Paul Forfia, MD, has been appointed Medical Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Heart Failure Program at the Temple Heart and Vascular Center, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Forfia was most recently Medical Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
A world-renowned leader in the field of pulmonary hypertension (PH), Dr. Forfia specializes in diagnosing and treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as well as PH related to heart or lung disease, and PH related to prior pulmonary embolism. He also has expertise in the management of right heart failure and in the work-up of complex causes of dyspnea.
Dr. Forfia's research efforts are focused on Echo-Doppler and other physiologic-based methods of diagnosis and assessment of pulmonary vascular function and right heart function.
"I am extremely excited to join the faculty at Temple," says Dr. Forfia. "The position that Temple has created is unique and will allow me to create a highly specialized practice in the care of patients with pulmonary hypertension and related conditions. The PH Program at Temple will be multidisciplinary and collaborative, drawing on the knowledge and skill of members of the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Divisions, as well as cardiovascular surgery. We are particularly excited about the development of our thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension program, which will offer expert diagnostics, medical, and surgical management of thromboembolic PH."
"Pulmonary hypertension is a difficult-to-diagnose disease that is still not completely understood," says Gerard J. Criner, MD, FACP, FACCP, Chair of the Department of Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine. "Dr. Forfia is one of the world’s foremost experts in diagnosing and treating this complex disease, and his addition to our staff will provide patients from the region and beyond with the highest quality of care in this field."
Dr. Forfia earned his MS in Physiology and MD degree from New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY. He completed both an internal medicine residency and a cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where he also received additional training in heart failure/transplantation as well as pulmonary hypertension. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, and Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation.
An active researcher and an award-winning teacher, Dr. Forfia is a member of the editorial board for Pulmonary Circulation and is a reviewer for numerous top peer-reviewed journals. He has been published extensively in professional journals and been named a "Top Doctor" by Philadelphia Magazine and U.S. News & World Report. Dr. Forfia is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute.