Medical Directors, Research Coordinators & Staff
Scientific Director: Hormoz Azar, M.D.
Dr. Hormoz Azar, Scientific Director for Sentara Cardiovascular Research Institute, is a cardiac and thoracic surgeon who works in private practice with Mid-Atlantic Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Ltd. in Norfolk. He is board certified by the National Board of Medical Examiners, American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Azar also serves as an Assistant Professor of Surgery with Eastern Virginia Medical School, located on the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital campus.
Dr. Azar received his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He performed his internship and residency in General and Thoracic Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh followed by a Senior Registrar at the Hospital for Sick Children in London, England. He also completed a Fellowship from the California Heart Association for work on the effect of thyroxin on the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver. Dr. Azar completed an additional Fellowship from Diabetes Association of Southern California for work on the relationship of blood glucose levels on gastric emptying. Lastly, Dr. Azar completed a Fellowship from Pittsburgh Civil Defense Organization for participation in the United States Army Medical Field Service School for a course on the management of mass casualties.
Dr. Azar is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the Society for Heart Valve Disease. He is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Cardiology and the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Azar is also an active member of the Virginia Surgical Society, Norfolk Academy of Medicine and Tidewater Cardiovascular Society. He serves actively at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
Scientific Director: John M. Herre, M.D. Dr. John Herre, Scientific Director for Sentara Cardiovascular Research Institute, is an experienced cardiologist, cardiac electrophysiologist and transplant cardiologist who has served in private practice with Cardiology Consultants, Ltd. in Norfolk since 1988. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. He also serves as Medical Director for both Sentara’s Cardiac Transplant Program and their Congestive Heart Failure Program. In addition, he is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Cardiology Division for Eastern Virginia Medical School, located on the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital campus.
Dr. Herre received his bachelor’s degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and his M.D. from Vanderbilt University. He then performed an internship, residency and fellowship in cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in Houston, Texas. Prior to coming to Norfolk, he served on the faculty of the Medical College of Virginia and the University of California, San Francisco. His primary research interests involve heart failure, heart transplantation and cardiac arrhythmias. He is Chairman of the Board of LifeNet, the Organ Procurement Organization for Virginia and the second largest not-for-profit tissue bank in the United States.
Dr Herre has participated in more than 40 clinical trials. He served as the local principal investigator of the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT), a National Institute of Health cardiac device trial involving 2,500 participants from 100 trial sites across the U.S. and Canada — 50 of those study participants were Sentara patients. The trial received extensive media attention after the New England Journal of Medicine published the study’s findings: that the cardiac devices were found to cut the risk of sudden cardiac death by 23% in people suffering from heart problems. The results of this landmark study prompted Medicare officials to expand their coverage of the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), which monitors a patient’s heart rhythms and delivers a life-saving shock if it detects an irregular beat. Dr. Herre’s practice follows approximately 800 patients residing in Hampton Roads, Virginia who have had these implants.
Administrative team:
Manager Jennine C. Zumbuhl, RN, MSHA, CCRC
757-388-4193 office
757-475-9156 pager
DirectorBetty C. Crandall, MS, RN
757-388-8071 Office
757-475-1416 Pager
Secretary
Stephanie L. Davis
757-388-5480 office
757-882-7274 pager
Scientific Director John Herre, MD
757-388-5480
Scientific Director Jeffrey Rich, MD
757-388-5480
Heart Failure/EP Category:
Linette Klevan, RN, BSN
757-388-2425 office
757-475-4399 pager
Kathleen Barackman, RN, MSN, CCRC
757-388-3876 office
757-456-6082 pager
Denise Karch, RN, BSN
757-388-5408 office
757-554-1171 pager
Amy Kanter, RN, BSN
757-388-2812 office
757-475-6827 pager
Cath Lab Category:
Roe Mulvihill, RN, MN, MBA
757-388-3529 office
757-475-0689 pager
Melinda Bullivant, RN, MSN
757-388-4024 office
757-554-7048 pager
Kate Matzgannis, RN, BSN
757-388-2262 office
757-475-6827 pager
Michelle Zulick, RN, BSN
757-388-1695 office
757-475-6977 pager
Cardiac Surgery Category:
Laura Pine, RN, BSN, CCRC
757-388-2732 office
757-475-1427 pager
Michelle Collier, RN, BSN
757-388-7511 office
757-475-3527 pager