Francesca Nesta Delling, MD, MPH

Dr. Francesca Nesta Delling is a cardiologist with advanced training in echocardiography (heart ultrasound) and cardiac MRI, in which magnetic energy is used to take diagnostic pictures of the heart. She cares for patients with valvular heart disease, with a focus on mitral valve prolapse (when the valve between the heart's left chambers fails to close completely), cardiomyopathies (diseases of the heart muscle) and sudden cardiac death related to valvular disease. She also provides ultrasound guidance for catheter-based procedures (in which the heart is accessed by threading a catheter – a flexible, hollow tube – through a blood vessel), such as MitraClip, a minimally invasive treatment for leaky mitral valves.

Delling's research has focused on why some patients with valve disease progress to more severe stages and develop complications. Her investigations are based on genetic analysis and cardiac imaging techniques, such as echocardiography and cardiac MRI, and she collaborates with researchers across the U.S. and Europe, with funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Delling earned her medical degree from the University of Brescia in Italy. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Boston Medical Center, a fellowship in echocardiography at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She also has a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.