Pediatric Heart Research at Johns Hopkins Children's Center

The Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center is host to a team of researchers expanding what we know about pediatric and congenital heart conditions and how to apply those findings to patient care.

Latest from the Heart Center

Award Winner

Dr. Misato Koakutsu, postdoctoral research fellow in the lab of Dr. Hee Cheol Cho, was recognized for her outstanding success at the AHA Basic Cardiovascular Scientific Sessions 2025. Dr. Koakutsu earned the Best Poster Award at the main BCVS conference and the Best Presentation Award at the 7th Annual Cardiovascular Symposium (Japanese Cardiovascular Research Association Section). These honors recognize her innovative contributions to cardiovascular research and highlight the exceptional work happening within the Heart Center.

Grant Funding

Dr. Jennifer Schramm recently won the Thrasher Research Fund's Early Career Award Program with her project entitled “Machine learning to identify risk factors for the development of necrotizing enterocolitis in children with congenital heart disease." The purpose of the program is to encourage the development of researchers in child health.

Learn more about this award

Pediatric ECG Review Research Program

The web-based Pediatric ECG Review (pECGreview) program provides an ECG of the week, which enhances the ECG reading skills of pediatric cardiology fellows and other trainees and faculty.

Learn more about this research.

Published Research

In neonatal cardiac surgery, perioperative metabolites were associated with postoperative outcomes and improved clinical model outcome associations. Preoperative metabolite levels alone may improve risk models and provide a basis for optimizing perioperative care.

More about this study

Current Research at the Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center

Learn more about the current research efforts led by and involving our expert faculty.

See our current research

Learn More and Get Involved

We understand that it takes the involvement of many to further the development of treatments for children across the world. This involves working with students, as well as patients and families, to achieve these discoveries.

For Students

Learn more about the opportunities to join one of our research labs and about life at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland.
For Patients and Families

View resources designed to help patients and their families understand heart-related conditions and treatments, as well as information on clinical trial participation.
For Clinicians

See news and helpful resources for pediatric cardiologists, surgeons, clinicians and more.

Our Researchers

Sean Barnes, MD MBA
- Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Melania Bembea, MD MPH PhD
- Interim Division Chief, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
- Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Ari Cedars, MD
- Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease
- Associate Professor of Medicine
Subroto B. Chatterjee, MS MSc PhD
- Director, Sphingolipid Signaling and Vascular Biology Laboratory
- Professor of Pediatrics
Hee Cheol Cho, PhD
- Co-Director, Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center
- Associate Professor of Surgery
Ashish N. Doshi, MD PhD
- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Dheeraj Goswami, MD
- Chief, Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine
- Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
William Ravekes, MD
- Medical Director, Pediatric Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support
- Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Jenny E. Schramm, MD
- Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Jochen Steppan, MD
- Director of Perioperative Medicine, High Risk Cardiovascular Disease
- Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Glenn Wetzel, MD PhD
- Director, Pediatric Interventional Electrophysiology
- Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics