Mission Statement
The Arrhythmia team is dedicated to delivering outstanding and compassionate care of arrhythmia patients while working with their physicians and to advancing teaching and medical research in cardiac arrhythmias.
Arrhythmia Cardiac Specialists
Paul Wang, MD
Director of the Stanford Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory
Dr. Wang has recently become the Director of the Stanford Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory and is responsible for overseeing the function and management of the Stanford Cardiac Arrhythmia Center.
He received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and his medical degree at Columbia University in New York City. He received his medical residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City and completed his cardiovascular training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a major teaching institution of Harvard Medical School. He was Associate Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston for 14 years.
Dr. Wang has co-authored textbooks on implantable defibrillators, sudden cardiac death, cardiac resynchronization/biventricular pacing therapy, and innovations in arrhythmia therapy. He has invented a number of new arrhythmia technologies.
He served as the Chair of the Curriculum Committee at Tufts University School of Medicine and has established a research program in Cardiac Electrophysiology. Dr. Wang participates on numerous national boards and panels in cardiac electrophysiology. He is currently Vice-Chair of the Education Committee of the Heart Rhythm Society. He is chairman and organizer of a major national symposium called New Arrhythmia Technologies and is co-director of an Advanced Course in Pacemakers, Implantable Defibrillators, and Resynchronization Therapy sponsored by the international organization Heart Rhythm Society.
He serves as a member of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Board Certification Exam Writing Committee of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Wang is involved in the range of implantable device and catheter ablation procedures. He is actively engaged in the care of patients with a wide range of arrhythmias. He has been involved in the initiation of the Syncope Evaluation Program and the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program.
Associate Director of the Stanford Arrhythmia Service, and Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory
Dr. Amin Al-Ahmad received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at Syracuse University. He received his medical degree at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed his medical residency training, cardiovascular training, and Cardiac Electrophysiology training at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston.
Dr. Al-Ahmad received the Astra Zeneca Cardiovascular Young Investigator Award for Outstanding Research in Cardiovascular Diseases in New England. He has a particular interest in new advances in the catheter ablation treatment of arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation, and in lead extraction.
His research areas include new device development and clinical studies of cardiac arrhythmias.
Associate Director of the Stanford Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory
Dr. Hsia has joined Stanford from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Tufts University. Dr. Hsia received his medical residency training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI and completed his cardiovascular training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. He completed his cardiac electrophysiology training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Hsia has over 13 years of experience as an attending electrophysiologist. Prior to coming to Stanford, for over 6 years, he served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the most outstanding electrophysiology programs in the country. He has written numerous articles on implantable defibrillators, ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and catheter ablation.
Dr. Hsia has a particular interest in the catheter ablation of complex arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation, atrial tachycardias, supraventricular tachycardias, and ventricular tachycardia. He continues to be involved in a number of clinical trials involving implantable defibrillators, catheter ablation, and resynchronization therapy.
Dr. Friday received her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University and did her medical residency training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
She received her cardiovascular training at St. Louis University Hospital and Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, Missouri and for a number of years she was part of the electrophysiology faculty at the University of Oklahoma, where many techniques for the treatment of arrhythmias were developed.
While her primary appointment is at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital, she continues to see outpatients and be part of the Stanford Arrhythmia Service.
Her particular interests include the noninvasive evaluation of arrhythmias, syncope and the use of antiarrhythmic drugs.
Dr. Zei received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He earned his medical degree (M.D.) at Stanford, and he completed a Ph.D. here as well in Molecular and Cellular Physiology, studying the basic cellular and protein mechanisms responsible for normal and abnormal cardiac conduction.
He completed his Internal Medicine Internship and Residency, Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship, and Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. He then stayed on the Clinical Electrophysiology staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before moving back to Stanford. At Brigham and Women’s, Dr. Zei’s clinical and research mentor, Dr. William Stevenson, is considered one of the world’s experts on catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia and other arrhythmias.
Dr. Zei’s clinical interests are in catheter ablation of arrhythmias, including SVT, atrial fibrillation, and in particular ventricular tachycardia. He also has a clinical interest in device implantation, including pacemakers, defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization devices.
Dr. Zei is developing an active research program in Cardiac Electrophysiology at Stanford, with primary interests in new ablation technologies and investigating the basic physiologic mechanisms of arrhythmias.
Arrhythmia Nursing Clinical Coordinators
We have outstanding arrhythmia nurse specialists in the Stanford Arrhythmia Service. They are extremely experienced in the evaluation and care of arrhythmia patients and their families.
They have a specialized expertise in the evaluation of patients with implantable devices such as implantable defibrillators, pacemakers, resynchronization devices, and implantable loop recorders.
Linda K. Ottoboni, RN, BS, MS
Linda studied nursing at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, earning her Bachelor of Science in 1980.
She obtained her Masters of Science in Cardiac Physiological Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco in 1987.
Linda joined the staff at Stanford Hospital & Clinics in 1984 where she began working in cardiovascular medicine as a nurse and nurse educator. Linda moved to the arrhythmia team in 1991 and became the lead cardiovascular nurse coordinator in 1995.
In addition to her clinical role at Stanford, Linda teaches physiological nursing and has made numerous presentations at meetings and lectures in cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, cardiovascular disease, and related aspects of cardiovascular care.
Angela Tsiperfal, RN, BSRN, MSN
Angela earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSRN) at Kishinev State Medical College, Kishinev, Moldova in 1985.
Angela has her Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN), as a Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of California, San Francisco in 1997.
Angela worked as a Cardiology Clinical Nurse Specialist at the University of California, San Francisco before she came to Stanford. In 2001 she joined the arrhythmia team as an Arrhythmia Nurse Clinical Coordinator.
Her experience also includes extensive work in emergency medicine and anesthesiology. She is one of the editors of the Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing journal. She regularly teaches classes for nurses.
Marcia Glassford, RN, BSN
After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN), Marcia has worked 17 years as a registered nurse on cardiac units in various hospital settings and with registry units.
She came to Stanford Hospital & Clinics in 1995 and worked as part of the Intermediate Cardiac Care Unit and as a research nurse in the Stroke Center before joining the arrhythmia team in 2002.
Marcia enjoys working directly with patients and teaching in the areas of pre-/post-procedure care, medications, and treatments. She especially enjoys collaborating with nursing colleagues and physicians and would someday like to expand on her interest in teaching.
Kelly Cook, RN, BSN
Kelly obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN) and has been at Stanford since 1991.
Kelly began at Stanford as a staff nurse in the Cardiac Surveillance Unit and Coronary Care Unit before becoming Acting Assistant Nurse Manager for these areas. She also worked as a Transtelephonic Arrhythmia Network Coordinator prior to joining the arrhythmia team in 1999.
As part of the Stanford Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Kelly works as a Clinical Coordinator three days a week. In her role with the arrhythmia clinic, Kelly pursues her interest in cardiology and electrophysiology - pacemakers, defibrillators, and heart failure.
Administrative Associates
Our Administrative Associates, Alfred Machicado and Tatyana Perkis, provide administrative support for the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service.