Humera Ahmed, MD
Locations: Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care, Main Building
About Humera Ahmed, MD
Titles
Attending Cardiologist
Certifications
Pediatric Cardiology – American Board of Pediatrics
Pediatrics – American Board of Pediatrics
Awards and Honors
2024, Thomas B. McCabe and Jeannette E. Laws McCabe Fund, The University of Pennsylvania
2023, Top 3 Heart Failure Abstracts, World Congress
2021, Best Poster in Pediatric Cardiology, American College of Cardiology
2019, Outpatient Department Fellowship Award, Boston Children’s Hospital
2018, 1st place: Best Trainee Abstract, Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society
2018, Finalist, Young Investigator Award. The American Heart Association
2011, ΑΩΑ Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship, New York Medical College
2011, 2nd place oral presentation: Medical Student Research Forum, New York Medical College
2010, Sidney E. Frank Medical Student Fellowship, New York Medical College
2010, 1st place poster presentation: Medical Student Research Forum, New York Medical College
2033-2007, Thea Bowman AHANA Scholar, Boston College
2003-2007, Allston-Brighton Scholar (four year, full tuition scholarship), Boston College
Leadership and Memberships
Memberships in Professional Organizations
2023-present, Fontan Outcomes Network
2019-present, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant
2018-present, American Heart Association
2016-present, American College of Cardiology
2013-present, American Academy of Pediatrics
2011-present, American Medical Association
Editorial and Academic Positions
Editorial Positions
2024-present, The Journal of the American College of Cardiology: EP, Reviewer
2023-present, Transplantation, Reviewer
2021-present, The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Reviewer
Education & training
Medical Degree
MD - New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
Internship
Pediatrics - Cincinnati Children’s Hospital/ U. of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Residency
Pediatrics - Cincinnati Children’s Hospital/ U. of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Fellowship
Pediatric Cardiology - Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Therapies Fellowship Program - Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital/Stanford U. School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
Publications
Publications
2025
Ahmed H, Dykes J, Friedland-Little J, Lin KY, Daly KP, Simpson K, Richmond ME, Urschel S, Schumacher K, Chen S, Almond C. Post-operative Dialysis in Fontan Patients Undergoing Heart Transplant: How Predictive is the Pre-Transplant Serum Creatinine? Pediatr Transplantation. 2025. Accepted for publication.
Wooster L, O'Connor MJ, Zhang X, Mavroudis CD, Maeda K, Ahmed H, Edwards J, Lin KY, Wittlieb-Weber C, Rossano J, Edelson JB. Impact of Heart Transplant Allocation Changes on Waitlist Mortality and Clinical Practice in Pediatric and Adult Patients With Congenital Heart Disease and Cardiomyopathy. Circulation. 2025 Jan 9. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.072335. Epub ahead of print.
Pettit AN, Nitsche LJ, Ahmed H, Catalano M, Mavroudis CD. Orthotopic heart transplantation in patient with Williams syndrome: case report and considerations in perioperative and long-term management. Cardiol Young. 2025 Jan;35(1):212-213. doi: 10.1017/S1047951124036540.
2024
Freddo AM, Ahmed H, Edelson JB, Ortega-Legaspi JM, Vaikunth S. Safety and Efficacy of GLP-1 Agonists in a Cohort of Patients with Fontan Circulation. Pediatr Cardiol. 2024 Nov 12. doi: 10.1007/s00246-024-03700-9.
Schumacker KR Cedars A, Goldberg D, Batazzi A, Reichle G, DiPaola F, Selewski D, Cousino M, Rosenthal DN, the Fontan Circulatory Study Investigators (Chen S, Simpson KE, Deshpande SR, Mao C, Blume E, Lubert A, O'Connor MJ, Bano M, Kindel S, Ahmed H, Wright LK, Joong A, Ploutz M, Godown J, Feingold B, Richmond ME, Henderson H, Ybarra M, Amdani S, Conway J). Achieving Consensus: Severity-Graded Definitions of Fontan-Associated Complications to Characterize Fontan Circulatory Failure. Journal of Cardiac Failure. 2024 Mar 5; epub ahead of press. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cardfail.2024.02.015
2023
Ahmed H, Anderson JB, Bates KE, Lannon CM, Brown DW. The NEONATE Score Predicts Freedom from Interstage Mortality or Transplant in a Modern Cohort. Cardiol Young. 2023 Nov 28:1-8. doi: 10.1017/S1047951123003542.
