Anita Saraf, MD, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American College of Cardiology, 2013-Present
  • American Heart Association, 2014-Present

Education & Training

  • BA, Molecular and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, 2001
  • PhD, Bioengineering, William Marsh Rice University, 2009
  • MD, Baylor College of Medicine, 2010
  • American Board of Internal Medicine Research Track for Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases, Emory University, 2011-2018
  • Fellowship in Adult Congenital Cardiology, Emory University, 2018-2020

Selected Publications

Saraf A, Rampoldi A, Chao M, Li D, Armand L, Hwang H, Liu R, Jha R, Fu H, Maxwell J, Xu C, Functional and Molecular Effects of TNF-α on Human iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes. Stem Cell Research, 2021, Apr; 52 PMID 33592567

Saraf A*, Book W, Reply to the Letter to the Editor: “GDF-15 – A matter of the heart or the kidney?” Int J. Cardiol, 2020; Aug 15;313:46 PMID: 32517964

Saraf A*, DeStaercke C, Everitt I, Haouzi A, Ko Y, Jennings S, Kim J, Rodriguez FH, Kalogeropoulos A, Quyyumi A, Book, W. Biomarker Profile in Stable Fontan Patients. Int J. Cardiol, 2020, Apr 15;305:56-62 PMID: 31959411.

Raskind-Hood, Saraf A, Colarusso T, Glidewell J, VanZutphen A, Gurvitz M, Dunn J, Lui G, McGarry C, Hogue C, Hoffman T, Rodriguez FH, Book W. Assessing Pregnancy, Gestational Complications, and Co-morbidities in Women With Congenital Heart Defects (Data from ICD-9-CM Codes in 3 US Surveillance Sites). Am J Cardiol. 2019, Mar 1;125:812-819 PMID: 31902476.

Saraf A*, Rodriguez FH, Peripartum Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure in Pregnancy. Heart Failure: An Essential Clinical Guide. (Book Chapter), 2020, Accepted

Saraf A*, Book WM, Nelson TJ, Xu, C. Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: From Bench to Bedside and Back, J Mol Cell Cardiol, (Review) 2019, Oct;135:109-118, PMID: 31419439

Peoples NJ, Saraf A, Ghazal N, Pham TT, Kwong JQ. Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress in Heart Disease. Exp Mol Med, (Review), 2019, Exp Mol Med. 2019 Dec 19;51(12):162, PMID: 31857574

Gentillion C, Li, D, Ramapoldi, A, Duan M, Yu W, Preininger M, Jha R, Saraf A, Gibson G, Qu C, Brown LA, Xu, C. HIF-1α in Combination with PPARα Activation and Postnatal Factors Promotes the Metabolic Maturation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Cardiomyocytes, J Mol Cell Card. 2019, Jul;132:120-135, PMID: 31082397

Rampoldi A, Singh M, Wu Q, Duan M, Jha R, Maxwell JT, Bradner JM, Zhang JM, Saraf A, Miller G, Gibson G, Brown LA, Xu, C. Cardiac Toxicity from Ethanol Exposure in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes. Toxicol Sci, 2019, May 1;169(1):280-292. PMID: 31059573

Bradley EA, Saraf A, Book W. Heart Failure in Women with Congenital Heart Disease. Heart Fail Clin. 2019, Jan;15 (1):87-96. PMID: 30449383

Titterington JS, Hung OY, Saraf A, Wenger NK. Gender differences in acute coronary syndromes: focus on the women with ACS without an obstructing culprit lesion. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2018, Apr;16(4):297-304 PMID: 29471698

Klouda L, Franklin WJ, Saraf A, Parekh DR, Schwartz DD. Neurocognitive and executive functioning in adult survivors of congenital heart disease. Congenit Heart Dis. 2017, Jan;12(1):91-98. PMID: 27650247

Academic and Research Interests

  • ACHD
  • Congenital heart disease
  • iPSCs
  • Cardiac dysfunction
  • Biomarkers
  • Bioreactors

Research Grants

American Heart Association Career Development Award, Molecular and Functional Evaluation of NOTCH1 Deficient iPSC Derived Cardiomyocytes in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, 2021-2024.