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About
“When patients entrust us with their hearts, we honor that trust by listening closely, treating them like family and relentlessly pursuing solutions — especially when others have said there’s nothing more to offer.”
Every day, I have the privilege of helping patients during some of the most critical moments of their lives.
I’m an interventional and structural heart disease specialist with University Health. I serve as the Associate Director of the Structural Heart Disease Program and Director of Complex Coronary Interventions at University Health in San Antonio. I consider it an honor to care for individuals facing complex cardiac challenges. My journey into cardiology was fueled by a desire to make a lasting difference.
What drew me to cardiology is the unique opportunity to see the results of our work in real time. Whether opening a blocked artery or repairing a valve, the ability to change a life in a single moment continues to inspire me every day.
Philosophy of Care
My care begins with listening — not just to symptoms, but to fears, hopes and what truly matters to my patients.
When someone comes to me after being told “there’s nothing more to do,” I see that as a beginning — not an end.
I believe in pushing boundaries, thinking differently and never giving up. It’s not just about fixing a valve or opening an artery — it’s about restoring possibility and walking with each patient toward a future they thought they might not have.
Favorite Parts of Medicine
Building relationships: Earning the trust of patients and families
Offering hope: Helping people move forward when others have run out of options
Immediate impact: Seeing lives transformed through advanced cardiovascular care
Creative problem-solving: Using innovative techniques to treat complex conditions
Clinical Interests
I specialize in interventional and structural heart disease, with a focus on advanced procedures that restore heart function and improve quality of life. I’m especially passionate about caring for patients who have been told there are no options left.
My procedural expertise spans a broad range of state-of-the-art cardiovascular interventions, including:
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)
MitraClip and Tricuspid Clip for mitral and tricuspid valve repair
Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement (TTVR) using the Evoque system
Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) using Watchman and Amulet devices for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation
Leaflet modification techniques (e.g., BASILICA, LAMPOON) to facilitate safe and effective valve-in-valve procedures
Adult congenital heart interventions, including:
Percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement
Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) and Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) closure
High-risk coronary interventions, particularly:
Chronic Total Occlusions (CTO) using both antegrade and retrograde approaches
Complex PCI with mechanical support when needed
Aspiration and transcatheter management of infective endocarditis
Pulmonary embolism (PE) treatment:
Mechanical thrombectomy, with or without Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS)
Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) for cardiogenic shock and high-risk interventions:
ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation)
Impella
Intra-aortic balloon pump
Beyond procedures, I am actively involved in clinical trials and registries that aim to advance and personalize cardiovascular care. Current research involvement includes:
MITRAL II Trial: Evaluating advanced techniques in transcatheter mitral repair
CLEAR Registry: Optimizing outcomes in high-risk coronary interventions
Awards & Recognition
Best Structural Case, Cardiovascular Innovation Conference, Austin, TX (June 2025)
Appointed Member, SCAI Structural Heart Disease Council (April 2025)
Coauthor, American Heart Association Scientific Statement on Drug-Induced Arrhythmias (Circulation, Oct 2020)
Junior Investigator Recognition Award, Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)
Finalist, Northwestern Young Investigator Award (2017))
Finalist, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor Research Award, AHA (2016)
Finalist, Young Investigator Award, American College of Cardiology (2016)
Hobbies
Outside of medicine, I enjoy spending time with my wife and children, playing soccer, exploring San Antonio, traveling to experience new cultures and cuisines, and volunteering in community health initiatives
Personal Note
I’m grateful every day for the opportunity to help patients and their families. It’s an incredible responsibility — and one I approach with humility, purpose and heart.
Articles & Publications
Journal Articles
Tisdale JE, Chung MK, Campbell KB, Hammadah M, Joglar JA, Leclerc J, Rajagopalan B; American Heart Association Clinical Pharmacology Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology and Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing. Drug-Induced Arrhythmias: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020 Oct 13;142(15):e214-e233. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000905. Epub 2020 Sep 15. PMID: 32929996 Free article. Review.
Vaccarino V, Almuwaqqat Z, Kim JH, Hammadah M, Shah AJ, Ko YA, Elon L, Sullivan S, Shah A, Alkhoder A, Lima BB, Pearce B, Ward L, Kutner M, Hu Y, Lewis TT, Garcia EV, Nye J, Sheps DS, Raggi P, Bremner JD, Quyyumi AA. Association of Mental Stress-Induced Myocardial Ischemia With Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease. JAMA. 2021 Nov 9;326(18):1818-1828. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.17649. PMID: 34751708.
