VS Dental College and Hospital. Drawn to a career in clinical research, she completed a Master of Public Health in clinical research at the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health. She subsequently built a strong background in clinical research in dentistry, rheumatology and cardiology, primarily within the VA North Texas Health Care System and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

She began working with Dr. Emmanouil Brilakis in 2007 at UT Southwestern and the VA North Texas Health Care System in progressive roles, including director of research operations and faculty associate, and went on to serve as principal investigator on the LAVA registry and national coordinator on several trials, including the VA CSP #571 Drug-Eluting Stents in Saphenous Vein Graft Angioplasty (DIVA) trial, the CrossBoss FIRST trial and the ASAP-SVG trial, among other projects funded by the VA, NIH, industry and philanthropy. Dr. Rangan’s research expertise includes saphenous vein graft disease, chronic total occlusions, intravascular imaging and investigational drug and device trials.

Dr. Rangan has also served as a board member and reviewer on the VA North Texas Health Care System Institutional Review Board from 2012 to 2018 and received the VA’s Outstanding Cardiology Research Achievement Award in 2013. She is well published and is recognized as a leader in research administration and implementation.

Dr. Jay Traverse is a senior consulting cardiologist at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute and the director of research at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. His special interests include interventional cardiology, stem cell therapy, biomaterials and ischemia/reperfusion injury. He is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Theodoros (Theo) Vichos, MD, joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Center for Coronary Artery Disease as the inaugural Fleischhacker Family Scholar. In this role, he supports a broad range of coronary and complex coronary disease research and education efforts, including investigator-initiated studies such as the OPEN-SAFE registry, the PROGRESS registries and the REBIRTH trial.

Originally from Athens, Greece, Dr. Vichos earned his medical degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He developed an early interest in clinical research and later pursued postdoctoral training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, where he investigated immune dysregulation in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Dr. Vichos has authored 10 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications and Arthritis & Rheumatology. A computational biology enthusiast, he brings a strong translational research background to his work in interventional cardiology at MHIF.

The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Center for Coronary Artery Disease welcomes Dr. Nick Williford as the Frank J. and Eleanor Maslowski Charitable Trust CHIP-CTO fellow as of July 1, 2025.

Dr. Williford joins MHIF from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his training in interventional cardiology. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, and between his third and fourth years of medical school he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research fellow, studying molecular mechanisms of hypertension. He then completed his internal medicine residency with distinction in research at the University of Iowa and subsequently completed cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology and structural heart interventions fellowships at Washington University in St. Louis. During his training, he received multiple clinical excellence and teaching awards.

Throughout his medical training, Dr. Williford has been actively involved in research, with peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific conferences. In addition to internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology and structural heart interventions, he is also trained in echocardiography and cardiac CT.