Medical Director
Huntington Hospital

Assistant Professor
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

As Medical Director of Huntington Hospital, Dr. Cacciabaudo, oversees Medical Staff, Quality, Medical
Education, Radiology, Pharmacy and the Clinical Laboratory, Pathology and Blood Bank. She works collaboratively with nursing and hospital leadership in overseeing patient safety issues and standards of care at the 220-bed community hospital. She is proud of her team as Huntington Hospital is the only 5 Star CMS Hospital in Suffolk County. She has been a spokesperson for the American Heart Association for over 20 years and was a member of the Eastern States AHA Board of Directors. Throughout her career, she has been involved in research on the diagnosis and prevention of heart disease in women.

Previously, Dr. Cacciabaudo served as Medical Director of Peconic Bay Medical Center, Southside
Hospital’s Chief of Cardiology and Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s Associate Medical Director.
Under her leadership at Southside Hospital, she worked with the multidisciplinary team that brought
open heart surgery and advanced complex cardiac care to Suffolk County. She is the recipient of the
Northwell Health Truly Award in Mentorship recognizing her dedication to developing physicians and future physician leaders over the years. In 2019, she received the United Hospital Fund Excellence in Health Care Award for championing quality improvement. She also received the Northwell Health President’s Award in 2016 for Team Innovation. She chaired the Physician Engagement Committee in Northwell Health Physician Partners and brought physician star ratings and comments to the internet so that patients can have insight into what other patients are saying about their physicians.

Dr. Cacciabaudo received her medical training at New York Medical College and served as intern and resident at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where her training also included clinical fellowships in hypertension and cardiology.

Board certifications
Internal Medicine – American Board of Internal Medicine
Cardiovascular Disease – American Board of IM / Cardiovascular Disease
Interventional Cardiology – American Board of IM / Interventional Cardiology

Administrative titles
Director – Interventional Cardiology – Huntington
Director – Interventional Cardiology of Cardiology, Huntington Hospital

Academic titles
Assistant Professor, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Education
State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo

Residencies
Montefiore Medical Center – Moses Division

Fellowships
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine

Bani M. Azari, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the founding Medical Director of the program for Cardiac Genetics, Genomics, and Precision Medicine at Northwell Health. Her clinical practice focuses on the diagnosis and management of individuals with inherited cardiovascular conditions.

Dr. Azari completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She then pursued an MD/PhD at SUNY Downstate, where she conducted her thesis research on “The Role of the Cellular Adhesion Molecule F11R/JAM-A in Atherosclerosis.” Her thesis was completed under the guidance of advisors Anna Babinska and Jonathan D. Marmur.

After completing her medical training, Dr. Azari underwent a residency at Mount Sinai-St Luke’s. She further pursued a fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, where she trained under the direction of Dr. Arya Mani, the director of the Yale Medicine Cardiovascular Genetics Program.

Dr. Azari’s primary research interests lie in the application of cardiac genetics in conjunction with cardiac imaging. She aims to improve access to cardiac genetic evaluation and remove barriers in this field.

Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery

Director of Aortic Surgery, Northwell Health

Senior Nurse Practitioner

Cardiovascular Surgery

Huntington Hospital

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist CT-ICU, Heart and Lung Transplant North Shore University Hospital Northwell Health

Board certifications
Internal Medicine – American Board of Internal Medicine
Cardiovascular Disease – American Board of IM / Cardiovascular Disease

Academic titles
Assistant Professor, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Assistant Professor, Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing

Education
New York University School of Medicine

Residencies
Brigham & Womens Hospital

Fellowships
Weill Cornell Medical College – New York Hospital

Ythan Goldberg, MD, FACC, FASE is the Director of Structural Echocardiography at Lenox Hill Hospital and Regional Director of Structural Echocardiography for the Western Region of Northwell Health, and is an Associate Professor in Cardiology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Goldberg earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Cornell University in 1997 and medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2001. He completed both his internal medicine residency and cardiovascular disease fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine – Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Goldberg’s clinical and research interests focus on the use of echocardiography modalities to evaluate valvular heart disease and guide structural heart interventions.

