Valve Disease

Dr. Vinnie Bapat joined the Valve Science Center team in June 2020, bringing extensive expertise as a cardiothoracic surgeon and innovator in the treatment of heart valve disease. In recognition of his internationally renowned research and educational work in valvular heart disease, he was named the James R. and Judith A. Bradshaw Chair for the Valve Science Center in 2026. Dr. Bapat also serves as chair of cardiothoracic surgery at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute, where he cares for patients directly.

Before joining the team, Dr. Bapat was a cardiac surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. He previously served as a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London and continues to hold that position as a visiting professor.

Dr. Bapat earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees, followed by Master of Surgery and Master of Cardiothoracic Surgery degrees, at the University of Bombay in India and King Edward Memorial Hospital. He completed his Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) in cardiothoracic surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. He also completed an internship, three residencies and two fellowships at institutions including King Edward Memorial Hospital and the University of Mumbai; Toronto General Hospital in Canada; and through rotations at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, United Kingdom.

In addition to his clinical accomplishments, Dr. Bapat has been a collaborator among his peers in transcatheter valve therapy through the creation of two mobile apps:  Valve-in-Valve (VIV) Mitral and VIV Aortic. The apps provide imaging and clinical information, including dimensions and characteristics of various valve repair technologies, and have been downloaded in more than 130 countries. Through these tools, physicians can access data and clinical insights to determine technology options based on individual patient needs, including guidance on implant procedures. The apps are free to download and are updated annually to provide current guidance.
 

Dr. João L. Cavalcante serves as section head of cardiac imaging at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, the largest cardiology group practice in the Twin Cities. He is also director of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation’s Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center and Core Lab, where he oversees numerous multicenter clinical trials, and he holds the inaugural Innovation Chair for the Van Tassel Innovation Center.

He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Society of Echocardiography, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. His passion for multimodality imaging and his focus on valve and structural heart disease are reflected in his leadership of multiple randomized clinical trials in advanced imaging, the training of international scholars, more than 200 peer-reviewed original investigations, several book chapters, training workshops and frequent national and international lectures.

Dr. Miho Fukui is a cardiologist and researcher who began her medical career in Hyogo, Japan, where she earned both her medical degree and PhD. She specializes in echocardiography and completed her cardiology fellowship in Japan before moving to the United States in October 2017.

At the University of Pittsburgh, she served as a postdoctoral research scholar, focusing on advanced multimodality imaging techniques, including cardiac CT and MRI. She joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation in September 2018 and currently serves as an associate scientific director for the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center and Core Lab.

Dr. Fukui’s passion for multimodality imaging has led to more than 70 peer-reviewed original investigations and several book chapters. She is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and is actively involved in training workshops.

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.

Dr. Nadira Hamid is scientific director of the Echocardiography Core Lab at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and director of interventional echocardiography at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. She is board certified in both echocardiography and cardiac computed tomography.

Dr. Hamid earned her medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in Dublin and holds postgraduate qualifications from the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom. She completed her residencies in Dublin, followed by a cardiology fellowship at the National Heart Centre Singapore. She later received research training and a Master of Clinical Investigation from the National University of Singapore, then completed an advanced echocardiography and interventional echocardiography fellowship focused on structural heart interventions at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York.

Her research contributions include work on multiple clinical trials such as the TRILUMINATE, JenaValve and Ancora trials. Dr. Hamid is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Society of Echocardiography, the European Society of Cardiology and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

Dr. Harris moved from Washington University School of Medicine to his current role as director of the Aortic Dissection Program at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute in 1998. He is a clinical cardiologist and echocardiographer with clinical and research interests in aortic disease and aortic dissection, valvular heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and heart disease in athletes.

He is actively involved in cardiology education, serving as associate program director for cardiology training for the HCMC/Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital training program. Previously, he served for 12 years on the University of Minnesota fellowship committee. Dr. Harris is director of the Aortic Dissection Program and a member of the International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD) group, and he has authored more than 100 manuscripts.

In 2024, Dr. Harris joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation board of directors, noting his gratitude for the support he has received over the years. Since its inception, he has been closely involved in the MHIF clinical research internship program and has enjoyed mentoring several interns, finding it gratifying to see research projects come to completion and to witness the career trajectories of the interns.

Dr. Sebastian Iturra is a cardiac surgeon with the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He specializes in the care of patients with cardiovascular and valvular heart disease. He received his medical degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Kristin serves as a strategic advisor to research across the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. She has led MHIF’s Imaging Core Lab since 2020 and will continue to support that team while expanding her impact across MHIF initiatives.

She also works closely with the Valve Science Center team, having previously led the valve team as program director before transitioning to the imaging team. Kristin is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in physiology and Augsburg College’s physician assistant program. She came to MHIF from Medtronic, where she gained extensive experience in clinical research, therapy development and evidence dissemination.

Dr. Lesser is the former director of cardiovascular CT at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. He has published more than 100 articles, abstracts, CDs and books over his career and is a past president of the Society of Cardiovascular CT Board of Directors, where he served as chairman of the accreditation, certification and guidelines committee.

