UAB Medicine Welcomes New Heart & Vascular Physicians

UAB’s Heart & Vascular Services welcomes three new faculty members to our nationally ranked program. Massoud A. Leesar, MD; Louis “Trey” Brunsting III, MD; and Mark F. Sasse, MD; will enhance Heart & Vascular Services—and the newly formed UAB Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center—with their interventional and surgical expertise. We invite you to get to know our new experts and discover the talents they will bring to UAB and our patients.

Massoud A. Leesar, MD
Section Chief of Interventional Cardiology, Co-Director of UAB Heart and Vascular Center

Before joining UAB, Dr. Leesar was professor of medicine, director of Cardiac and Vascular Invasive Services, and associate chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Cincinnati. He is nationally recognized for his research in fractional flow reserve and intravascular ultrasound. Dr. Leesar serves on editorial boards for a number of cardiovascular journals and has published more than 70 manuscripts in his areas of research. Dr. Leesar performs complex coronary interventions in patients with left main coronary artery stenosis and multivessel disease. He is regularly invited to speak at national and international meetings and has extensive multicenter trial experience.

"Under Dr. Leesar’s leadership, the UAB interventional section will be guided into a new phase of growth in areas such as structural/valvular interventions and acute cardiac care, as well as in clinical and translational interventional research." — Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Disease Sumanth D. Prabhu, MD

Louis "Trey" Brunsting, III, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Dr. Brunsting is an internationally recognized authority on robotic and minimally invasive cardiac surgery techniques, and comes to UAB from Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio. He has been in practice for 21 years, has been director of basic and advanced training courses for robotic coronary revascularization, has trained more than 50 U.S. and 25 international surgical teams, and has been involved in basic cardiovascular research, as well as development, regulatory approval, and clinical training for new surgical devices and techniques.

U.S.News & World Report recognized Dr. Brunsting in the top 1% of physicians in his specialty in 2011. At UAB, Dr. Brunsting will see patients with adult cardiac conditions needing a surgical referral, particularly those interested in minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery, including robotic coronary artery bypass, robotic mitral and tricuspid valve repair, robotic atrial septal defect closure, and robotic laser transmyocardial revascularization, among others. Dr. Brunsting completed his fellowship training at Duke University in Thoracic Surgery.

"We are delighted Dr. Brunsting has joined the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UAB. He is an internationally recognized leader in his field and has been recruited to establish the robotic and minimally-invasive cardiac surgery service at UAB as one of the premier programs in the country." — Division Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery James K. Kirklin, MD

Mark F. Sasse, MD
Associate Professor, Interventional Cardiology

Dr. Sasse has extensive clinical experience in coronary and peripheral intervention and a growing interest in structural heart disease. Prior to joining UAB, he was director of the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and a staff interventional cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin. He is particularly interested in the use of coronary intervention in sudden cardiac death/acute circulatory failure. Dr. Sasse completed his medical degree and postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

He practiced as an attending physician in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago and held an academic appointment as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Rush University College of Medicine. Dr. Sasse completed his training in Cardiovascular Medicine and Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

"Dr. Sasse brings significant expertise in complex interventions and will help to expand acute cardiac care management at UAB.” — Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Disease Sumanth D. Prabhu, MD