Cardiovascular Disease and Pregnancy Program

Dr. DeFaria focus is in Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) and pregnancy, pulmonary hypertension and other structural and valvular heart conditions in pregnancy. Her research has focused on evaluating at exercise and ventricular reserve among congenital heart patients and among women with peripartum cardiomyopathy, including echocardiographic findings and outcomes of abnormality ventricular reserve. She has written numerous reviews in ACHD and pregnancy, including mechanisms of heart failure in pregnancy as well as the highest risk cardiovascular conditions in pregnancy. Other academic focus is in education around cardiovascular disease in pregnancy.

Dr. Honigberg is a cardiologist-investigator whose research program focuses on improving mechanistic understanding and clinical actionability of sex-specific cardiovascular disease risk factors in women using a broad range of methodologies and collaborative science. He is currently the Principal Investigator of studies examining the acute cardiovascular effects of pregnancy and preeclampsia on the maternal cardiovascular system, the interplay between social determinants of health and pregnancy in influencing long-term hypertension risk and novel mechanisms of accelerated cardiovascular disease in women with early age of menopause. His goal is to leverage insights from these studies to enable “precision cardiovascular prevention” for women.

Dr. Lau is a cardiologist and investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Masters in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she also served as Chief Medical Resident. She subsequently completed cardiovascular disease fellowship and advanced echocardiography training at Mass General. She is board certified in cardiology, echocardiography and internal medicine. Dr. Lau specializes in women's cardiovascular health, general cardiology and echocardiography. Her research focuses on understanding how biologic sex differences and female-specific risk factors including adverse pregnancy outcomes contribute to heart disease.

Dr. Learn’s clinical and research focus on the care of adults with congenital heart disease. He has particular interests in echocardiography, maternal CHD in pregnancy, quality improvement and the transition from pediatric to adult care.

Dr. Sarma is co-director of the Cardiovascular Disease in Pregnancy Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital and her clinical practice has inspired her to investigate innovations in clinical care, especially for pregnant and postpartum patients who often experience barriers to receiving in-person care. In collaboration with colleagues in Maternal Fetal Medicine, she studies mechanisms to integrate digital health strategies into postpartum clinical care in order to improve maternal outcomes and reduce disparities. In addition, her interests center on the management of cardiovascular disease in pregnancy and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Her ongoing research projects include:

• A clinical trial of virtual cardiac rehabilitation among patients with postpartum hypertension (NCT04998942) for which she is the principal investigator and received the 2020 Department of Medicine Innovation Grant.
• A multidisciplinary randomized control trial of a virtually delivered algorithm for postpartum hypertension management among patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, for which she is a co-investigator with Dr. Ilona Goldfarb (Maternal Fetal Medicine) and which is supported by the CRICO Patient Safety Award.
• A multi-site effort to develop the first U.S. based prospective registry of cardiovascular disease in pregnancy (the HOPE Study, in collaboration with Saint Luke’s Hospital).
• A study recently funded by the American Heart Association Go Red for Women (2022) Grant that will study the hypothesis that pregnancy unmasks both medical and health-related social risks that each contribute to hypertension and future cardiovascular disease in Black and Hispanic individuals of child-bearing age, for which she is a co-investigator, and which is led by Dr. Michael Honigberg.

On a national level, Dr. Sarma has previously served on the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Women In Cardiology leadership council and will be serving on the ACC Cardiovascular Disease in Women leadership council starting in 2023.

Dr. Sarma is excited by the opportunities to advance the care of pregnant patients with cardiovascular disease through the multidisciplinary clinical program as well as collaborative research projects.

Dr. Scott’s is currently working to build a multicenter U.S. Pregnancy Registry with the goals of informing on best practice for the management of pregnant women in America. She is also an investigator in the multicenter REBIRTH study—evaluating the use of bromocriptine in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy. Alongside co investigators, she is evaluating microvascular coronary function in women with severe spectrum preeclampsia and is an investigator in the U.S. national iSCAD registry—enrolling patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection. In 2020, she was awarded the Massachusetts Medical Society Women’s Health Research Award.

Dr. Stefanescu Schmidt is an Adult Congenital Heart Disease specialist and Interventional Cardiologist. Her clinical practice and research focus on interventions to increase quality of life and longevity of adults with congenital heart disease. Her interests include interventions to optimize cardiovascular health prior to pregnancy, as well as diagnostic and interventional procedures during pregnancy. She obtained research training through a Master's in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health and has participated and led single and multi-center clinical studies.