University of Virginia Health System

Personnel at the Atrial Fibrillation Center

• Physicians
• Mid-Level Providers
• Research/Data Coordinator
• Administrative Assistants
• Electrophysiology Fellows
• Lab Nurses
• EP/Device Nurses
  
• Lab Technicians

Physicians

Dr. Mangrum received his B.S. from Rhodes College in 1988 and his M.D. from the University of Tennessee, Memphis in 1993. His post-graduate training consisted of an Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Chicago from 1993-1996, and Cardiology and Electrophysiology Fellowships at the University of Virginia from 1996-2000. Dr. Mangrum is board certified in Internal Medicine (1996), Cardiovascular Disease (1999), and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology (2000). He joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 2000 and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Mangrum serves at the Director of the Electrophysiology Fellowship program and is the Director of the Atrial Fibrillation Center. His clinical and research interests include ablation strategies for atrial fibrillation.

 John P. DiMarco, MD, PhD

Dr. DiMarco earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology (1973) and his M.D. (1975) at Case Western Reserve University.  He subsequently trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital of Cleveland, and Cardiology and Electrophysiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.  In 1981, he moved to Virginia to establish the first EP Lab in the state.  He is currently the Beckwith Professor of Medicine, Director of the Electrophysiology Service and is Acting Chief for the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.   His research interest relates to clinical trials in arrhythmia.

J. Paul Mounsey, B.M., BCh, PhD

Dr. Paul Mounsey completed a PhD in Physiology at the University of London (UK) in 1983 and graduated in Medicine from Oxford University (UK) in 1987. He completed his Residency in Internal Medicine at the Oxford University Hospitals, and did his Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Northern Regional Cardiovascular Center, University of Newcastle upon Tyne(UK).  He completed his training in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Virginia (1993-1994), and joined the faculty at UVA in 1996.  Dr. Mounsey has been involved in the atrial fibrillation ablation program at UVA since its inception, and management of patients with atrial fibrillation has been is Dr. Mounsey’s main clinical interest.  Dr. Mounsey’s clinical research interests are dominated by new developments and innovative strategies for radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation.  Dr. Mounsey also maintains an interest in the molecular physiology of cardiac electrical excitability.

John D. Ferguson, MBChB, MD

Dr. Ferguson earned his degrees at the University of Cape Town in 1990. He did his Residency at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa and his Fellowship in Medicine and Cardiology at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England.  He completed his Fellowship in Electrophysiology at the University of Virginia in 2002. Dr. Ferguson joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 2002 and is Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Ferguson’s clinical interests are in cardiac electrophysiology, cardiac pacing, implantable defibrillators, biventricular pacing for heart failure, and ablation therapy. Research interests include ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation and electro-anatomical correlation to successful ablation.

Dr. Srijoy Mahapatra, MD

Dr. Srijoy Mahapatra received a SB in electrical engineering from MIT and his MD from Tufts University in Boston. He completed Internal Medicine Residency at Tufts and completed both this Cardiology and Electrophysiology fellowships at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.  He joined the faculty of the University of Virginia and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine as well as Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering.  His mentors have included Paul J Wang of Stanford and Douglas L Packer of the Mayo Clinic.  His clinical and research interests include ablation strategies for atrial fibrillation as well as for ventricular tachycardia.

 Dr. Randall Moorman, MD

Dr. Randall Moorman received his MD degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in 1978, and trained in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease at Duke University Hospital.  He has 20 years experience in basic and clinical studies of heart rhythm and its regulation in health and disease, and is Professor of Medicine and Physiology.  His clinical interest is in atrial fibrillation and other cardiac arrhythmias, and follow-up of patients with implanted devices.