Central Region Director, Katz Institute Women’s Heart Program

Co-Director, Cardio-Obstetrics Program

North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center

Dr. Kliger completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Columbia University New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York. He went on to complete fellowships in Cardiovascular Medicine and Interventional Cardiology at New York University Medical Center, New York and Structural and Congenital Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute, New York.

Dr. Kliger is an Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery at Hofstra School of Medicine. He is currently the Director of Structural Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Heart and Lung, and Western Region Director and Director of Research, Structural Heart at Northwell Health. His clinical focus is interventional cardiology with expertise in cardiac catheterization, advanced invasive hemodynamics, structural heart disease, adult congenital heart disease and advanced interventional imaging specifically cardiac fusion imaging.

Joe F. Lau, MD, PhD, MBA is Associate Professor of Cardiology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Lau is attending cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist at Northwell Health, where he serves as the Director of Vascular Medicine and Medical Director of the Non-Invasive Vascular Laboratory. Dr. Lau received his B.A. from Columbia College, and his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He completed residency in Internal Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, andreturned to the Mount Sinai Hospital for his fellowship training in Cardiovascular Disease and sub-fellowship training as the Hertzberg Fellow in Vascular Medicine and Imaging.

Dr. Lau has an extensive clinical practice with research goals that focus on both cardiac and vascular diseases, while publishing and lecturing frequently within the field. He is Co-Editor of ‘Anticoagulation Therapy,’ a comprehensive textbook publish by Springer.

His clinical practice emphasizes on caring for patients with coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease. Dr. Lau also focuses on thrombotic disorders such as atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism (DVT/PE). He is involved with numerous clinical trials, observational studies, and investigator-initiated trials. His research interests include evaluating the mechanisms of vascular and thrombotic complications associated with cancer and cancer therapies. Dr. Lau is actively involved with national vascular medicine and cardiovascular societies, with recent leadership roles in both the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, for which he recently served as a member of the Scientific Sessions Program Committee and Peripheral Vascular Disease Section Leadership Council.

Dr. Lau is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Nuclear Cardiology, Echocardiography, Vascular Interpretation (RPVI), and Vascular Medicine (ABVM).

Jon Lawson is a cardiology Physician Assistant at Huntington Hospital specializing in advanced heart failure.  He is part of Northwell’s Telehealth inpatient consult pilot program.  Jon graduated from St. John’s University in 2013 with a Bachelors Degree in Physician Assistant studies.

From 2013-2017, He worked at Columbia University Medical Center as part of the Interventional CAridolgoy team, managing patient pre-and post-transcatheter procedures to include Cardiac Catheterization/PCI as well as Structural Heart, treating patients in early TAVR studies such as PARTNER II and SURTAVI as well as several other transcatheter mitral studies.

In 2017, Jon began working for Saint Francis Hospital’s Structural Heart team, opening their new heart valve clinic at Good Samaritan Hospital as well as overseeing the start of TAVR and MitraClip procedures.  He was later made lead ACP coordinator for Saint Francis Hospital, where he led the inpatient ACP team for patient post structural procedures, managed outpatient follow ups, and assisted with the outpatient structural clinic.  Jon left Saint Francis in August of 2022 to come to Huntington Hospital’s cardiology department, being the initial ACP in Northwell’s new Telehealth heart failure consultation program.  In addition, he has helped Huntington’s Interventional cardiology team with management of structural patients and cardiogenic shock patients.

Jon is a 14 year veteran of the United States Army, Serving 3 tours in Iraq.

Dr. Paul Maccaro is a Cardiac Electrophysiologist and joined Northwell Physician Partners (then North Shore Health System) in 1997. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of Cardiology and Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology for Huntington Hospital.  Dr. Maccaro performs a variety of Electrophysiology procedures for the treatment of patients with Arrhythmia including device implantation and catheter ablation. He is an active Investigator on numerous clinical trials.

