Heart Transplant

Our Experts

The heart transplant team consists of doctors, nurses, social workers and other professionals who meet weekly to focus on improving patient success. Team members review specific problems of patients on the waiting list and discuss managing patients who already have received transplants. Team members meet every day to visit patients who have just undergone transplantation.

Doctors

Cardiologists will examine you and review your medical history, electrocardiogram and echocardiogram. The cardiologist may recommend that you have a further study of your heart with a procedure called a cardiac catheterization. This procedure will be scheduled by Cardiology and may require an overnight stay in the hospital.

Other specialists may be brought in for people with other conditions. For example, persons with cystic fibrosis are required to consult with an ear, nose and throat specialist. If minor sinus surgery is required, a short hospital stay is arranged.

• Dr. Teresa De Marco, director of heart transplantation

• Dr. Thomas Sloane Guy, cardiothoracic surgeon

• Dr. Arthur C. Hill, cardiothoracic surgeon

• Dr. Charles W. Hoopes, director of heart and lung transplants

• Dr. Dana P McGlothlin, cardiologist

• Dr. J. Eduardo Rame, cardiologist

Other Experts

Several other team members conduct appropriate specialty evaluations when indicated and make recommendations to the team. These include but are not limited to the anesthesiologist, cardiologist, psychologist, intervention counselor, infectious disease specialist, hematologist and physical therapist.

Financial counselor performs financial screening that includes verifying insurance eligibility and benefits for transplant. The financial counselor also acts as the liaison between the Heart and Lung Transplant team and insurance provider.

Nikki Galin is a clinical social worker for the UCSF Heart and Lung Transplant Programs. She and social worker Martha Russell assess prospective transplant candidates from a psychosocial perspective. The assessment focuses on emotional, psychological, social, financial and logistical considerations. Once a patient is accepted for transplant, Galin and Russell are available throughout the treatment process to provide counseling and education to patients and their families to help cope with the stresses in adjusting to the transplant experience. She and Russell hold a monthly transplant support group. They also provide assistance to access social and community services and government entitlements, when available.

Joyce Lee is mainly involved with the care of patients while in the hospital recovering from transplantation. She assists in monitoring immunosuppressant drug levels and monitoring drug interactions. Lee helps teach patients and their families about their medication needs as they prepare for discharge and she orders the medications that will be needed. In addition, Lee attends monthly transplant support group meetings where she answers patients questions about medication.

As a clinical social worker for the UCSF Heart and Lung Transplant Programs, Martha Russell assesses prospective transplant candidates from a psychosocial perspective. This assessment focuses on emotional, psychological, social, financial and logistical considerations. Once a patient is accepted for transplant, Russell and social worker Nikki Galin provide counseling and education to patients and their families to help cope with the stresses of adjusting to the transplant experience. She and Galin hold a monthly transplant support group and provide assistance to assess social and community services and government entitlements, when available.