Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Women’s Heart Health Conference

Dr. Peter Ermis is an adult and pediatric cardiologist and serves as the Medical Director for the Adult Congenital Heart Program at Texas Children’s Hospital. He also serves as the program director for the Adult Congenital Heart Disease fellowship program as well the Head of Adult Medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed residency training in combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in 2009 followed by completion of a combined adult and pediatric cardiology fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital in 2014. He joined Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine as faculty in 2014 serving within the Adult Congenital Heart Program. He is board certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, adult cardiovascular disease, pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease. Dr. Ermis serves on the Medical Advisory Board for the Adult Congenital Heart Association and as a general board member for the Greater Houston Society Echo-Vascular. His clinical and administrative interests include improving care and access to care for adults with congenital heart disease and was instrumental in design and opening of the dedicated Adult Congenital Heart Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital in 2000.

Sessions:

• Developing a Maternal Heart Program 
• Listen to the Heart. Notable findings on cardiac exam 

Dr. Franklin is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and UCLA School of Medicine.  He did his residency training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Duke University, where he first was exposed to Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD).  He then did two simultaneous fellowships in adult cardiology and pediatric cardiology at St. Luke’s/Texas Heart Institute and at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) in Houston.  

He came to Phoenix in 2018 to join Phoenix Children’s Hospital as the Co-Director of the Heart Center, Division Chief of Cardiology, Director of the ACHD Program, Chair of the Department of Adult Medicine.  In addition, he is a Full Professor in three University of Arizona-College of Medicine-Phoenix Departments, including the Departments of Medicine, Child Health, and Obstetrics and Gynecology.   

From an academic perspective, he is involved with several research projects on adults with congenital heart disease, specifically in patients with single ventricle-Fontan physiology, neurocognitive outcomes, pulmonary hypertension, cardiac disease in pregnancy, and most recently, transition medicine.  Dr. Franklin has been appointed to several medical advisory boards in congenital heart disease, including the ACHA, the Alliance for Adult Research in Congenital Cardiology, American College of Cardiology, and American Heart Association.  He has been an invited lecturer across North America, Europe, South America, and South Asia.   

Sessions:  

• Care Delivery 
• Developing a Maternal Heart Program 
• Considerations Before, During, and After Pregnancy 
• The Pregnant ACHD Patient (Joint session with Track 2&3) 
• Fetal/Maternal Interventions 
• Transposition of the Great Arteries – Where Left is Not Always Right 
• Pregnant Patient with COVID 

Dr. Manisha Gandhi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and serves as the Division Director for Maternal Fetal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women in Houston, Texas. She completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology and fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. She joined Baylor College of Medicine in 2009 and has cared for patients at the Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women since it opened in 2011. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal Fetal Medicine. She co-led the initiative to start a joint Maternal-Fetal Medicine/Adult Cardiology Heart Disease clinic in 2015 at Texas Children’s Hospital for women with congenital and acquired heart disease who are pregnant or are considering pregnancy. Her clinical and research interests include cardiac disease in pregnancy and quality initiatives to promote health equity. She is actively involved in multiple national society committees including serving as Vice Chair of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee and member of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Publications Committee.  

Sessions:  

• OB/GYN Role in Women’s Heart Health 
• Future CV effects of pregnancy complications 

Dr. Lisa Hollier is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.  She received her Doctorate in Medicine and Masters in Public Health from Tulane University.  She completed a residency in Ob/Gyn and a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine.  Dr. Hollier is a Past President of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.  She is the Chair of the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee.  Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to reducing health inequities and improving women’s health by advancing women’s health policy.   

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Women’s Services  

A. Janice Lee PharmD, BCPS, is a Women’s Health Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. Her primary practice area includes obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine. She is a graduate of University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy and completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Solid Organ Transplant Pharmacy Residency at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, Texas. She is board certified in pharmacotherapy.

Session: Anticoagulation for the pregnant ACHD patient 

Dr. Pacheco is a Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Anesthesiology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Surgical Critical Care at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.  

He completed medical school and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Costa Rica followed by a second residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine under the Department of Anesthesiology at University of Texas Medical Branch.  

He is triple board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal Fetal Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine.  

Dr. Pacheco has been with UTMB since 2008 and is the Director of Obstetrical Critical Care and Director of the Residency Education Program, Surgical Intensive Care Unit. He is the Departmental Director of Obstetrical Patient Safety and Chair of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Clinical Competency Committee.  

Dr. Pacheco’s work in both maternal fetal medicine and critical care medicine is unique in that he is on of the very few maternal-fetal medicine specialist in the country who actually staffs a general surgical critical care unit and is clinically active in both services, allowing him to have a particular understanding of critical care. The knowledge that he provides has dramatically changed the care of pregnant women at UTMB. 

He is known nationally as a pioneer in critical care obstetrics. He is currently one of the main editors for the most read textbook in obstetrical critical care, Critical Care Obstetrics, 6th edition. His publications have contributed significantly to the education of maternal fetal medicine doctors and general obstetricians regarding medical complications during pregnancy. He has written a textbook addressing medical diseases in pregnancy and has directed courses around the United States in similar topics. Dr. Pacheco has written expert opinion papers for the Society for Maternal fetal Medicine in topics such as amniotic fluid embolism.  

Dr. Pacheco is actively involved in teaching at UTMB and has received numerous teaching awards for Excellence in Medical School Teaching. He is a Journal Reviewer for the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology; American Journal of Perinatology; Repertory Care Journal; Anesthesia & Analgesia and the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is also a Reviewer for Obstetrics, Maternal Fetal Medicine and Obstetrical Critical Care for Oak stone Medical Publishing Continuous Medical Education Program.

Sessions: The Critically Ill Pregnant Patient 

Amir Shamshirsaz MD is board certified obstetrician and gynecologist, Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Surgical Critical Care specialist. Also certified in “Special Competence in Critical Care Echo” exam. 

He did his medical school in National University in Tehran, Iran. He did his residency at George Washington University, DC.  He, then, attended Baylor College of Medicine where he completed both maternal fetal medicine and surgical critical care fellowship. He is an assistant professor in both maternal fetal medicine and critical care medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He is “Co-director of maternal critical care at Texas Children’s Hospital/Pavillion for Women”. 

His main interest is critical care, Point of Care ultrasound, Placenta accreta spectrum and cardiac disease in pregnancy. He is currently on the Expert Panel for Obstetric Life Support (OBLS): Development of a Simulation-based Maternal Cardiac Arrest Program for Credentialing Specialists and First Responders.

Dr. Muhammad Asim Siddique is an Assistant Professor of Pulmonary, Critical care and Sleep medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Siddique received his Medical Degree from King Edward Medical College Pakistan. He completed a residency in Internal medicine and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Siddique Currently serves as Chief of Clinical operations for the Section of Pulmonary, Critical care, and Sleep Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of Intensive care unit at BSLMC /TCH PFW. He has been dedicated to improving care for critically ill patients.