Mission
Statement
Advisory Board members
Jon George, MD
Interventional Cardiologist - President ACVC
Dr. Jon C. George, completed his medical training at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio; Internal Medicine residency and Cardiovascular Disease fellowship training at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio; and Interventional Cardiology and Endovascular Medicine subspecialty fellowship training at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He serves as Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Director of Interventional Research at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed journals, book chapters, and textbooks, and serves as a reviewer and editorial board member for multiple journals. He is also Editor of the top-selling Evidence-Based Guide to Interventional Cardiology and Endovascular Medicine. In addition, he has received numerous honors and awards for his contributions to research and clinical cardiology including Top Doc recognition in Philadelphia in several consecutive years.
Sahil Banka, MD
Interventional Cardiologist - Einstein Medical Center
Dr. Sahil Banka, is native Philadelphian and an interventional cardiologist. Currently, he practices at Einstein Cardiology Associates. Dr. Banka completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his medical degree from Howard University. He went on to complete a residency in internal medicine at Washington University, St. Louis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Subsequently, he completed fellowships in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease at Drexel University, Hahnemann Hospital. Dr. Banka is certified in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. His interests include CHIP PCI, coronary CTO PCI, peripheral vascular interventions and using novel technologies in the interventional space to improve outcomes. He enjoys training fellows, teaching and learning percutaneous techniques.
Tai Kobayashi, MD
Interventional Cardiologist - Hospital of University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Tai Kobayashi, is an interventional cardiologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his medical degree from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He then completed his general cardiovascular fellowship and interventional cardiology fellowship at the Hospital of the university of Pennsylvania. His clinical and research interests include advanced coronary artery disease including left main coronary artery disease, coronary imaging, complete total occlusions in the coronary arteries, high risk coronary interventions requiring percutaneous ventricular assist devices, advanced treatment options for pulmonary embolism, renal denervation for refractory hypertension and TAVR. He is also a Lieutenant Commander in the Medical Corps for the US Navy Reserve.
Vladimir Lakhter, DO
Interventional Cardiologist - Temple University Hospital
Dr. Vladimir Lakhter, received his medical degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. He went on to complete the internal medicine residency, general cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowships at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. After Temple, he went on to do a one-year Vascular Medicine and Endovascular Intervention fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Lakhter is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Temple University Hospital in the subsection of Interventional Cardiology. His research interests include endovascular management of acute and chronic venous thromboembolic disease.
Nicholas Ruggerio, MD
Interventional Cardiologist - Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Dr. Nicholas J. Ruggiero II, was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He graduated summa cum laude from King’s College in Wilkes Barre, PA majoring in Biology and minoring in Molecular Genetics. He then attended Jefferson Medical College where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and served an extra year as chief medical resident. He completed his fellowship in Cardiovascular Diseases at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He then completed 2 additional fellowships at the Massachusetts General Hospital studying interventional coronary and structural cardiology and vascular medicine and interventions. While there served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School as an instructor in the cardiac catheterization lab. Upon finishing his fellowships, he was awarded the Gregory P. Braden Memorial award, given to the top graduating interventional cardiology fellow in the country from the Society of Coronary Angiography and Intervention and the CRT Young Leaders Award. He was recruited back to Jefferson to begin his own section as the Director of Structural Heart Disease and Non-coronary interventions. During his tenure, he has developed the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) program, Mitraclip program and left atrial appendage occlusion (Watchman) program, He serves as the Director of the Jefferson Heart Institute vascular laboratory, Associate Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Associate Program Director of the Cardiology fellowship. He has published over 50 peer reviewed papers, authored numerous book chapters and abstracts, edited multiple textbooks, delivered multiple lectures at national and international meetings, served on many national and international committees and is on the editorial board of multiple journals. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiology, and interventional cardiology. He is a fellow of many medical societies and is currently at the rank of Associate Professor at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College. He is an active researcher and is considered a national thought leader in structural heart disease and peripheral vascular interventions. He is currently the President of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College Alumni Association.
Vincent Varghese, DO
Interventional Cardiologist - Deborah Heart and Lung Center
Dr. Vincent Varghese, is an Interventional Cardiologist at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in New Jersey. He is the Director of the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program, which trains 4 fellows per year. He specializes in complex coronary intervention, endovascular medicine, and structural heart interventions. He has been the principal investigator and co-investigator of numerous clinical trials.
Cardiology Fellowship Programs
Cardiology Fellows
Interventional Cardiologists
Years of Cumulative Interventional Experience
Years of Established ACVC History
As I reflect on my Interventional Cardiology fellowship, I appreciate how critical it is to attend local educational meetings to stay up to date in practice. I particularly enjoyed attending the Philly Angio Club as a fellow because it served as a helpful platform for me to network with local clinicians and gain confidence to approach challenging cases that I may encounter. I would feel comfortable to ask any clinical questions and never walked away feeling judged or embarrassed.
Attending regularly as a fellow, the Philly Angio Club gave me an opportunity to interact and network with fellows from other programs and learn from the great depth and wealth of attendings across the greater Philly area with the added bonus of free drinks and food and Philly finest dining scenes.
Angio club in Philly has been an excellent place to meet other fellow colleagues and share interesting cases. Interaction with faculty from other institutions in the greater Philadelphia area has also been rewarding. The monthly meetings have discussed recent guidelines, innovations and late-breaking clinical trials from recent interventional cardiology conferences. A truly memorable and cherished experience.
Angio Club in Philly is a unique unbiased experience to sit down with your colleagues and fellows in training to share your complex, challenging, and interesting cases in a non-formal environment. This forum allows you to stay well informed in the field of interventional cardiology.”
The shared, complex, case-based, angiography discussions of the Greater Philadelphia Angio Club were paramount to my learning experiences as a young Structural Interventional Cardiologist joining a large private practice in Arizona who had to build a program. The experience with GPAC was so rewarding that I started an Angio Club in Tucson (TAC), now it is the entire Southwest (SWAC). Dr. George has allowed us to engender a spirit of continued learning of real-world management of complex coronary and endovascular procedures
Relaxed yet most informative short term learning platform. Provided enriching interaction with faculty and peers from multiple institutions bringing together a holistic experience to my interventional cardiology training,
I have always looked forward to these evenings! A meeting of minds and friends. Learn plenty from various operator experiences, pathology, and techniques in a fun atmosphere!
Angio Club is a place where I went to grow my knowledge and skill set. You are able to discuss a challenge faced by one interventionalist in the lab and in one live forum hear how ten other experts would handle that situation. It was a place where I learned the thought process and approach of the great minds that the Philadelphia healthcare market has to offer
I first started attending Greater Philadelphia Angio Club as an interventional cardiology fellow. The monthly meeting offers a chance to showcase our work and participate in valuable discussions, through which I built professional relationships with other fellows and local experts
Angio club in Philly has been an excellent place to meet other fellow colleagues and share interesting cases. Interaction with faculty from other institutions in the greater Philadelphia area has also been rewarding. The monthly meetings have discussed recent guidelines, innovations and late-breaking clinical trials from recent interventional cardiology conferences. A truly memorable and cherished experience.
