Michael Castellanos

Michael’s Fellows presentation was entitled My In-Depth Study of Heart Failure. He spent several months studying this topic, acquiring impressive technical knowledge along the way, thanks in large part to his mentor, Dr. Nader Moazami. Dr. Moazami, the father of US student John-Shaw Moazami, is the Surgical Director of the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Moazami kindly arranged for Michael to spend the day with him at the hospital, and Michael had some profound experiences.

During his presentation, Michael explained how the heart functions, how and why if fails, and how doctors treat a failed heart. He then described two fascinating surgeries that he witnessed: an actual heart transplant, and the insertion of an lVAD device to fix an enlarged heart. In his story about the transplant, Michael spoke of hearts and lungs from a recently deceased person being brought to the Clinic in “coolers” just in time for transplantation. His descriptions of the sights, sounds and operating room procedures were fascinating.

Michael, your presentation was thorough, practiced and informative. Congratulations on becoming the first Center for Excellence Junior Research Fellow of the year!