Vaccarino V, Sullivan S, Hammadah M, Wilmot K, Al Mheid I, Ramadan R, Elon L, Pimple PM, Garcia EV, Nye J, Shah AJ, Alkhoder A, Levantsevych O, Gay H, Obideen M, Huang M, Lewis TT, Bremner JD, Quyyumi AA, Raggi P. Mental Stress-Induced-Myocardial Ischemia in Young Patients With Recent Myocardial Infarction: Sex Differences and Mechanisms. Circulation. 2018 Feb 20;137(8):794-805. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.030849. PMID: 29459465 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
Hammadah M, Han BK, de Oliveira Nunes M, Aboulhosn JA, Zahn EM, Daniels MJ, Cavalcante JL, Lesser JR, Garcia S. Hypoattenuated Leaflet Thickening After Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement With the SAPIEN 3 Valve. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2021 Oct;14(10):2047-2048. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2021.04.023. Epub 2021 Jun 16.PMID: 34147444 .
Hammadah M, Ponce C, Sorajja P, Cavalcante JL, Garcia S, Gössl M.Clin Cardiol.. Point-of-care ultrasound: Closing guideline gaps in screening for valvular heart disease. 2020 Dec;43(12):1368-1375. doi: 10.1002/clc.23499. Epub 2020 Nov 11. PMID: 33174635.
Hammadah M, Samman Tahhan A, Mheid IA, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Kindya BR, Kelli HM, O'Neal WT, Sandesara P, Sullivan S, Almuwaqqat Z, Obideen M, Abdelhadi N, Alkhoder A, Pimple PM, Levantsevych O, Mohammed KH, Weng L, Sperling LS, Shah AJ, Sun YV, Pearce BD, Kutner M, Ward L, Bremner JD, Kim J, Waller EK, Raggi P, Sheps D, Vaccarino V, Quyyumi AA. Myocardial Ischemia and Mobilization of Circulating Progenitor Cells. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 Feb 20;7(4):e007504. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.117.007504. Epub 2018 Feb 10. PMID:31898922.
Hammadah M, Kim JH, Tahhan AS, Kindya B, Liu C, Ko YA, Al Mheid I, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Alkhoder A, Choudhary F, Gafeer MM, Abdelhadi N, Pimple P, Sandesara P, Lima BB, Shah AJ, Ward L, Kutner M, Bremner JD, Sheps DS, Raggi P, Sperling LS, Vaccarino V, Quyyumi AA. Use of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin for the Exclusion of Inducible Myocardial Ischemia: A Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 2018 Dec 4;169(11):751-760. doi: 10.7326/M18-0670. Epub 2018 Nov 6.PMID: 30398528.
Hammadah M, Kim JH, Al Mheid I, Samman Tahhan A, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Alkhoder A, Khayata M, Mekonnen G, Levantsevych O, Bouchi Y, Kaseer B, Choudhary F, Gafeer MM, Corrigan FE 3rd, Shah AJ, Ward L, Kutner M, Bremner JD, Sheps DS, Raggi P, Vaccarino V, Samady H, Mavromatis K, Quyyumi AA. Coronary and Peripheral Vasomotor Responses to Mental Stress. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 May 3;7(10):e008532. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.118.008532.PMID: 29728013.
Hammadah M, Sullivan S, Pearce B, Al Mheid I, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Tahhan AS, O'Neal WT, Obideen M, Alkhoder A, Abdelhadi N, Mohamed Kelli H, Ghafeer MM, Pimple P, Sandesara P, Shah AJ, Hosny KM, Ward L, Ko YA, Sun YV, Weng L, Kutner M, Bremner JD, Sheps DS, Esteves F, Raggi P, Vaccarino V, Quyyumi AA. Inflammatory response to mental stress and mental stress induced myocardial ischemia. Brain Behav Immun. 2018 Feb;68:90-97. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2017.10.004. Epub 2017 Oct 3.PMID: 28986223.
Hammadah M, Kindya BR, Allard-Ratick MP, Jazbeh S, Eapen D, Wilson Tang WH, Sperling L. Clin Cardiol. Navigating air travel and cardiovascular concerns: Is the sky the limit? 2017 Sep;40(9):660-666. doi: 10.1002/clc.22741. Epub 2017 Jun 8.PMID: 28597566.
