Sounok Sen, MD

Sounok Sen, MD, is a cardiologist specializing in advanced heart failure, heart transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support. He cares for adult patients both in the clinic and in the hospital. In addition to caring for patients with new diagnoses of heart failure and those with chronic heart failure, he sees patients who have received or are being considered for heart transplantation and left ventricular assist devices (LVADs).

Dr. Sen was inspired to care for patients with heart failure by mentors he worked with during his cardiology fellowship at Duke University School of Medicine. “Before then, I didn’t truly appreciate the full potential of these advanced therapies. But being part of that multidisciplinary care team and experiencing firsthand how these therapies change people’s lives, I was inspired, ” he says.

Each heart patient is unique, Dr. Sen says, and that’s something he takes very seriously. “In cardiology, we have the benefit of looking at large clinical trials to help guide patient care, but we also know that everyone is different. I believe in taking an individualized approach to each patient and their journey.” That requires understanding each patient’s expectations and educating and counseling them as they prepare to undergo treatments that could help them reach their goals.

While he considers himself a clinician first, Dr. Sen is motivated to investigate approaches that better enable patients to access lifesaving therapies such as LVADs and heart transplants, including strategies that would make more donor hearts available to those who are waiting for them.