MiniHeart board members

Dr. Castleberry earned his medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh and then completed his residency and fellowship training at Duke University Medical Center, where he also obtained a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics (MMCi) degree, with honors, from the Fuqua School of Business.

Dr. Leacche earned her medical degree from University of Rome “La Sapienza” in Rome, Italy. She completed her cardiac surgery residency at University of Rome “La Sapienza” Policlinico Umberto I Hospital. Dr. Leacche completed advanced cardiac surgery fellowships at Montreal Heart Institute in Montreal, Quebec, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Leacche practiced as a staff surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University. She obtained her specialized training in heart failure surgery and heart-lung transplantation at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Renzo Loyaga-Rendon, MD, MSPH, PhD, earned his medical degree from San Agustin University’s School of Medicine in Arequipa, Peru, where he graduated first of his class. Dr. Loyaga-Rendon completed his internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases training at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. He completed his training in advanced heart failure and transplantation at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to joining Spectrum Health, Dr. Loyaga-Rendon was an assistant professor of Medicine in the Section of Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Jay Pal obtained his medical degree in and then completed his general surgical residency at the UCSF Easy Bay program and his thoracic surgery residency at Duke University. He has held faculty positions at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and the University of Colorado, as well as at the UW School of Medicine.

Phil Tremblay, MD., earned his medical degree from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He completed residency in cardiac surgery at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is completing his fellowship in Mechanical Support and Cardiac Transplantation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his son Gabriel as well as cycling and running. He will be doing Adult Cardiac Surgery, MCS, Heart Transplant, and Lung Transplant.

Dr. Um is a graduate from Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island. He completed his residency in General Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey in New Brunswick, NJ. He completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery residency at the University of California San Francisco, CA. Dr. Um also completed a fellowship in Thoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Assist Devices at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, NC.