Choi C, Morray BH, Ahmed H, Kemna M. Pulmonary Vein Stenosis in Heart Transplant Patients. Pediatr Transplant. 2023 Nov 5;28(2):e14636
Newland DM, Pak JL, Ali R, Herzog T, Nemeth TL, Tressel W, Kronmal RA, Knorr LR, Albers EL, Friedland-Little JM, Ahmed H, Kemna MS, Hong BJ, Spencer K, Law YM. Mycophenolic acid therapeutic drug monitoring using area under the curve in pediatric heart transplant recipients. Clin Transplant. 2023 Nov;37(11):e15087.
O'Connor MJ, Shezad M, Ahmed H, Amdani S, Auerbach SR, Bearl DW, Butto A, Byrnes JW, Conway J, Dykes JC, Glass L, Lantz J, Law S, Mongé MC, Morales DLS, Parent JJ, Peng DM, Ploutz MS, Puri K, Shugh S, Shwaish NS, VanderPluym CJ, Wilkens S, Wright L, Zinn MD, Lorts A. Expanding use of the HeartMate 3 ventricular assist device in pediatric and adult patients within the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION). J Heart Lung Transplant. 2023 Nov;42(11):1546-1556.
Thapa I, Lee RY, Vina MF, Zhang BM, Ahmed H, Shin AY, Bambos N, Rosenthal DN, Scheinker D. Examining the feasibility of data-driven decision support for the virtual crossmatch for solid organ transplantation: A single center study. Transplantation Reports. 2023 Sep;8(3):100144.
Kwiatkowski DM, Shezad M, Barnes AP, Ploutz MS, Law SP, Zafar F, Morales DLS, O'Connor MJ; ACTION Network Investigators. Impact of Weight on Ventricular Assist Device Outcomes in Dilated Cardiomyopathy Patients in Pediatric Centers: An ACTION Registry Study. ASAIO J. 2023 May 1;69(5):496-503.
Newland DM, Rosete BE, Law YM, Kemna MS, Albers EL, Hong BJ, Ahmed H, Spencer KL, Friedland-Little JM. Assessment of the adverse effects of sirolimus versus everolimus in pediatric heart transplant recipients. Pediatr Transplant. 2023 May;27(3):e14487
Ahmed H, Lee Joanne, Bernstein D, Dykes J, Weinberg K, Rosenthal D, Barkoff L, Lee D, Barkoff L, Hollander SA, Chen S. Increased risk of infections in pediatric Fontan patients after heart transplantation. Pediatr Transplant. 2023 Feb;27(1):e14421.2022.
Newland DM, Law YM, Albers EL, Friedland-Little JM, Ahmed H, Kemna MS, Hong BJ. Safety of Dapagliflozin in Children with Heart Failure: A Matched Case-Control Analysis. Pediatr Cardiol. 2023 Jan;44(1):146-152.
2022
Thapa I, Lee RY, Vina MF, Zhang BM, Ahmed H, Shin AY, Bambos N, Rosenthal DN, Scheinker D. A Machine Learning Approach to the Interpretation of the Virtual Crossmatch Results for Solid Organ Transplantation: A Single Center Demonstration of Feasibility. Social Science Research Network. 2022.
2021
Ahmed H, Anderson JB, Bates KE, Fleishman CE, Natarajan S, Ghanayem NS, Lannon CM, Brown DW. Characteristics of Interstage Death. Pediatr Cardiol. 2021;42(6):1372-1378
Ahmed H, VanderPluym CJ. Conservative Management of Pediatric Heart Failure. Cardiovasc Diagn Ther 2021;11(1):323-335
2019
Ahmed H, Anderson JB, Bates KE, Fleishman CE, Natarajan S, Ghanayem NS, Sleeper LA, Lannon CM, Brown DW. Development of a Validated Risk Score for Interstage Death or Transplant After Stage I Palliation for Single Ventricle Heart Disease. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2019;1-10
Cole AR, Raza A, Ahmed H, Polizzotti BD, Bronson RT, Bronson RT, Andrews N, Kheir JN. Safety of inhaled hydrogen gas in healthy mice. Med Gas Res. 2019;9(3):133-138.
2017
Ahmed H, Tang X, Polizzotti B, Gauvreau K, Kellogg M, DiNardo J, Kheir J. Use of Oxyhemoglobin Saturation, Rather Than Oxygen Tension, As a Marker of Oxygenation in Cyanotic Patients. JAMA Pediatrics 2017;171(10):1012-1014.
Ahmed H, Czosek RJ, Spar DS, Knilans TK, Anderson JB. Early Repolarization in Normal Adolescents is Common. Pediatr Cardiol 2017 Apr; 38(4):864-872.
2015
Villa CR, Czosek RJ, Ahmed H, Khoury PR, Anderson JB, Knilans TK, Jeffries JL, Wong B, Spar DS. Ambulatory Monitoring and Arrhythmic Outcomes in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. J Am Heart Assoc 2015;5(1).
