Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has expanded its Heart Institute medical team, adding three cardiologists and a cardiothoracic surgeon to its faculty roster led by Drs. Vaughn Starnes and Paul Kantor.

Drs. Darren Berman, Shuo (Sue) Wang, Molly Weisert and Luke Wiggins have all joined the institute.

“[The four] bring a diverse array of expertise and passion to their respective areas within the Heart Institute, including the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, Fetal Cardiology Program, Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program, and Cardiothoracic Surgery,” said Kantor, chief of the Division of Cardiology and co-director of the Heart Institute. “We could not be more confident that these new recruits will further bolster the Heart Institute’s capacity to deliver the best care possible to more pediatric patients in California.”

Berman has been named director of congenital interventional catheterization, leading CHLA’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab, which includes two suites and a host of advanced technologies, such as ultra-low radiation capabilities and rotational angiography with 3D imaging of the heart and vessels. He is an expert in percutaneous valve replacement procedures and an innovator in the field of pediatric interventional cardiology. He will oversee the expansion of the catheterization program while fostering innovative research and championing the translation of new devices and techniques into patient care.

Wang will join a specialized team of five fetal cardiology experts in CHLA’s growing Fetal Cardiology Program, led by Dr. Jay Pruetz. Annually, the program conducts more than 800 outpatient consultations and coordinates more than 150 high-risk deliveries with complex fetal heart disease. Wang is also a member of CHLA’s echocardiography lab, led by Dr. Pierre Wong.

Weisert will join the Heart Institute as a pediatric cardiologist with advanced training in heart failure, ventricular assist device technology and cardiac transplantation. She joins a team of five specialists with CHLA’s Heart Failure and Transplant Program. Led by Dr. Jondavid Menteer, CHLA’s growing transplant program conducted its first heart-liver transplant in 2021 and boasts 100% one-year and three-year post-transplant survival rates.

Wiggins is a cardiothoracic surgeon with expertise in neonatal cardiac surgery with specific research and clinical interest in pediatric valvular heart disease. He joins a team of seven congenital cardiac surgeons.