Hammadah M, Alkhoder A, Al Mheid I, Wilmot K, Isakadze N, Abdulhadi N, Chou D, Obideen M, O'Neal WT, Sullivan S, Tahhan AS, Kelli HM, Ramadan R, Pimple P, Sandesara P, Shah AJ, Ward L, Ko YA, Sun Y, Uphoff I, Pearce B, Garcia EV, Kutner M, Bremner JD, Esteves F, Sheps DS, Raggi P, Vaccarino V, Quyyumi AA. Hemodynamic, catecholamine, vasomotor and vascular responses: Determinants of myocardial ischemia during mental stress. Int J Cardiol. 2017 Sep 15;243:47-53. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.05.093. Epub 2017 May 25.PMID: 28571621.
Hammadah M, Al Mheid I, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Alkhoder A, Obideen M, Abdelhadi N, Fang S, Ibeanu I, Pimple P, Mohamed Kelli H, Shah AJ, Pearce B, Sun Y, Garcia EV, Kutner M, Long Q, Ward L, Bremner JD, Esteves F, Raggi P, Sheps D, Vaccarino V, Quyyumi AA. Association Between High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin Levels and Myocardial Ischemia During Mental Stress and Conventional Stress. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2018 Apr;11(4):603-611. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2016.11.021. Epub 2017 Mar 15.PMID: 28330661.
Hammadah M, Kalogeropoulos AP, Georgiopoulou VV, Weber M, Wu Y, Hazen SL, Butler J, Tang WHW. High-density lipoprotein-associated paraoxonase-1 activity for prediction of adverse outcomes in outpatients with chronic heart failure. Eur J Heart Fail. 2017 Jun;19(6):748-755. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.777. Epub 2017 Feb 7.PMID: 28176482.
Hammadah M, Al Mheid I, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Shah AJ, Sun Y, Pearce B, Garcia EV, Kutner M, Bremner JD, Esteves F, Raggi P, Sheps DS, Vaccarino V, Quyyumi AA. The Mental Stress Ischemia Prognosis Study: Objectives, Study Design, and Prevalence of Inducible Ischemia. Psychosom Med. 2017 Apr;79(3):311-317. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000442.PMID: 28002382.
Hammadah M, Al Mheid I, Wilmot K, Ramadan R, Abdelhadi N, Alkhoder A, Obideen M, Pimple PM, Levantsevych O, Kelli HM, Shah A, Sun YV, Pearce B, Kutner M, Long Q, Ward L, Ko YA, Hosny Mohammed K, Lin J, Zhao J, Bremner JD, Kim J, Waller EK, Raggi P, Sheps D, Quyyumi AA, Vaccarino V. Telomere Shortening, Regenerative Capacity, and Cardiovascular Outcomes. Circ Res. 2017 Mar 31;120(7):1130-1138. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.309421. Epub 2016 Dec 12.PMID: 27956416.
Hammadah M, Brennan ML, Wu Y, Hazen SL, Tang WH. Usefulness of Relative Hypochromia in Risk Stratification for Nonanemic Patients With Chronic Heart Failure. Am J Cardiol. 2016 Apr 15;117(8):1299-304. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.01.023. Epub 2016 Jan 28.PMID: 26897638.
Hammadah M, Georgiopoulou VV, Kalogeropoulos AP, Weber M, Wang X, Samara MA, Wu Y, Butler J, Tang WH. Elevated Soluble Fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase-1 and Placental-Like Growth Factor Levels Are Associated With Development and Mortality Risk in Heart Failure. Circ Heart Fail. 2016 Jan;9(1):e002115. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.115.002115. Epub 2015 Dec 23.PMID: 26699385.
Hammadah M, Qintar M, Nissen SE, John JS, Alkharabsheh S, Mobolaji-Lawal M, Philip F, Uno K, Kataoka Y, Babb B, Poliszczuk R, Kapadia SR, Tuzcu EM, Schoenhagen P, Nicholls SJ, Puri R. Non-invasive volumetric assessment of aortic atheroma: a core laboratory validation using computed tomography angiography. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2016 Jan;32(1):121-9. doi: 10.1007/s10554-015-0674-2. Epub 2015 May 12.PMID: 25962864.
Hammadah M, Fan Y, Wu Y, Hazen SL, Tang WH. Prognostic value of elevated serum ceruloplasmin levels in patients with heart failure. J Card Fail. 2014 Dec;20(12):946-52. doi: 10.1016/j.cardfail.2014.08.001. Epub 2014 Aug 13.PMID: 25128745 .
