Linda Bogar  Dr. Bogar earned her medical degree and completed her surgical and cardiothoracic transplant fellowships at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She later finished a cardiothoracic surgery residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Bogar has served on both regional and national committees for OPTN/UNOS and has published numerous publications.

Dr. Bogar brings 15 years of clinical and surgical experience besides expertise in complex and highrisk cardiac surgery along with a focus in heart and lung transplant and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Bogar is currently practicing at AdventHealth Orlando as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon. Her focus remains on heart and lung transplant, mechanical circulatory assist devices, and ECMO, along with high-risk coronary bypass surgery. Dr. Bogar is a current and active member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, and the American College of Cardiology.

April Stempien-Otero Dr. Stempien-Otero graduated from Dartmouth College and attended medical school at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia where she was selected as Chief Resident. She then attended cardiology fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine, completing as Chief Fellow and obtaining specialized clinical training in Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation. There she completed research fellowships in inflammation and myocardial biology prior to being appointed as faculty.

She is currently the Craig Tall Family Chair in Heart Failure Research and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Washington. As a physician-scientist, she conducts novel research in the mechanisms of advanced heart failure in subjects undergoing left ventricular assist implantation. These include studies of stem cell injections and novel pharmaceuticals to reverse inflammation and fibrosis.

Dr. Stempien-Otero has been listed as Best Doctor in America for over a decade and has been appointed to major committees of the American Heart Association and United Network for Organ Sharing.