Heart transplant team
Our pediatric heart transplant team includes cardiologists, surgeons, transplant nurses, transplant social workers and dieticians.
Cardiologists
Elfriede Pahl, MD, medical director, Heart Transplant Program
Barbara J. Deal, MD, divison head, Cardiology
Jeffrey Gossett, MD, attending physician, Cardiology
Kendra M. Ward, MD, attending physician, Cardiology
David Wax, MD, attending physician, Cardiology
Transplant surgeons
Carl L. Backer, MD, division head, Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery, surgical director, Heart Transplant Program
Sunjay Kaushal, MD, transplant surgeon, Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery
Riccardo Superina, MD, division chief, Transplant Surgery, co-director, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Juan Carlos Caicedo, MD, transplant surgeon, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Anton Skaro, MD, transplant surgeon, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Transplant administration
Funmi Agbaje-Williams, MS, data manager
Berni Chrobak, RN, MSN, MBA, transplant managed care contractor
Renee Shores, transplant financial coordinator
Brian Stahulak, RN, BSN, MBA, Director, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Nurse coordinators
Kerry Lazewski, RN, MSN, CPNP
Sherrie Rodgers, RN, MSN, CPNP
Gina Jellen, RN, MSN, CPNP, CCTN
Nutritionists
Trisha Rabidoux, RD
Organ procurement coordinators
Wendy Kazlusky
Ryan Mitchell
Transplant support staff
Alicia Aldas, family-to-family coordinator, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Hardik Bhagat, PharmD, transplant pharmacist
Nayda Rivera-Escanio, transplant assistant
Sandy Rubovitz, MSW, LCSW, social worker, heart transplant
Mi-Young Ryee, PhD, pediatric psychologist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Contact us
To learn more about our pediatric heart transplant program, cardiologists and heart research, call 773.880.6363 or e-mail us at SiragusaTransplantWeb@childrensmemorial.org.