Division of Pediatric Cardiology

The Division of Pediatric Cardiology at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) is the academic arm of the Heart Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

The cardiology program also provides all pediatric cardiac services for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital^®, a premier research center for pediatric cancer and hematological diseases, and provides all pediatric cardiac services at Regional One Health, an adjacent tertiary care center for adults with high-risk Obstetrics program where 4500 babies are delivered each year.

Since the re-initiation of the UTHSC pediatric cardiology fellowship program in 2006, the cardiology division has experienced significant growth, expanding from 7 to 30 faculty members. The department’s focus on pediatric cardiomyopathy and cardio-oncology was further advanced through the expertise of Dr. Jeffrey Towbin, now Professor Emeritus, and Dr. Umar Boston, whose contributions were instrumental in this area.

Current destination programs include: cardiomyopathy/heart failure, adult congenital heart disease, cardiovascular genetics, cardio-oncology, heart transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, neurodevelopment, a high-risk/single ventricle service, sports cardiology and obesity.

The Heart Institute’s future goals are to develop 5 to 10 new destination programs over the next five years, add advanced specialty fellowships and grow the research program to focus more on personalized medicine for congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathy.