Cardiology Faculty
Our faculty are trained and accredited in some of the finest institutions in Europe but have developed a keen understanding of the conditions faced in East Africa and can approach cardiovascular problems in the relevant context for our patients.
Full-Time Faculty
Dr Mohamed Jeilan, DM, MRCP, CCT
Assistant Professor and Section Head of Cardiology
Dr Mohamed Jeilan, the Section Head of Cardiology and the Director of Cardiac Services, completed his medical school training at Southampton General Hospital in 1997 and his cardiology fellowship at Northampton General Hospital in 2003.
Dr Jeilan, a faculty member of Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa since 2012, is a consultant interventional cardiologist and a complex devices specialist. Before arriving in Kenya, he was consultant cardiologist at Northampton General Hospital and honorary consultant cardiologist at the University Hospitals of Leicestershire NHS Trust UK after serving as an interventional cardiologist/clinical researcher at the University of Leicester.
Dr Jeilan has been key in introducing novel life-saving invasive procedures at the hospital including: the first transcatheter aortic valve replacement, the first renal denervation, the first intravascular ultrasound, and the first biodegradable scaffold implant in sub-Saharan Africa.
His expertise lies in cardiac rhythm management, percutaneous coronary intervention, and transcatheter aortic valve procedures. He is the recipient of the Oxford University School of Medicine Clinical Teaching Award.
Dr Jeilan is also a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Read more about him HERE
Publications
Jilaihawi H, Jeilan M, Spyt T, Chin D, Logtens E, Kovac J. Early regression of left ventricular wall thickness following percutaneous aortic valve replacement with the CoreValve bioprosthesis. J Invasive Cardiol. 2009 Apr;21(4):151-5; discussion 156-8.
Jeilan M, Schmitt M, McCann G, et al. Cardiac Tuberculoma. Circulation. 2008; 117:984-986
Jilaihawi H, Chin D, Spyt T, Jeilan M, Vasa-Nicotera M, Bence J, Logtens E, Kovac J. Prosthesis-patient mismatch after transcatheter aortic valve implantation with the Medtronic-Corevalve bioprosthesis. Eur Heart J 2010;31(7):857-64
Dr Mzee Ngunga, MBChB, MMed
Assistant Professor
Dr Mzee Ngunga, the current Cardiology Fellowship Director, graduated with a MBChB degree from the University of Nairobi in 2001 and with an MMed degree from Aga Khan University in 2008. He later pursued a specialized fellowship training in interventional cardiology at the University of Alberta, Canada.
His research interests include: cardiac arrest, primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, and treatment of coronary artery disease. He is the recent winner of the prestigious Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award from the American Heart Association. He is currently studying cardiac arrest in Kenya and is initiating a registry to study patients with heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, vascular thromboembolism, and atrial fibrillation.
Dr Ngunga is the assistant secretary of the Kenya Cardiac Society (KCS) and serves as the Chair of the Echocardiography Taskforce at KCS. He is also an active member of the European Society of Cardiology.
Dr Ngunga is also a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Read more about him HERE
Publications
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Stambler BS, Ngunga LM. Atrial fibrillation in Sub-Saharan Africa: epidemiology, unmet needs, and treatment options. Int J Gen Med. 2015;8:231-4210.2147/IJGM.S8453.
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Outcomes of Simple and Complex Coronary Bifurcation Lesions (CBL) Treated with Drug Eluting Stents (DES). Leonard Ngunga, Po Kee Cheung, Shantu Bundhoo, Neil Brass, Benjamin Tyrrell, Raymond Leung, Micha Dorsch, William Hui. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Vol 60 Issue 17 Supp B
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Ngunga LM, Yonga G, Wachira B, Ezekowitz J. Initial Rhythm and Outcomes for In-hospital Cardiac Arrest in Kenya. Circulation 2017;136:A140.
Dr Mohamed Hasham Varwani, MBChB, MMed, Fellow Cardiology
Senior Instructor
Dr Mohamed Hasham Varwani is a Senior Instructor at Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa. Dr Hasham graduated from the University of Nairobi with a MBChB degree in 2008. He earned his MMed degree in Internal Medicine from Aga Khan University in 2016 and completed his fellowship in cardiology in the same university in 2020.
Dr Hasham is a member of the Kenya Association of Physicians, Kenya Cardiac Society, Pan African Society of Cardiology and Africa Heart Rhythm Association.
His areas of interest are in coronary and structural interventions, cardiac implantable devices, valvular heart disease, sports cardiology and pre-participation screening. In addition, he is also interested in acute coronary syndromes - systems of referral and care and cardiology medical education.
Dr Hasham is also a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Read more about him
HERE
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Dr Barbara Karau MBChB, MMed
Senior Instructor
Dr Barbara Karau is Consultant Cardiologist, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan Medical College, East Africa.
Dr Barbara completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) at the University of Nairobi in 2006 and proceeded to pursue her Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine at Aga Khan University Medical College in 2013 and thereafter did her fellowship in General Cardiology at the same University in 2022.
Her area of interest includes advanced cardiac imaging, including advanced echocardiography, advanced heart failure, including device therapy, artificial intelligence in cardiovascular care, women’s heart health, resistant hypertension and renal denervation therapy and cardiology medical education.
Dr Barbara is a member Kenya Association of Physicians (KAP), Kenya Cardiac Society (KCS), East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians (ECSACOP), Pan African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR), European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS).
Dr Barbara is also a Consultant Cardiologist at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Read more about her HERE
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Dr Etienne Amendezo MBChB, MMed
Senior Instructor
Dr Etienne Amendezo is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist in the Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa.
Dr Amendezo graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree from the University of Rwanda in 2008 and earned a Master of Medicine (MMED) in internal medicine from the same University in 2014. He completed his fellowship in general cardiology from Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa in 2021 and interventional & structural cardiology from University of Alberta, Canada in 2024.
His areas of interests include complex percutaneous coronary interventions, transcatheter aortic valve implantation, renal denervation therapy for uncontrolled hypertension and cardiology & medical education.
Dr Amendezo is a member of the Association of Interventional Cardiology (CAIC-ACCI), European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), European Society of Cardiology (ESC), Pan-African Society of cardiology (PASCAR), East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians (ECSACOP), Kenya Cardiac Society (KCS) and Rwanda College of Physicians (RCP).
Dr Amendezo is also a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Read more about him HERE