2013
Ahmed H, Miller M, Parides M, Domanski M, Moskowitz A, Gelijns A, Reddy VY. Adjunctive Renal Sympathetic Denervation to Modify Hypertension as Upstream Therapy in the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation: Clinical Background and Study Design. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2013 May; 24(5):503-9.
2012
Ahmed H, Neuzil P, Skoda J, Petru J, Sediva L, Schejbalova M. Renal Sympathetic Denervation Using an Irrigated Radiofrequency Ablation Catheter for the Management of Drug-Resistant Hypertension. JACC Cardiovascular Interv 2012;(7):758-65.
2011
Ahmed H, Neuzil P, Skoda J, Petru J, Sediva L, Kralovec S, Reddy VY. Initial clinical experience with a novel visualization and virtual electrode radiofrequency ablation catheter to treat atrial flutter. Heart Rhythm 2011;8(3):361-7.
2010
Ahmed H, Neuzil P, d’Avila A, Donaldson DM, Laragy MC, Reddy VY. The Permanency of Pulmonary Vein Isolation Using A Balloon Cryoablation Catheter. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2010; 21(7):731-7.
Reddy VY, Morales G, Ahmed H, Neuzil P, Dukkipati S, Kim S, Clemens J, d’Avila A. Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation without the Use of Fluoroscopy. Heart Rhythm 2010;7(11):1644-53.
2009
Ahmed H, Reddy VY. Technical Advances in the Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 2009, 6(8 Suppl):S39-44.
Ahmed H, Neuzil P, d’Avila A, Cha YM, Laragy M, Mares K, Brugge WR, Forcione DG, Ruskin JN, Packer DL, Reddy VY. The Esophageal Effects of Cryoenergy During Cryoablation for Atrial Fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 2009, 6(7):962-9.
Abstracts (includes Posters and Scientific Presentations)
2025
Ahmed H, Huang YV, Kamsheh AM, Chaudhary A, Edelson JB, Lin KY, Maeda K, Mavroudis CD, Montgomery C, Rossano JW, Wittlieb-Weber CA, Burstein DS, O’Connor MJ. Increasing Cost and Complexity of Pediatric Admissions for Advanced Heart Failure. Anticipated oral presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Leone M, Bahl A, Koehl D, Lewis S, Kirklin JK, Jacobs JP, Cantor R, Li S, Ahmed H. The Use of Explainable Machine Learning to Identify Predictors of Right Heart Failure After Implantable, Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in Children: An Analysis of the STS PEDIMACS Database. Anticipated oral presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Chaudhary A, O’Connor MJ, Edelson JB, Rossano JW, Lorts A, Rosenthal DN, Shezad M, Wright L, Maeda K, VanderPluym C, Ahmed H. Evaluation of Gender Disparities Among Pediatric Patients with the Heartmate 3 Ventricular Assist Device. Anticipated oral presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Boyle C, Edelson JB, Ha L, Maeda K, Montgomery C, O’Connor MJ, Ahmed H. Beware What’s Left Behind: A Case of Retained Foreign Body After VAD Explant. Anticipated poster presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Catalano MA, Shin M, Toubat O, Rastogi R, Beqaj H, Toomey N, Edelson JB, Rossano JW, O'Connor MJ, Ahmed H, Maeda K, Mavroudis CD. Listing for Pediatric Donation After Circulatory Death Heart Transplantation is Associated with Improved Waitlist Outcomes. Anticipated oral presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Russell WW, Ludomirsky AB, Dewitt AG, Zhang X, Huang Y, Lin K, Wittlieb-Weber C, Vaikunth SS, O'Connor M, Ahmed H, Goldberg D, Gardner MM, Rossano JW, Edelson J. Adolescents and Young Adults with Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Failure: Similar Ages, Different Risks, and Different Outcomes. Anticipated oral presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Ludomirsky AB, Russell WW, Lin K, O'Connor M, Wittlieb-Weber C, Ahmed H, Reza N, Bittermann T, Dewitt A, Griffis H, Zhang X, Huang Y, Rossano JW, Edelson J. Resource Utilization in Adolescent and Adult Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure. Anticipated poster presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Walsh TM, Ahmed H, Asztalos I, Boyle C, Edelson J, Edwards J, Ha L, Lin K, Maeda K, Rossano J, Wittlieb-Weber C, O'Connor MJ. Elevated Heart Rate is Associated with Adverse Outcomes in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients. Anticipated poster presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
O'Connor MJ, Eschrich J, Ahmed H, Boyle C, Edelson J, Edwards J, Ha L, Lin K, Maeda K, Wittlieb-Weber C, Rossano J. CD3-Based Dosing of Antithymocyte Globulin is Effective in Immunologically Low-Risk Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients. Anticipated poster presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Montgomery C, Dewitt A, Kozyak B, Ha L, Weiss F, Eichner J, Wittlieb-Weber C, Ahmed H, Maeda K, Tang J, Lane-Fall M, Rosenthal T, Gardner MM, Rossano J, O'Connor M, Edelson J. A Programmatic Approach to Promote and Identify Ventricular Recovery in Pediatric Patients Supported with Ventricular Assist Devices. Anticipated poster presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Fawad I, Naeem M, Shezad MF, Townsend M, Amdani S, Aziz P, Patel A, Ahmed H, El Assaad I. Arrhythmias in Pediatric Patients with Ventricular Assist Device: A Multicenter Analysis from the ACTION Registry. Anticipated presentation at the 2025 Annual Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society.
