Dr. Kirsten Tolstrup

Dr. Sammy Elmariah is an interventional cardiologist who cares for adults with heart valve disease, coronary artery disease and congenital heart disease. He is an expert in transcatheter (minimally invasive) heart valve procedures, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TEER or MitraClip) and transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR). He also specializes in assessing new medical devices for repairing or replacing the heart's tricuspid valve. The overall goal of Elmariah's research is to advance transcatheter and other surgical procedures for heart valve disease in order to maximize patient health and outcomes. He leads several clinical trials (studies with human volunteers) focused on valvular heart disease. These include landmark studies testing new transcatheter devices that treat heart valve disease without the need for open heart surgery. He and his research team are also investigating how to increase access to heart valve disease treatments and improve patient involvement in the management of their own care. And they are studying biomarkers (distinctive, measurable substances) in the blood that may help doctors determine the optimal time for individual patients to undergo heart valve procedures. His research team is funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, U.S. Department of Defense and several industry partners. Elmariah earned his medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed fellowships in interventional cardiology and structural heart disease at Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. He also has a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Sammy Elmariah is married to Dr. Sarina Elmariah, a dermatologist at UCSF, and they are the proud parents of two wonderful boys. Dr. Elmariah is highly rated in 12 conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Aortic Valve Stenosis, Mitral Stenosis, Patent Foramen Ovale, Aortic Valve Replacement, and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Dr. Elmariah is board certified in American Board Of IM/Interventional Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology. Dr. Elmariah is currently accepting new patients.

Ingela Schnittger is a Cardiologist practicing medicine in Emeryville, California. Dr. Schnittger is highly rated in 54 conditions, according to our data. Her clinical expertise encompasses Congenital Coronary Artery Malformation, Pulmonary Hypertension, Cardiomyopathy, Heart Transplant, and Aortic Valve Replacement. Dr. Schnittger is currently accepting new patients.

Dr. Theodore Abraham is a cardiologist who cares for adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM (heart muscle thickening that forces the heart to work harder than it should). He co-directs the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Clinic, a designated center of excellence for HCM care. HCM is the most common cause of sudden death in athletes, especially young athletes. Because the condition is usually inherited and often goes undiagnosed, he has a particular interest in evaluating patients with suspected HCM as well as family members of patients with the condition. Abraham's research focuses on risk prediction and early diagnosis of HCM. He uses advanced imaging and computational techniques to better assess heart health in athletes. He was on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging, and Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging (a journal of the American Heart Association). He also serves as an expert on HCM for the British Medical Journal. Abraham earned his medical degree from the University of Mumbai in India. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where he also completed a research fellowship in echocardiography. He completed a fellowship in clinical cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and a fellowship in advanced echocardiography at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he stayed on as a consultant cardiologist. Before joining UCSF, he was a professor of medicine, radiology and radiological science at Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he also served as associate dean for research. There, he founded the Hopkins Heart Hype Program, a community outreach program screening high school and college athletes for heart disease and educating them about heart health and CPR. Abraham has received numerous research grants and awards for his work. He is president of the American Society of Echocardiography and was the founder-president of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Medical Society. Abraham is part of the San Francisco Giants and UCSF Health's partnership to provide players and staff with top-tier medical care and promote community well-being. Dr. Abraham is highly rated in 16 conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), Cardiomyopathy, Subvalvular Aortic Stenosis, and Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Dr. Abraham is board certified in American Board Of Internal Med/Cardiovascular Dis, Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Abraham is currently accepting new patients.