Shashank S. Desai MD, MBA

Dr. Desai is the medical director of the Heart Failure/Transplant Program at Inova Heart and Vascular Institute at Inova Fairfax Hospital. He is specialty board certified in heart failure and heart transplant cardiology. He was recruited to Inova Fairfax Hospital in 2006 to guide the 31-year-old heart transplant program. He was recruited from his position as an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His clinical and research expertise encompasses the management of end-stage heart failure with therapies such as heart transplantation and mechanical cardiac support devices. He heads a multidisciplinary team of clinicians to manage complex heart failure at Inova Fairfax Hospital including cardiac surgeons, infectious disease physicians, nephrologists, pulmonologists, intensivists, nutritionists, pharmacists, nurses, and social workers. In the metropolitan Washington D.C. area, he has developed a clinical network of heart failure/VAD/heart transplant therapy, increasing access to heart failure services to patients throughout the metropolitan area. He has been the principal investigator in many multicenter heart failure studies bringing basic therapies such as angiotensin receptor blockers and biventricular pacemakers to clinical practice. Additionally, he has been a principal investigator in many heart transplant and ventricular assist devices (VAD) trials and has been involved in numerous investigator-initiated studies regarding heart transplantation and VADs. He has spoken nationally and internationally about his experience with end-stage heart failure and VAD therapy.