Mario J. Garcia, MD

Mario Jorge Garcia, MD, is Chief, Cardiology, Co-Director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care and Professor, Medicine and Radiology at Montefiore Einstein. Dr. Garcia’s clinical expertise includes the diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and pericardial disease.

After completing his Bachelor in Premedical Sciences at Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dr. Garcia continued at the institution to earn his Doctorate in Medicine in 1986. He completed a year as a physician assistant with the AIDS national research program at Laboratorio Nacional Dr. Defilló, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic before coming to the United States for further training. At St. Vincent’s Medical Center, he completed his internal medicine residency in 1990 and his cardiology fellowship in 1992. In 1993, he completed his cardiac nuclear imaging fellowship at Massachusests General Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, followed in 1994 by his advanced cardiac imaging fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Garcia’s research has focused on the validation of non-invasive imaging for the study of cardiac structure and function. He was a pioneer in the adaptation of multi-detector CT technology for coronary imaging. His research has been supported by extramural funding from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense, the American Society of Echocardiography, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association. He is the author or co-author of several books, book chapters and over 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is also a reviewer for several national and international medical journals including Journal of the American College of Cardiology, American Journal of Cardiology and Journal of the European Society of Cardiology.

Dr. Garcia is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, and is a member of several other professional societies. He has received recognition nationally and internationally for his many accomplishments, including the Feigenbaum Award of the American Society of Echocardiography (2004), the Inge Edler Award, Madrid, Spain (2001), and the David H. Jacobs Research Award of the American Heart Association, Northeast Ohio Affiliate (1997).