Northwell Health names Dr. Ali Dodge-Khatami as chief of pediatric and congenital heart surgery
Dr. Ali Dodge-Khatami has been named Northwell's new chief of pediatric and congenital heart surgery. Credit: Northwell Health
Northwell Health has named Dr. Ali Dodge-Khatami its new system chief of pediatric and congenital heart surgery at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
Before joining Northwell, Dodge-Khatami served as the director of cardiac surgery at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
He had also served as director of neonatal cardiac surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center from 2013 to 2018 and the head of congenital heart program in Hamburg, Germany, from 2008 to 2012.
"My role here will be to provide the pediatric heart aspect of pediatric care," Dodge-Khatami said. "We want to be become the New York region's premier referral center for kids with heart disease."
He added that Northwell plans to perform minimally invasive repair of congenital heart defects, such as closure of holes between the pumping chambers in the heart, through small cosmetic incisions hidden under the right arm.
At his new role at Northwell, Dodge-Khatami will also focus on the repair of complex defects in newborns, such as the transposition of the great arteries and hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
The transposing of the arteries changes the way blood circulates through the body, and leaves a shortage of oxygen in blood flowing from the heart to the rest of the body. The defect is usually detected early, however, and Dodge-Khatami said it's curable with excellent results leading to a normal heart and lifestyle for the growing child.
“Given Dr. Dodge-Khatami’s international presence and experience, his arrival surely takes us to the next level of excellence in pediatric and neonatal cardiac services, a destination for our patients in the region and at a national and international level.” said Dr. Charles Schleien, senior vice president and chair of pediatric services at Northwell Health.
Dodge-Khatami earned his medical degree from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, with PhD degrees from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the University of Zurich in Switzerland.
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