2024
Ahmed H, Saarela K, Bohuta L, Friedland-Little J. How Much Can the Liver Handle? Management of Early Portal Hypertension in a Pediatric Patient with Fontan Failure. Presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Ahmed H, Murray J, Minh Do H, Chen S. Follow Your Heart but Protect Your Brain: Management of Recurrent Subdural Hematomas in a Pediatric Patient with End-Stage Heart Failure. Presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Ahmed H, Edelson J, Zhang X, Lin K, Mavroudis CD, Edwards J, Berger J, Masood I, Wittlieb-Weber C, Rossano J, O’Connor M, Maeda K. Size Matching in Combined Heart-Kidney and Heart-Liver Transplant: An Undersized Weight is Associated with Increased Mortality in Heart-Kidney Transplant. A UNOS Database Analysis. Presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Masood IR, Wang L, Roberts AL, Stanley H, Rossano O'Connor M, Lin K, Wittlieb-Weber C, Ahmed H, Edwards J, Tam V, Edelson JB. Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Exercise Capacity in Children with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Wooster L, O’Connor M, Zhang X, Mavroudis C, Maeda K, Ahmed H, Edwards J, Lin K, Wittlieb-Weber C, Rossano J, Edelson J. Have Heart Transplant Allocation Policy Changes Brought Improvements in Mortality for Children and Adults with Cardiomyopathy? A UNOS Database Analysis. Presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Chaudhary AA, Kramer E, Weber D, Ahmed H, O'Connor MJ, Edelson JB, Edwards JJ, Lin KY, Rossano JW, Wittlieb-Weber CA, Berger JH. Initial Experience of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors in Adolescents with Heart Failure due to Muscular Dystrophy. Presented at the 2024 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
2023
Ahmed H, Files M, Saarela K, Morray B, Shivaram G, Greene C, Choi C, Mauchley D, McMullan M, Bohuta L, Hong B, Albers E, Kemna M, Rubio A, Law Y, Reed RC, Friedland-Little J, Pacheco C, Hsu EK. Initial Experience with a Decision Tree to Assess the Need for Concurrent Liver Transplantation in Fontan Patients Undergoing Heart Transplant. Presented at the 2023 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant. (An oral presentation).
Ahmed H, Greene CL, Mauchley D, Friedland-Little J, McMullan D, Bohuta L. Transfusion-Free Fontan Heart Transplants are Achievable: Initial Experience. Presented at the 2023 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Newland DM, Spencer KL, Do LD, Palmer MM, Ahmed H, Albers EL, Friedland-Little JM, Hong BJ, Kemna MS, Knorr LR, Mark D, Schauer JS, Law YM. Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Anemia in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients. Presented at the 2023 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Newland DM, Pak JL, Ali R, Nemeth TL, Tressel W, Kronmal R, Albers EL, Friedland-Little JM, Ahmed H, Kemna MS, Hong BJ, Spencer KL, Law YM. Mycophenolic Acid Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Using Area Under the Curve in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients. Presented at the 2023 Annual Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant.
Lectures by Invitation
2023
Ahmed H. Invited Speaker, Mobassaleh Symposium, 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Washington, DC. “Idiopathic VF, J Wave Syndromes: Can they really be diagnosed in the Young”?. Aug 2023.
Editorials, Reviews, Chapters
Ross R and Ahmed H. “The Classification of Pediatric Heart Failure”. Heart Failure in the Child and Young Adult: From Bench to Bedside. 2nd Edition. In press.
Callahan R, Ahmed H, Goldberg D. “Hypoplastic Left heart Syndrome”. Moss & Adams' Heart Disease in infants, Children, and Adolescents: Including the Fetus and Young Adult (Volume 1). In press.