The Team

Dr. Strickman is an interventional cardiologist at the Texas Heart Institute with specialization in balloon angioplasty and stents, peripheral vascular diseases, Carotid Artery stenting, non-surgical (Endovascular) treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and non-surgical transcatheter aortic heart valve replacement procedure. He is a former co-director of the non-invasive department of the CHI Baylor St Luke's Medical Center (1982-1985). He is a full time Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in the heart of the Texas Medical Center. Daily he treats patients without surgery with fewer complications than might occur with open surgical procedures. He is the regions only authorized physician investigator of Carotid artery neck blockages for the landmark Sapphire trial comparing surgery to stenting for patients at extremely high risk.

Dr. Stainback received his education at Vanderbilt University, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Stainback is recognized as an expert in noninvasive cardiology. He serves as Medical Director of Noninvasive Cardiology and Medical Director of the Adult Echocardiography Laboratories at the world-renowned CHI Baylor St Luke's Medical Center, home of the Texas Heart Institute

Abdi Rasekh is an interventional cardiologist and electrophysiologist. He received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Paris XIII where his thesis won the Bronze Medical Award for Clinical Research. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Graduate Hospital of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He completed a fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at Baylor College of Medicine and served as the chief interventional cardiology fellow at the Texas Heart Institute. He completed a clinical electrophysiology fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute in 1999.  Dr. Rasekh's interest include sudden cardiac death, atrial fibrillation, ablation of arrhythmias, device therapy for congestive heart failure and management of coronary artery disease. He has been the author and co-author of several articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Dr. Rasekh is a Clinical Instructor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He is board certified in Internal Medicine , Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. He is a fellow of American College of Cardiology. He is also a member of Heart Rhythm Society. 

Dr. Navarijo received his medical education through the University of Texas Health Science Center and cardiology training through the Baylor College of Medicine. Dr Navarijo's expertise is in the field of noninvasive cardiology. He serves as Clinical Instructor for Baylor College of Medicine and directs the adult echocardiography laboratory at CHI Baylor St Luke's Medical Center. He also serves as Director of Nuclear cardiology for Hall-Garcia Cariology associates. His clinical interests include management of cardiac issues in pregnancy and noninvasive assessment of cardiac disease and its risk.

Dr. Heinle is a general cardiologist with national recognition and special expertise in the noninvasive field of echocardiography. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, she graduated in the top ten percent of her medical school class at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine. She completed her internship, residency, and cardiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center where she was Assistant Chief Medical Resident and later joined their cardiology faculty as Assistant Professor. Prior to joining Hall Garcia Cardiology Associates, Dr. Heinle has been appointed to the cardiology faculty of Harvard Medical School and University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center where she continued her research and publications on echocardiographic imaging, stress testing and evaluation of valvular heart disease. She is currently on the Baylor Faculty of Medicine as Clinical Associate Professor, maintaining an active general cardiology practice while serving to educate future cardiologists and patients alike. 

Dr. Mehdi Razavi joined Hall-Garcia Cardiology Associates in 2004. He attended medical school at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He subsequently completed his residency, cardiology fellowship, and electrophysiology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rodchester, Minnesota. He was an Associate Professor of Medicine at Penn State University School of Medicine for one year prior to moving to Houston where he holds the same title at Baylor College of Medicine. He is also a Research Scientist at the Texas Heart Institute. Over the last two years he has been the lead or senior author of five manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. He recently received the Outstanding Faculty Award at Texas Heart Institute. Dr. Razavi has authored a textbook chapter on the mechanisms of sudden cardiac death and has given many presentations in the field of pharmacologic treatment of arrhythmias. Dr. Razavi is involved with numerous clinical trials assessing the efficacy of cutting edge technology in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Dr. Razavi is Board Certified in Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology.

Focusing his practice on treatment and prevention of cardiovascular arrhythmias, Dr. Mohammad Saeed is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Diseases, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology and Fellow American College of Cardiology. He specializes in implantation of pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, biventricular devices and ablation of complex cardiac arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation. He is also active in research in order to better understand and treat life threatening arrhythmias. Dr. Saeed's research work has been extensively published and presented both nationally and internationally.  Dr. Saeed finished his internship, residency and chief residency from University of Wisconsin. He completed his fellowship in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology from Tufts-New England Medical Center before becoming the Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology and Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of Texas Medical Branch. He is now a staff cardiologist at St. Luke's Hospital and Texas Heart Institute where he combines his practice of cutting-edge specialized cardiac care with pursuit of academic medicine and teaching of young doctors. 

Dr. José G. Díez is board certified in cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology. He serves as senior research scientist in interventional cardiology at the Texas Heart Institute at CHI Baylor St Luke's Medical Center (THI at BSLMC) and clinical associate professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He is on the interventional cardiology professional staff at THI at BSLMC and the consulting staff of the cardiology service at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Dr. Díez is also an associate editor of the Texas Heart Institute Journal. A graduate of Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia, Dr. Díez completed an internal medicine residency at the same institution and another at Boston University in Massachusetts. Dr. Díez completed his training in cardiovascular diseases and interventional cardiology at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, where he served as chief fellow. His previous academic experience includes appointments at Baylor College of Medicine as director of invasive cardiology at the Baylor Heart Clinic and director of interventional cardiology research. At Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, he served as director of clinical and interventional research and co-director of the cardiovascular catheterization laboratories. He has received research and education awards from the Mueller Foundation, the EVEREST program, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association. His interests include acute coronary syndromes; acute and chronic aortic syndromes (aortic aneurysms, aortic dissection, Marfan syndrome); valvular disease (with a focus on the aortic valve and new therapies, such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation TAVI/TAVR); atherothrombosis; antiplatelet and antithrombin therapy; interventional strategies and devices; and vascular biology. Dr. Díez is fluent in both English and Spanish. He is currently accepting new patients, including those seeking to begin cardiovascular care and treatment and those seeking secondary opinions and consultations

Dr. Michael J. Mihalick attended Indiana University School of Medicine followed by a year of internship at UTMB in Galveston. He returned to Indiana to complete his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology which included a year of electrophysiology research. Following two years of service in the US Navy, he came to Houston and has been in practice for over 25 years. He is a Clinical Associate Professor or Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine. His interests include syncope, heart failure, pacing, coronary artery disease, and valve disease. He has published a number of papers and articles on a wide range of cardiac issues and is currently involved in developing an on-line teaching and information tool for patients with cardiovascular disease.