I have been a perfusionist for seventeen years, of which fifteen have been spent at Stanford Hospital and Stanford Children’s Health. I was instantly drawn to pediatric mechanical circulatory support during my clinical rotation at Lucile Packard Children’s in 2004. That same year, I was fortunate to have been involved with the first Berlin Heart implant at our institution. At the time, this represented the smallest patient (kg weight) to receive this device and be successfully bridged to a heart transplant in the United States. Mechanical circulatory support enthralled me with its potential.
I have been participating for several years in the education of perfusionists and ECMO specialists regarding cardiopulmonary bypass, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and mechanical circulatory support. Most recently, I contributed as one of the fifteen subject matter experts in the development of the ECMO Specialist Certification Exam for the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology. My past and current professional organization leadership positions include Perfusion Liaison to ELSO (2017-2021) and AmSECT Board of Directors, Zone 1 (2022).