Chris
is originally from California, and grew up in the Bay Area. After
completing his undergraduate degree at UC Davis in 2007, he moved to Spain and
worked as an English teacher. He later moved to Costa Rica, where he met
his wife Alyssa. He went to medical school at Jefferson in Philadelphia,
then completed residency at Stanford prior to moving to Colorado for cardiology
fellowship. Chris is currently undifferentiated with regards to his
career interests, but has strong inclinations towards heart failjre and
transplant medicine. In his spare time Chris enjoys surfing, snowboarding,
hiking, fishing, and hanging out with his baby boy. He is an big fan of
football and basketball, and loves spending time watching his hometown teams -
the Raiders and Warriors.
 Lukasz Cerbin
Luke was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. He attended undergrad at
Indiana University in Bloomington where he studied biology and neuroscience. He
then moved to Chicago for medical school at Northwestern University and
subsequently matched into internal medicine residency at Duke University in Durham
NC. There he fell in love with academic cardiology and advanced heart failure,
which is his current career plan. He is interested in clinical heart failure
research, particularly regarding decisions about advanced therapies, organ
allocation for transplantation, and optimization of guideline directed medical
therapy in patients with advanced heart failure. Outside of the hospital, Luke
enjoys the great outdoors, indie music/films, and traveling.
 Daniel Huck
Dan was born in
Denver and raised in Littleton, Colorado. He studied physics and software
engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He moved away from Colorado
for medical school at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and internal
medicine residency at Albert Einstein/Montefiore in the Bronx, NY. During
his time away from Colorado he also worked for the NIH, served in AmeriCorps as
a community health volunteer, completed an MPH, and lived in Uganda. He
is excited to be back in his home state of Colorado for fellowship. He is
currently interested in preventive and noninvasive cardiology but is keeping an
open mind. He has previously researched the accelerated atherosclerotic
and vascular disease of those living with HIV. Outside of work, he is an
avid traveler and enjoys running, Ultimate frisbee, sailing, skiing and the
outdoors.
 Stephen Matthews
Stephen
was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. He is the youngest of 4 children. He
received his B.A while studying Physiology and Neuroscience from the University
of Colorado - Boulder (Go Buffaloes!). He then moved to NY to complete a year
of service as a patient advocate at Open Door Medical Center through
AmeriCorps. He then went on to get his MD at New York Medical
College and completed his internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian
- Columbia. He is extremely excited to move back to the Rocky Mountains and is an
avid sports fan - alliances to the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers,
Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers. He also loves the outdoors, and has been extremely
fortunately to do a lot of international travel.
 Stanley Swat
Stanley
received his undergraduate degree from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
and attended medical school at Rush Medical College. He completed internal
medicine residency at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University in
Chicago. His clinical and research interests are in heart failure: myocardial
recovery, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and biomarker
utilization. Outside of work, he enjoys exploring new restaurants, outdoor
activities, and spending time with his wife. His clinical interest is Advanced Heart Failure and his research interests are Myocardial recovery, Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, Biomarker utilization.
Charley was
born and raised in South Denver. He attended college at Colgate University in
upstate New York where he majored in molecular biology. Wanting to pursue
research after graduation, he worked at the NIH in Bethesda, within the
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute through the post baccalaureate IRTA
fellowship. Charley returned home for medical school where he attended the
University of Colorado School of Medicine. He stayed at University of Colorado
for internal medicine training and as a chief resident. During residency, he
continued research, studying genetic causes of cardiomyopathy which he plans to
pursue in fellowship. Outside of the hospital and the laboratory, Charley
spends as much time as possible climbing mountains, cycling, and skiing with
his wife Nina.
 Usman Akhtar
Usman grew up in Connecticut, but
also lived in Canada and all over the Midwest and South as well. He
attended college at New York University where he majored in
biochemistry, was an Organic Chemistry teaching assistant, and a MCAT
instructor for the Princeton Review. He attended medical school at
Washington University St Louis School of Medicine where he became interested in
pursuing a career in Cardiology. He completed his internal medicine training at
the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine where he pursued
research in visceral adiposity and its associated cardiometabolic
risk. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys bouldering, cycling and
travelling.
 Ryan Cotter
Ryan was a
military brat and has lived in 14 places in the US and Germany. Having
been all over the country he experienced first hand that Colorado is the best
place to live, so decided to move here for residency and stay for fellowship.
His favorite parts of living here are the year-round outdoor activities
(skiing, hiking, camping), the approachable and supportive faculty, and having
access to all a big city has to offer without being stuck in a metropolis (he
moved here from Manhattan).
 Aaron Emmons
 Justin Morrison
 Steve Simon
Steve grew up in
Denver, CO prior to attending Cornell University, where he studied Economics.
He moved back home to attend medical school at the University of Colorado. He
then returned to the east coast for internal medicine residency and chief
residency at Boston University Medical Center. His professional interests
include sports and preventive cardiology as well as medical education. In his
free time, he takes advantage of all Colorado has to offer by getting outside
and escaping to the mountains with his wife and toddler.
 Aaron Strobel
Aaron
is an Arkansas native and earned his undergraduate degree in Biological
Engineering from the University of Arkansas. He attended medical school at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and then moved west and completed
residency and a chief resident year in Internal Medicine at the University
of Colorado. Aaron enjoyed his time in Colorado and decided to continue
his training in cardiology at the University of Colorado. He is currently
pursing research in peripheral artery disease interventions and
outcomes. Aaron and his wife welcomed their first child,
Everleigh, during his first year of fellowship. He enjoys
spending time with his family and friends doing outdoors activities, drinking
local Colorado beers, and spending time in the mountains.
 Minakshi
Biswas
Minakshi
was born and raised on the East Coast, spending most of her time in
Massachusetts. She completed her undergraduate training at Wellesley College,
followed by medical school and MedPeds residency at the University of
Massachusetts, before traveling to Colorado for general cardiology
training. In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her husband and
Greyhound (named Dobby), enjoying the outdoorsy Colorado
lifestyle, singing (mostly in the car!), and nature photography.

Yonatan
Bitton-Faiwiszewski
 Shu Chang
 Jennifer
Jarvie - Current Chief Fellow
Jen is a small-town girl
who attended Colorado State University and the University of Colorado School of
Medicine. During medical school, she developed a passion for prevention
and research and was fortunate to spend a year as a Sarnoff Fellow researching
cardiovascular disease prevention in women at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital
in Boston. She went on to complete her residency in Internal Medicine at
the University of California, San Francisco where she stayed on as faculty
before returning to Colorado to complete her Cardiology Fellowship with
combined Master of Science Degree. She is in her final year of training
as a non-invasive cardiologist interested in prevention and how obstetric
complications impact a woman’s future cardiovascular risk. When she’s not
working, Jen likes to explore Denver, travel, or escape to the mountains with
her husband and two children.

Erin McGuinn
 Kundai
Tanganyika
 James Monaco
 Suneet Purohit
Suneet received his undergraduate and
medical degrees from Boston University. He completed his medical internship and
residency at the University of Washington. His clinical interests include
advanced heart failure and echocardiography which led him to pursue a
fellowship in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation. He
and his wife live in Denver and enjoy all that Colorado has to offer with
skiing, hiking, and being outdoors.
 Rory Bricker
 Aken Desai
Aken was born and raised in the Detroit area. He then went
to the University of Michigan, where he graduated from the Ross School of
Business (BBA) in 2007, the Medical School (MD) in 2011 and Internal Medicine
residency in 2014. He then moved to Pittsburgh for his General Cardiology
fellowship from 2014-2017, followed by his Interventional Cardiology fellowship
at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI from 2017-2018. He briefly
thought he would become an investment banker but came to his senses when a
business school project had him working in a hospital. He is a die-hard
Michigan fan and also likes to pretend he enjoys playing golf (poorly). He is
very excited to spend a year in Denver and hopefully getting a chance to learn
how to ski and take advantage of all the trails and hikes (as well as going to
the breweries after said activities).
 Blake Fleeman
Blake
is originally from near Chicago. He first came to the University of
Colorado for internal medicine residency, before returning to Chicago for his
cardiology fellowship. However, after being here once, he realized he couldn't
stay away and moved back to Colorado again, this
time for electrophysiology fellowship. While not ablating, Blake
spends his time snowboarding, hiking, writing music and playing guitar,
competing in obstacle course races, and playing obscure video games. He
lives with his wife and son near city park.
\ Nicolas
Mantini
 Brian Miller
 Alexis Tumolo
 Andy Levy
Andy
moved to Colorado with his wife & 2 kiddos after living and training
in Chicago for 7 years. He is currently a 4th year "super fellow"
enjoying the research life on a T32 NIH grant and plans to
pursue an academic career in General Cardiology when he finishes
fellowship. One of the things he likes best about our program is that even
if you have non-traditional interests, you can carve a niche for yourself here.
His favorite aspects of living in Colorado are the beautiful landscapes
within an hour, the beer scene (!) and, of course, the mountains/skiing. He
lives in Stapleton, which is an awesome neighborhood to raise little kids.
After three years living in CO, he’s most surprised that he likes the summers
more than the winters. Bears / Cubs for life.
 Fahad
Younas
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