He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the American Heart Association, the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention and the Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. He also serves on the board of directors of the Intersocietal Commission for CT Accreditation of Laboratories and the Credentialing and Certification Board for Cardiovascular CT.
 

Dr. Gabriel Olivares is a cardiac surgeon at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. He received his medical degree and completed his general surgery and cardiac surgery training at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, Chile. He then completed a three-year fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Following his training, Dr. Olivares returned to Santiago, Chile, where he practiced for seven years. His clinical interests include complex and redo surgery, coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic surgery.

Dr. Sachiyo Ono recently joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Valve Science Center as an international research scholar under the mentorship of Drs. Vinnie Bapat and Miho Fukui. She received her medical degree from Kagawa Medical School and comes from Kurashiki Central Hospital in Okayama, Japan, where she practiced as a cardiologist specializing in structural heart imaging.

Dr. Ono is an experienced echocardiographer with advanced skills in transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography and a growing focus on multimodality imaging for transcatheter structural heart interventions. She is actively involved in clinical research, including several ongoing manuscripts on mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair and left atrial appendage occlusion, and has contributed to multiple presentations and registry-based studies in these areas.

Dr. Sarah Palmer is a cardiac surgeon at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. She received her medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and completed her residency and fellowship at Michigan Medicine.

Dr. Maurice Enriquez-Sarano is a senior research scientist for the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation's Valve Science Center. He is a world-renowned expert in valvular heart disease and mitral regurgitation whose lifetime of accomplishments has shaped clinical practice and innovation around the world. A long-standing advocate for early intervention, he has positively impacted the lives of thousands of patients and families globally.

A native of Tunisia, Dr. Sarano holds a medical degree and completed postgraduate training at institutions including the University of Paris VI. He first came to Minnesota in 1991 to join Mayo Clinic, where he built an extraordinary legacy as a clinician, investigator and educator and mentored countless physicians over his career.

Dr. Sarano’s research interests span all types of valve disease, including diagnosis, epidemiology, imaging and outcomes. At MHIF, his work focuses on optimizing research infrastructure and tools for the entire valvular team and taking initial steps toward building a regional and international valve research consortium. His research leadership and professional mentorship are invaluable to MHIF scholars, physicians and staff.

Dr. Scott Sharkey is the chief medical officer for the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and a practicing cardiologist at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia. He completed medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine, followed by a residency at Maine Medical Center and a fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Robert J. Steffen is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and a member of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation board of directors. He received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School, has been in practice for more than 10 years and was featured in 2021 as a “Top Doctors: Rising Star” in Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.

Dr. Steffen completed his undergraduate studies in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University and his postgraduate training at the Cleveland Clinic. During his training, he spent a year as a research fellow in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, served as chief resident in his final year of cardiothoracic surgery training and received the Charles Bryan Award for Clinical Excellence, and he was a clinical instructor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, where he received multiple teaching awards.

He has particular interests in the surgical treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, aortic disease and heart failure. Dr. Steffen has published numerous peer‑reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and review articles and has spoken locally, nationally and internationally on topics in cardiac surgery.

Dr. Benjamin Sun is a cardiac surgeon and researcher at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and surgical director of heart failure at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. He specializes in complex aortic and mitral valve surgery, heart transplantation, aortic root and aortic arch surgery, mechanical circulatory support, artificial heart procedures and congestive heart failure surgery.

Dr. Hiroshi Tsunamoto recently joined the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Valve Science Center as an international research scholar under the mentorship of Drs. Vinnie Bapat and Miho Fukui. He received his medical degree from Nippon Medical School in Tokyo and comes from Kobe University Hospital in Kobe, Japan, where he earned his PhD.

Dr. Tsunamoto is a structural interventionalist and board-certified cardiac echocardiographer with expertise in procedural intervention and advanced cardiac imaging. He holds instructor certification for transcatheter aortic valve replacement in Japan, serves as an echocardiography proctor for mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair procedures and is a published researcher.

Rebecca Uelmen, PhD, serves as senior program director of the Valve Science Center at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. In this role, she facilitates a multidisciplinary staff and physician team to advance research and education in valvular heart disease.

Dr. Uelmen brings nearly two decades of experience in cardiac research to MHIF, beginning her career as an academic researcher specializing in cardiac arrhythmias. During her seven-year tenure at Medtronic in the Structural Heart division, she led medical affairs and scientific communications teams focused on transcatheter and surgical heart valves. She is driven by a passion for using evidence to advance treatment options and improve the lives of patients.

Dr. Uelmen holds a PhD in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Catherine University.

Dr. Konstantinos Voudris is a structural and interventional cardiologist with the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He specializes in the care of patients with cardiovascular and valvular heart disease.

He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago – Advocate Christ in Chicago, where he received the 2018 Resident Award for Excellence in Scholarly Activity. He then completed a cardiovascular disease fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, serving as chief fellow, followed by an interventional cardiology fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and an advanced adult structural and congenital heart disease interventions fellowship at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute in Minneapolis.

Dr. Voudris is a physician-investigator with clinical and research interests in coronary artery disease and valvular heart disease. His research has led to numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at national and international scientific meetings, book chapters and abstracts, and he serves as a reviewer for leading cardiology journals.