Meet the Program Directors
Roxana Mehran, MD, FACC, FACP, FCCP, FESC, FAHA, FSCAI
Dr. Roxana Mehran is Professor of Medicine and Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Trials at the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (icahn.mssm.edu/research/center-interventional-cardiology). Dr. Mehran completed her training in internal medicine at the University of Connecticut, where she was also a Chief Medical Resident, before continuing with Fellowships in Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Mehran is internationally recognized for her work as a clinical trial specialist with complex data analyses and outcomes research within the field of interventional cardiology and for her experience and expertise in working with regulatory agencies to conduct clinical trials.
Her research interests expand from mechanisms of restenosis to treatment and prevention of acute kidney injury in cardiac patients, as well as advancing treatments for acute coronary syndromes and acute myocardial infarction. In addition to founding a highly regarded academic research organization (ARO) within the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, she is also a widely published author and frequent invited speaker at national and international scientific conferences such as American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, European Society of Cardiology, and EuroPCR. She has served as Course Co-Director of the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) for the last 13 years. Dr. Mehran serves on editorial board of multiple peer reviewed journals, including Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, and Circulation Research. She currently serves on the board of trustees of SCAI, as a member of the Program Committee for the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, as a member of the board of directors for Harboring Hearts, and as Program Chair for Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (SCAI- WIN (Women in Innovations)) Initiative, and is also the Chief Scientific Officer of the Clinical Trials Center at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (NYC)
HelenMari Merritt-Genore, DO
Dr. HelenMari Merritt graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Arts in biology while simultaneously working as an emergency medical technician. She completed medical school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth and went on to general surgery training at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. It was there that she was recruited as the inaugural resident in the integrated cardiothoracic surgery residency program.
She came to Methodist from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where she was a faculty adult cardiac surgeon as well as the program director of the cardiothoracic surgery residency program and the surgical director of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program.
Dr. Merritt is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, is committed to patient advocacy and serves in multiple leadership roles within the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) and Women in Thoracic Surgery. In 2019, she was selected for and completed the Physician Leadership Program through the Health Management Academy. She has also been active in research and education, with over 35 international and national presentations and 20-plus research articles published in scientific journals. She is the author of two book chapters and is a guest reviewer for four peer-reviewed journals.
She is particularly interested in treating heart arrhythmias surgically, cardiac and thoracic tumor management, and utilizing minimally invasive surgical approaches whenever possible.
Andrea Russo, MD, FACC, FHRS, FAHA
Dr. Andrea Russo is currently Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Academic Chief, Division of Cardiology, Director of Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services and Director of the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Program at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. She was Past President of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and has volunteered on multiple HRS, American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) committees, subcommittees and work groups. This includes current Vice-Chair of the HRS GLOWE (Growth and Leadership Opportunities for Women in Electrophysiology) program, current member of the ACC Cardio-Obstetrics Work Group, current member of the Medtronic Women in EP Arrhythmia Working Group, current Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine Cardiovascular Board, current member of the AHA Afib Systems of Care Advisory Group, current member of the HRS AF Center of Excellence Task Force, and former member of the ACC Cardiovascular Disease in Women (CVD-W) Committee.
In addition, she has authored multiple manuscripts on a variety of arrhythmia and device topics and has been co-chair or member of various writing groups, including guideline, consensus and appropriate use documents. She is also a frequently invited speaker at national and international annual scientific conferences and is course co-director of the Medtronic Device Management: Beyond the Basics course for the past two years. In addition, she serves on the editorial board for several peer reviewed journals and has served on steering committees, events committees, or data safety monitoring committees for several clinical trials. Areas of special interest include sex differences in arrhythmias, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, atrial fibrillation therapy, and the role of digital health in arrhythmia management.