Amanda Irons has been a certified physician assistant (PA-C) in the UVA Cardiology department since October of 2005.  She received her B.S. from James Madison University in 2001.  Her master's degree (MPAS) was completed at the University of Kentucky in 2005.  She is an active member of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA).  Amanda cares for patients within the Electrophysiology department as well as the Atrial Fibrillation Center.	Amanda Irons, MPAS, PA-C
Liza Prudente, ACNP-C	Liza Prudente has been an RN since 1986. She received her BSN from California University of Pennsylvania in 1998. She moved to Charlottesville in 1999 and joined the University of Virginia Health System and the Electrophysiology service.  She served as the coordinator of the device service (pacemakers and ICDs) and spear-headed the formation and development of the Device Clinic prior to joining the Atrial Fibrillation Center.  In 2003, she received her M.S. in nursing from the University of Virginia.  Ms. Prudente is a certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP-C) with a particular interest in patients with arrhythmias.
Ann M. Rossi received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Northeastern University in Boston Massachusetts in 1981.  In 1983 she moved to Charlottesville and began working as a RN on a general surgery unit at the University of Virginia. She organized the patient move into the current hospital in 1989.  She joined the Cardiology Division in 1991 serving as the manager of Echocardiography, Exercise Stress Testing, Nuclear Cardiology and Electrocardiology.  She completed her Master of Science in Nursing at UVA in 1993; and subsequent to that received her post graduate certification as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.  She currently works in Invasive Cardiology with a focus in Cardiac Catherization and Electrophysiology.	Ann M. Rossi, ACNP-C

 Administrative Assistants

Vicki Serrano

Vicki Serrano received her AA in Executive Secretarial Science at Harrisburg Area Community College in 1984.  She has over 25 years of administrative experience in state government, university, and the private sector.  Vicki joined the University of Virginia Health System in 2004.  She has special interests in office management strategies and quality assurance projects.

Sharon Dickerson received an AA from Interboro Institute for Court Reporting in New York City in 1974.  She has 32 years of secretarial experience, as well as experience with substitute teaching, transcription, and non-profit organizations.  Sharon began working for the University of Virginia Department of Cardiology Fellows clinic in 2002.  She was then offered a tech position, working for the EP, Device and Atrial Fibrillation Center clinics.  After working as a tech for 3 years, she began working for the Afib Center as an Administrative Assistant in March 2006.

Sharon Dickerson

Electrophysiology Fellows

Ashish Bhatia, MD and Pamela Mason, MD

Dr. Pamela Mason received a BA in Chemistry from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  She earned her MD degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1999.  She completed an Internal Medicine Residency (2001) and Cardiology Fellowship (2005) at the University of Virginia.  She is currently training in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Ashish Bhatia received his M.B.B.S. from University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency (2003) and Invasive Cardiology Fellowship (2006) at the State University of New York, Buffalo. His research involved studying electrophysiologic markers for sudden death in swines with hibernating myocardium. Since July 2006, Dr. Bhatia is undergoing training in Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Virginia.

EP Lab Nurses

Ken Allmon earned his BS (1987) and MS (1989) in Psychology from the University of West Florida.  He then received an MBA in 1992 from the same institution.  From 1992-2000 he was the Director, Mental Health Services for Southeast Georgia Regional Health System.  He then received his BSN from the University of Virginia School of Nursing in 2002.  He worked in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at the University of Virginia until joining the Electrophysiology Lab in 2004.

Cathy Balsley received her LPN degree from Valley Vocational Technical Center School of Nursing in 1990. At that time, she began working at Waynesboro Community Hospital (now known as Augusta Medical Center) in the Operating Room.  In 2003, Cathy graduated from Blue Ridge Community College as a Registered Nurse and soon began working for UVA in the Thoracic Cardiovascular Postoperative Critical Care Unit.  In 2006, she joined the Electrophysiology Lab.

James Choffel received his diploma in nursing from Jameson Hospital School of Nursing in 1999.  He began working in the Heart and Vascular Center at the University of Virginia in 2000 on the cardiac stepdown/post procedural unit known as 4 central. James joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2003 and in May of this year was promoted to EP lab Clinical Lead.

Russ Gallop earned a BS in Business Administration from Western New England College in 1971.  He then received a BSN from the University of Virginia School of Nursing in 1987.  From 1987-1992 he worked on the Cardiac Telemetry Unit at the University of Virginia.  He joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 1992.

Annette Kirtner graduated with her diploma in nursing from Daytona Beach Community College in 1988.  She was a traveling nurse for several years working in various critical settings including the SICU, CCU and CTU.  Most recently, Annette worked in procedural settings such as Special Procedure in the radiology department and the Cardiac Cath Lab.  She joined the Electrophysiology Lab at the University of Virginia in April 2005.

