Dr. David Kalfa's research focuses on translational cardiovascular research aimed at improving outcomes for children born with congenital heart defects requiring surgical intervention. An internationally recognized expert in pediatric congenital cardiac surgery, Kalfa is a professor of pediatrics and surgery at FIU Medicine. He treats patients at Nicklaus Children’s, where he is chief of the cardiovascular surgery section and co-director of the Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute.
See research publications and more on FIU Discovery.
Contact Us
For information about our lab or undergraduate research opportunities, please contact us at dkalfa@fiu.edu.
About the Lab
The Kalfa lab integrates engineering, biology, and clinical expertise to develop and evaluate next-generation heart valve repair technologies.
Ongoing projects include the design and testing of biodegradable polymeric scaffolds for cardiovascular repair, assessment of surgical procedures and implant performance in small and large animal models, and computational fluid dynamic modeling for optimizing bioreactor function in living tissue storage and conditioning. This multidisciplinary work bridges fundamental bioengineering with clinical application to advance pediatric cardiac surgery and long-term patient outcomes.
Lab Members
Daniel Chaparro, Ph.D.
Research Specialist II
Ishit Chauhan, M.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Donate
Interested in supporting our research or scholars?
Please contact:
Naomi Nixon
Associate Dean for Development
Phone: 305-348-9038
Email: nnixon@fiu.edu