Richard Joseph Schroer, MD

Dr. Minoo Kavarana was born in Scotland and grew up in Bombay, India. He graduated from medical school in India in 1994. Following this he received post-graduate training in general surgery at New York Medical College. During this period he spent a year at Columbia University, New York as a heart transplant and ventricular assist device post-doctorate fellow. The time spent at Columbia helped him develop a strong interest in heart transplant and the surgical management of heart failure. Following this he received cardiothoracic surgery training at the Jewish Hospital, University of Louisville, Kentucky where they implanted the first implantable total artificial heart. During this time he continued to conduct research on novel concepts for pediatric cardiac assist, which included direct external cardiac compression devices, and developed a deep clinical and research interest in pediatric cardiac disease, pediatric cardiac assist and thoracic organ transplantation. Following this he completed a congenital heart surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with Dr. Edward L. Bove. In 2010, Dr. Kavarana joined the division of cardiothoracic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston as a pediatric and congenital heart surgeon alongside Dr. Scott Bradley. Working closely with the division of pediatric cardiology, they have produced outcomes equal to or better than the best centers in the world. Dr. Kavarana’s clinical interests include neonatal and infant heart surgery, adult congenital heart surgery, heart and lung transplant and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Kavarana is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, the American Heart Association and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is the author of multiple peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His research interests include the development of models of congenital heart disease and the field of pediatric mechanical support.

Dr. Varsha Bandisode graduated from the University of Georgia undergraduate program in 1991 and completed her medical school training at Mercer University School of Medicine in 1995. She went on to complete her pediatric residency training at Jackson Memorial Hospital at the University of Miami in 1998. She completed her training in pediatric cardiology and further specialized training in pediatric interventional catheterization at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2002. She joined the faculty at MUSC as an assistant professor in pediatric cardiology and was promoted to associate professor in 2010. She became the director of the Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Lab in 2005 and continues to advance the services of the catheterization lab in that role. Dr. Bandisode has advanced the care provided by MUSC's pediatric cardiac cath lab to include trans-catheter repair of ASDs, PDAs, and VSDs as well as other anomalies, trans-catheter enlargement of narrowed vessels including coarctation of the aorta, pulmonary artery stenosis, and narrowing of major veins, and trans-catheter replacement of pulmonary valves. Her interests lie in the care and treatment of all congenital heart disease in infants, children, and adults. She has special interests in diagnostic and interventional catheterization treatment of heart disease and other complex cardiac disease.

Dr. Scott Bradley is a native of Palo Alto, California. He graduated from Harvard University in 1980, and from Harvard Medical School in 1985. He received postgraduate training in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and spent two years as a research fellow in fetal and cardiovascular surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. He received cardiothoracic surgical training at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He then completed a fellowship in pediatric cardiac surgery with Dr. Edward Bove at the University of Michigan. In 1995 Dr. Bradley joined the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery as a pediatric and congenital heart surgeon. Since that time, he has worked closely with the Division of Pediatric Cardiology to produce congenital heart surgery outcomes equal to or better than those of the best centers in the world. MUSC belongs to the Children’s Heart Center of South Carolina, a statewide network of pediatric cardiologists providing coordinated care for all congenital heart patients in South Carolina. MUSC is the only congenital heart center in the state of South Carolina, and now performs 350 to 400 pediatric cardiac surgical cases per year. Dr. Bradley’s clinical interests include staged surgical palliation for single ventricle heart defects, including the Norwood procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, neonatal and infant heart surgery, surgery of the aortic arch, tetralogy of Fallot, the Ross procedure, aortic valve and mitral valve repair, and congenital heart surgery in adults. Dr. Bradley is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, and the American Surgical Association. He is the associate editor for Congenital Heart Surgery of Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and is on the editorial boards of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and Pediatric Cardiology. He serves on the congenital subsection of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Bradley has been elected by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America. In 2007 he was recognized by the Rotary Foundation as a Paul Harris Fellow, for his contributions to its Gift of Life Program.