Dr. Maccaro is Assistant Professor of Cardiology, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, a Fellow of the American College of Physician, and a Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society. He currently serves as president of the Medical Staff of Huntington Hospital. Dr. Maccaro serves as Chairman of the Northwell HealthIRB committee D.

Gregory Maniatis is an interventional cardiologist and the director of Structural Heart Disease at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital.  He earned his MD at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, then went on to complete internal medicine residency and fellowships in cardiology, interventional cardiology, and structural heart disease at Rutgers – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.  Dr. Maniatis joined the faculty at Staten Island Hospital after training and developed the structural heart program.  He performs coronary and structural heart interventions and maintains an inpatient and outpatient cardiology practice.  He is a native New Yorker and enjoys practicing in his home community.

Dr. Wally Omar is an Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine and an Interventional and Structural Cardiologist at South Shore University Hospital. He is a leader in Structural Heart Interventions, and has trained in the latest minimally invasive techniques. He has a passion for research and clinical trial design. Having been involved in several cutting-edge trials, he hopes to continue to bring the latest technologies to our patients at Northwell.

Dr. Pessel is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell and full-time Attending Physician in North Shore University Hospital’s Maternal – Fetal Medicine Division. In her roles as Co-Director of the CardioObstetrics Program in Northwell’s central region and Director of the Maternal – Fetal Medicine Preconception Consult practice, she aims to spread awareness about the unique management of pregnant women with heart disease along with the need to incorporate gender specific risk factors into women’s cardiovascular risk assessment and long term follow-up.

Stevan Pupovac, MD, is an adult cardiac surgeon in the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and performs a range of heart surgeries. He is certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He completed his integrated thoracic surgery residency at Northwell Health and his advanced aortic surgical fellowship at Yale New Haven Hospital. He specializes in the treatment of thoracic aortic disease such as aortic aneurysms and dissections, aortic valve surgery, advanced endovascular aortic surgery and coronary artery bypass surgery.

Dr. Bruce Rutkin is an Interventional Cardiologist and joined Northwell Physician Partners in 2007. He currently serves as the System Director of Structural Heart Disease for Northwell Health and is the Director of the Structural Heart Disease program at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY. Dr. Rutkin performs a variety of transcatheter procedures for the treatment of patients with aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve disease. He is an active Investigator on numerous landmark clinical trials evaluating minimally invasive, catheter-based treatments for patients with complex valvular heart disease.

Dr. Rutkin has served as faculty for numerous national meetings, both as a presenter and expert panel moderator in the structural heart sessions, and frequently lectures both locally and around the country in the field.  He was elected to the Structural Heart Disease Council for the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) in 2020. Dr. Rutkin has won numerous awards at Northwell Health and in the region for his excellence in teaching, clinical research, and patient care, most recently being named Physician of the Year at North Shore University Hospital (President’s Awards, 2020), named a Top Doctor in Interventional Cardiology (Newsday, selected by peer recognition, 2020 and 2021), and being nominated for P.I. of the Year (Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, 2019).

He earned a B.S. cum laude in Biology from Tufts University in 1994.  After completing his M.D. at SUNY Stony Brook, he completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at NYU Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital.  He came to Northwell in 2003 as a cardiology fellow, where he completed 3 years of general cardiology fellowship, serving as a Chief Fellow during the third year, and then completed an additional 4th year of fellowship in interventional cardiology. 

Dr. William Shi obtained his medical degree from the University of Melbourne in 2010 and completed his cardiac surgery training in Melbourne, obtaining board certification and Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 2020. He then went on to complete a cardiovascular surgery fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and an advanced valve surgery and transcatheter intervention fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During his training, Dr. Shi completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Melbourne investigating heart failure, obtaining a PhD in 2017. He remains an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Dr. Shi is a member of the cardiothoracic surgical team and will be adding to the depth and strength of the general cardiac surgery, structural heart disease, and endovascular surgery programs. He is an expert in advanced valve surgery and transcatheter intervention.