Neelye Kochanowicz received her diploma from Presbyterian School of Nursing in 2001.  For the next two years, she worked on a cardiology unit at Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte.  She joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2005.

Sue Lucas earned a BA in Biology at Mary Baldwin College in 1977. Afterwards she held a variety of positions in city/state government including voter registrar for the City of Charlottesville.  She later became a renal dialysis technician at the University of Virginia Kidney Center.  Sue then received a BSN from the University of Virginia School of Nursing in 2002. She joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2003.

Ellen Sposa-Morin earned her BS in Physical Education/Teaching at Montclair State College, and a MA in Physical Education/Exercise Physiology and an AAS in Nursing at Bergen Community College.  She then received her BSN from the University of Phoenix, San Diego. Ellen’s work experience includes: Cardiac Stepdown and Cardiac Cath Lab at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack New Jersey; and Intensive Care, Cardiac Cath Lab, Stress Testing and PACU at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas and Scripps Clinic, San Diego California. Ellen joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2004.

Libby Smith earned her BSN from the University of Virginia in May 2005. Prior to graduating, she completed her senior practicum in the Electrophysiology Lab.  Libby joined the EP Lab staff in June 2005.

EP Lab Technicians

Tad Adams graduated from the University of Virginia School of Radiology in 1991.   Afterwards he worked in Diagnostic Radiology for 12 years at the University of Virginia.  He has served as the X-ray technologist for the University of Virginia football team for 2 years.  Tad is BSL and ACLS certified and is a member of ASRT and VSRT.  He joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2003.

James W. Canty graduated from The University Hospitals of Cleveland Nursing Care Technology Program in 1983.  For 14 years James worked as a Patient Care Technician at University Hospitals of Cleveland.  In 1996 he relocated to Stanardsville, Virginia, and joined the University of Virginia Health System.  James has worked for the Heart Center for 10 years.  He is BLS certified and joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2004.

Dwayne T. Davis graduated from Roanoke Memorial Hospital School of Radiologic Technology in 1996.  He joined the University of Virginia Health System Department of Radiology in 1999, first as a Night Shift Tech, and was then promoted to the Night Shift Lead Tech.  He eventually joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2005.  Dwayne is BLS certified and is a member of the American Society of Radiologic Technology.

Scott Gillies graduated from Saint Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey in 1990.  Scott spent nine years working in the trauma center at Saint Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.  He moved to Charlottesville in 1999 and worked in the Radiology Department at the University of Virginia.  He joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2003.

Randall B. Leake graduated from the University of Virginia School of Radiologic Technology in 1977. He worked in the Diagnostic Radiology Department at the University of Virginia for 21 years. His experience includes diagnostics, cardiac catheterization, angiography, Q.Q., Q.I., and Radiology Manager. He then worked at Martha Jefferson Hospital Radiology Manager for 1 year prior to returning to the University of Virginia. He is BLS and ACLS certified and is currently preparing for his RCIS.  He joined the Electrophysiology Lab in 2000. 

Mario Castro, RN, received his A.A.S. in nursing from Piedmont Virginia Community College.  He has worked within the UVA Health System since that time.  His experience includes the Cardiac Cath Lab, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and Thoracic Cardio Vascular ICU.  He joined the Electrophysiology Department in July 2005.

Dorothy O’Halloran, BSN, RN graduated from the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Nursing.  Her nursing career has been focused on cardiovascular patients, particularly Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery patients at UVA, cardiac patients in the CCU, and Cardiac Step Down units at Mary Washington Hospital.  She joined the Electrophysiology Department in 2004 as a member of the Device Clinic team, and is the practice nurse for Dr. DiMarco. 

Mary Vaughn

Jennifer Woodruff, RN graduated from University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  She has been a registered nurse for the past 26 years. Her nursing experience includes critical care, emergency room, home health, and cardiac nursing.  Before Jennifer came to UVA 11 years ago, she worked in Pittsfield, MA, at Berkshire Medical Center, VNA of the Berkshires, and Hillcrest Hospital.  She has been a Device/EP practice nurse for the past 3 years.