Heart Institute welcomes cardiac surgeon, cardiologist to world-class healthcare team

OTTAWA, November 28, 2023 - Cardiac surgeon Dr. Hugo Monteiro Neder Issa and cardiologist Dr. Hanh Nguyen have joined their respective teams in the divisions of cardiac surgery and cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI).

Dr. Hugo Monteiro Neder Issa

Dr. Hugo Monteiro Neder Issa received his medical degree with honours from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Afterward, Dr. Issa completed a residency in general surgery at the Clinics Hospital of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, followed by a residency in cardiovascular surgery at the Heart Institute of the University of São Paulo. He was an attending cardiac surgeon at the Santa Casa Hospital in Belo Horizonte. Dr. Issa has also pursued extensive training across North America. He completed four one-year clinical fellowships, including one focused on valvular heart disease at the Toronto General Hospital; one on congenital cardiac surgery at the BC Children’s Hospital; one on advanced coronary and valve surgery at the UOHI; and one on minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, USA.

Dr. Issa has been conducting research in the field of adult and congenital cardiac surgery but is also interested in surgical approaches and treatment for coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, and congenital heart diseases, and in less invasive operative techniques.

Dr. Issa is appointed as a cardiac surgeon at the UOHI with a cross-appointment at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. He is an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiac Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Hanh Nguyen

Dr. Hanh Nguyen obtained a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Université de Montréal. She earned her medical degree at Université de Sherbrooke. She undertook her clinical training in internal medicine and cardiology at McGill University. Subsequently, she completed an advanced adult echocardiography fellowship at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she focused on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and echocardiography in structural heart disease. She recently completed the program in clinical effectiveness at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cardiovascular disease in vulnerable populations.

Dr. Hanh Nguyen is appointed as a cardiologist in the Division of Cardiology at the UOHI and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

She is tasked with developing and leading the clinical and academic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program and all aspects of the Nunavut Cardiology Program. Her clinical responsibilities will be in the echo lab and on general cardiology ward service and outpatient teams.

Additional information

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute has flourished into one of Canada’s most distinguished heart health centres for the unparalleled care it provides to its patients, a world-renowned research institute that brings science from bench to bedside, and the country’s main influencer when it comes to preventing heart disease. Its promise remains the very pillar on which it was built: Always putting patients first.

Interview opportunities

To coordinate an interview with Drs. Hugo Monteiro Neder Issa and Hanh Nguyen, please liaise with the contact below.

Media contact

Leigh B. Morris
Communications Officer
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
613-316-6409 (cell)
lmorris@ottawaheart.ca