A pioneer in groundbreaking procedures for neonates and premature infants
Globally recognized pediatric interventional cardiologist Dr. Shyam Sathanandam has joined Nicklaus Children’s Hospital as chief of cardiovascular medicine and co-director of the renowned Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute. In this role, he will contribute to the hospital’s national leadership in care of children with congenital heart disorders. Nicklaus Children’s is consistently ranked among the nation’s best in pediatric cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News and World Report and is currently the only South Florida program included in the publication’s 2024-25 “Best Children’s Hospitals” listing.
Dr. Sathanandam brings to Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute extensive experience in pediatric cardiology and interventional catheterization. He served since 2017 as the director of the catheterization lab at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. During this tenure, he was instrumental in strengthening the Pediatric Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology Program and also launched the International PDA Symposium in 2018, the first multispecialty global conference dedicated to advancing the management of PDA in preterm newborns.
“It is an honor to join the renowned team at Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute,” says Dr. Shyam Sathanandam, chief of cardiovascular medicine and co-director of the Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute. “My vision is to work alongside the trailblazers and innovators already here to make our Heart Institute the number one destination for tailored, specialized cardiovascular care for neonates and infants born with congenital heart defects.”
Dr. Sathanandam is a leader in pediatric cardiology research and has served as principal investigator on numerous national clinical trials, several of which have resulted in FDA approval of life-saving devices for newborns and infants. He has pioneered groundbreaking procedures, including bedside transcatheter PDA closure in extremely premature infants in the NICU, pulmonary flow reduction in neonates with complex congenital heart disease, and stent therapies for infants. He is also at the forefront of interventional cardiac MRI, lymphatic imaging and interventions, and the integration of virtual and augmented reality in cardiac interventional procedures. Dr. Sathanandam’s contributions have earned him numerous national and international awards. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, contributed chapters to medical textbooks and presented at leading conferences worldwide.
In his role as chief of cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Sathanandam provides medical leadership and oversees all clinical, operational and quality activities for the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine. As co-director of the Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute, he shares responsibility for setting strategy and overseeing all clinical care, quality metrics, teaching, research and fiscal planning for the program.
Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute is a leader in interventional and surgical care for children with congenital heart disease. Since 2018, the program has sustained 97.5 percent survival rate for its heart surgery program, making it one of the best-performing in the state and the leading program in South Florida.