James H Garvin, MD

Torsten P. Vahl, MD, is the Director of Translational Research and an attending physician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.Dr. Vahl is board-certified in interventional cardiology, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and internal medicine. He specializes in the percutaneous treatment of coronary artery disease and structural heart disease, including cardiac catheterization. His primary focus areas include transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement (TMVR), and left atrial appendage closure.Dr. Vahl is involved in preclinical and first-in-human studies through his work with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. He served as the national principal investigator for the ALIGN-AR trial, following his involvement in the device's preclinical research. He also proctors other interventional cardiologists on TAVR using the Trilogy valve and on TMVR with the Cephea valve. In the area of left atrial appendage closure, he has helped develop an intracardiac echo program that enables patients to undergo the procedure without general anesthesia or transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).Dr. Vahl earned his medical degree from Philipps-Universität in Marburg, Germany. He completed his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He then completed fellowships in interventional cardiology and structural interventional cardiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

For over 20 years Dr. Matushansky’s clinical practice has focused exclusively on the treatment and care of patients with sarcomas (i.e., cancers of musculoskeletal origins) and/or sarcoma related diseases. Dr. Matushansky earned a BA degree from Columbia College, Columbia University and MD & PhD degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He performed his internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and then completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology, as well as a post-doctoral research fellowship in Cancer Biology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Said S. Saab is an associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He is a native Spanish speaker, born and raised in Havana, Cuba until 1998 when his family immigrated to the United States. After completing his undergraduate degree at Emory University, Dr. Saab attended New York University School of Medicine and later completed his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a master of philosophy (M.Phil.) at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in the Health Professions at Johns Hopkins School of Education, where he is an adjunct faculty member of health professions education. Dr. Saab provides general obstetric and gynecologic clinical care. His research focus is medical student and resident education, with a particular interest in assessments and evaluations.