Dr. Supariwala is a Consultative and Non-invasive cardiologist who joined Northwell health in 2014, at Southshore University Hospital. He completed his training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology fellowship at St. Luke’s- Roosevelt Hospital, in New York City.   He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Echocardiography, Nuclear cardiology, Vascular Ultrasound, and Cardiac CT angiography.  Dr. Supariwala has a very busy outpatient office practice at 39 Brentwood Northwell health physician partners and consults inpatients at Southshore University Hospital.  He treats complex cardiac patients such as with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, amyloidosis, pulmonary hypertension, complex valvular heart disease and cardiomyopathy. He participates in reading multimodality imaging studies for Southshore University hospital and outpatient practice.  He is an expert in transesophageal echocardiography.  Dr. Supariwala serves as a Director of Structural Heart Imaging and provides expertise in procedures such as Transcatheter mitral and tricuspid repair, paravalvular leak, watchman, and aortic valve procedures.  He is currently developing the structural heart program by intra-cardiac echocardiography.  He has also served as Director of vascular ultrasound at Northwell health physician partners at Cardiology in Bay Shore and expanded the vascular imaging program.   

Dr. Supariwala loves to participate in research and innovation. He has numerous publications. He has been principal investigator in PI initiated research studies. Dr. Supariwala also participates and refers patients for advanced innovative therapies that are still at clinical investigative stage.   Dr. Supariwala actively participates in teaching and education. He is an Assistant Professor in Cardiology at Hofstra school, and often involved in teaching medical students, resident and fellows through lectures/presentations and conferences. 

Dr. Sarah Syed is an Assistant Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine and a Noninvasive Cardiologist at South Shore University Hospital. She received her medical education at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at Nassau University Medical Center and her fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Coney Island Hospital. She is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and nuclear cardiology. Her clinical practice focuses on general cardiology, and she has a special interest in preventive cardiology, cardio-obstetrics, and heart disease in women.

Bessy Thangavelu is a senior Nurse Practitioner with the Women’s Cardiology team at Northshore Manhasset. She is a proud NY resident who grew up in Hyderabad, India. She attended the world-renowned Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, India, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Her passion for teaching led her to be a clinical instructor for 1st and 2nd-year nursing students at the college. Shortly after immigrating to the USA, Bessy worked as an RN in the Labor and Delivery department at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital for over 10 years. She later attended Molloy College and obtained her Master of Science, MSN (Family Nurse Practitioner). Bessy has held several roles in acute and primary care and also served as an adjunct faculty at Molloy College. Over the years, Bessy found herself drawn toward cardiology and served as a Nurse Practitioner in adult Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology, where she specialized in rhythm disturbances troubleshooting pacemakers, defibrillators, and chronic resynchronization therapy, and managing acutely ill patients. 

Currently, Bessy is a Senior Nurse Practitioner at Northwell Health at both Manhasset and LIJ campuses managing high-risk cardio-OB patients.

When she’s not at the clinic, Bessy loves to spend time with her family and friends, holding active roles in her local community and church. Her hobbies include cooking, gardening, and taking long walks in the park.

MBA Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease

Director, High Risk Cardiovascular Obstetrics

Lenox Hill Hospital

Dr. Ronald Wharton is a member of the non-invasive section of the Department of Cardiology at North Shore University Hospital, which he joined in March 2019. He directs the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program. Prior to joining Northwell, he was on faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an Attending Physician at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx NY.

Dr. Wharton is a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences of Cornell University and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He completed his medical residency at Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY) and cardiology training at Maimonides Medical Center (Brooklyn, NY). He is board certified in Cardiovascular Disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine and Comprehensive Adult Echocardiography by the National Board of Echocardiography.