Our Recent News
Watch ACTA PD Dr. Hayanga remark on what is special about WVU in a recruitment video for faculty:
Watch how WVU cardiac surgery and cardiac anesthesia are leading the way in robotic aortic valve replacement:
Welcome New Faculty!
2024-2025 Academic Year:
Dena Danji, MD, joined us from West Virginia University where she completed a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and a residency in Anesthesiology.
Matthew Lavallee, MD, joined us from the University of Michigan where he completed fellowships in Critical Care and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. Dr. Lavallee completed residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Virginia
2023-2024 Academic Year:
Jon Bond, DO, joined us from the University of Kentucky where he completed fellowships in Critical Care and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. Dr. Bond completed residency in Anesthesiology here at West Virginia University.
Mohamad El Churafa, DO, joined us from West Virginia University where he completed a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. Dr. El Churafa completed residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Florida.
Scott Heller, MD, joined us from Mayo Clinic where he completed a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. Dr. Heller completed residency in Anesthesiology at The University of Virginia.
Klint Smart, MD, joined us from New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center where he completed fellowships in Critical Care and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. Dr. Smart completed residency in Anesthesiology at Westchester Medical Center.
2022-2023 Academic Year:
Jessica Varga, DO, joined us from Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ. Dr. Varga completed residency in Anesthesiology at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, followed by a fellowship in Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ.
2020-2021 Academic Year:
WVU Department of Anesthesiology announces three new fellowship programs
The West Virginia University School of Medicine has received Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education approval of three new fellowships: acute pain medicine and regional anesthesia; adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology; and multidisciplinary pain.
Robert Johnstone, M.D., FASA, chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, said the fellowships address critical needs for West Virginia.
“These new programs help address two important health issues facing our state – high rates of heart disease and opioid abuse,” said Dr. Johnstone. “Receiving ACGME approval of these fellowships recognizes the national importance of the work we’re doing at WVU.”
The adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship provides two positions per year, starting July 1.
“We are committed to building a fellowship program that produces competent, thoughtful cardiac anesthesiologists who are proficient in advanced perioperative transesophageal echocardiography,” said Heather Hayanga, M.D., M.P.H., FASA, FASE, associate professor of anesthesiology and fellowship director.
The fellowship trains doctors in anesthesia for cardiovascular patients with an array of heart-related procedures, from minimally invasive to full transplant.
Matthew Ellison, M.D., M.M.M., FASA, FASE, an associate professor and director of the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Anesthesiology in the Department of Anesthesiology will also work with the fellowship program.
“WVU has the only anesthesiology residency in the state and now has the only adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship. We have a responsibility to guarantee the quality of our graduates and we are uniquely positioned to provide the highest standard of instruction in cardiac anesthesiology through a wide breadth of exposure in clinical and outcomes research,” said Ellison.