Current Cardiology Fellows

Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Program
Current Cardiology Fellows


3rd Year Fellows


Felix Afriyie, MD

Felix Afriyie, MD


Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia

Medical School: St. George’s University

Residency: East Carolina University, Brody School of Mediciner

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Electrophysiology, Preventive Cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Arrhythmias in infiltrative heart disease, Sudden cardiac death, Preventative cardiology, Global medicine

Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, watching and playing sports, trying new foods and traveling, interior and home design

 


Joseph Dzierzawiec, MD

Joseph Dzierzawiec, MD


Hometown: Readington, NJ

Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Residency: Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX)

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Interventional Cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Interventional, Medical Education

Hobbies: Travel, Hiking, Eating, Cooking (and then eating), Reading

 


Matthew Fanous, MD

Matthew Fanous, MD


Hometown: Mahopac, NY

Medical School: SUNY Upstate Medical University

Residency: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell- North Shore/LIJ

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non-invasive cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Preventive cardiology, lipidology, cardiac imaging, global health

Hobbies: Swimming, kayaking, personal fitness/weight-lifting, hiking, traveling, exploring Manhattan

 


Afif Hossain MD

Afif Hossain MD


Hometown: Paramus, NJ

Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)

Residency: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Interventional/Structural Cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Medical education, critical care, structural/valvular disease, ischemic heart disease

Hobbies: Sports (basketball, football, ultimate frisbee), outdoor activities (fishing, kayaking, hiking, gardening), cooking, puzzles, mystery novels, musicals

 


Baoqiong Liu, MD

Baoqiong Liu, MD


Hometown: Changsha, China

Medical School: Xiangya School of Medicine

Residency: AdventHealth, Orlando

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non-invasive cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Cardiac Imaging, Preventive Cardiology

Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, biking, reading, traveling

 


Amanda Naaraayan, MD

Amanda Naaraayan, MD

National Early Career Representative for NJ ACC
NJ ACC WIC Committee Member


Hometown: Ruidoso, NM

Medical School: St. George’s University

Residency: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non Invasive, Imaging

Clinical and Research Interests: Sports Cardiology, Imaging advances in cardiology, Nanotechnology and cardiovascular genetics

Hobbies: Weight training, scuba diving, traveling and new experiences, non-fiction (theories of logical fallacy, group think, social psychology etc) and quirky movies that usually no one else likes.

 


Keneil Shah, MD

Keneil Shah, MD


Hometown: Bridgewater, NJ

Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Residency: University of Maryland

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non-invasive cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: medical education, preventative cardiology, echocardiography and advanced imaging

Hobbies: New York Giants football, specialty coffee, food and travel

 


2nd Year Fellows


Eison de Guzman, MD

Eison de Guzman, MD


Hometown: Richmond, VA

Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Residency: George Washington University

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: General Cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: QA/QI, preventive cardiology, advanced imaging.

Hobbies: Tennis, working out, watching sports, exploring cafes/coffee shops, traveling to try local foods.

 


Jose Fossas Espinosa, MD

Jose Fossas Espinosa, MD


Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Medical School: Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC), Puerto Rico

Residency/Post-Residency Training: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth at Houston) and a year of Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Undecided but interested in procedures

Clinical and Research Interests: Cardiogenic Shock and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Pulmonary Hypertension, Carcinoid Heard Disease and History of Medicine

Hobbies: Sailing, explore new restaurants, playing tennis, salsa dancing and reading historical fiction novels or anything related to history

 


Erick Quintana Aviles, MD

Erick Quintana Aviles, MD


Hometown: Moca, Puerto Rico

Medical School: University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

Residency: Tufts Medical Center

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: EP

Clinical and Research Interests: Echocardiography & Medical Education

Hobbies: Video games and board games, travel (visit all 63 national parks in the US), baking, NYT crossword puzzles, and bowling

 


Kajol Shah, MD

Kajol Shah, MD


Hometown: Philadelphia

Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine

Residency: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Interventional Cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Medical Education, heart failure, structural disease, valvular disease

Hobbies: Playing guitar, singing, outdoor activities, reading fiction novels, trying new restaurants, going to the gym

 


Emaad Siddiqui, MD

Emaad Siddiqui, MD


Hometown: Tenafly, NJ

Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Residency: New York University

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non-invasive cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: preventative, imaging, outcomes research

Hobbies: Soccer, DJing, music production, philosophy, and of course coffee

 


Kandarp Suthar, MD

Kandarp Suthar, MD


Hometown: Franklin Park, NJ

Medical School: Rowan SOM

Residency: Rutgers- NJMS

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non-invasive cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Advanced imaging, preventive cardiology, Critical Care

Hobbies: Sports (table tennis, tennis, volleyball, and cricket), watch soccer & F1, hiking/rafting/kayaking, playing video games

 


1st Year Fellows


Maria Abraham, MD

Maria Abraham, MD


Hometown: Maryland

Medical School: University of Massachusetts TH Chan Medical School

Residency: University of Maryland

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Cardiac critical care or Advanced heart Failure/transplant

Clinical and Research Interests: Data based research. Research topics of interest currently: Heart failure, MCS, cardio-oncology, TAVR

Hobbies: Art/painting, travelling, dancing, and exploring new cafes and restaurants.

 


Diego Barzallo Zaes, MD

Diego Barzallo Zaes, MD


Hometown: Cuenca, Ecuador

Medical School: Universidad del Azuay 

Residency/Post-Residency Training: Jacobi Medical Center / Albert Einstein College of Medicine 

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Interventional Cardiology or Advance heart failure & transplant

Clinical and Research Interests: Medical education, TAVR, Cardiogenic shock

Hobbies: Soccer, swimming and travel

 


Nimra Gilani, DO

Nimra Gilani, DO


Hometown: Teaneck, NJ

Medical School: NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine

Residency: Rutgers NJMS

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Non-invasive Cardiology 

Clinical and Research Interests: Echocardiography, Strain imaging 

Hobbies: cooking, boxing, henna artistry

 


Vicente Nehgme, MD

Vicente Nehgme, MD


Hometown: Orlando, FL

Medical School: Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Residency: Montefiore Medical Center - Moses and Weiler

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: Advanced cardiac imaging or general cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Echocardiography, cardiac sarcoidosis, sports cardiology

Hobbies: Soccer, snowboarding, video games, traveling, exploring new restaurants, live music, watching sports

 


Meet Shah, DO

Meet Shah, DO


Hometown: Jersey City, New Jersey

Medical School: Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine

Residency: Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School

Career/Post Fellowship Plans: General Cardiology

Clinical and Research Interests: Preventive Cardiology, Clinical Lipidology, and Advanced Imaging

Hobbies: Watching documentaries, outdoors activities, and trying new foods (especially desserts)