Washington Heights Child Health Clinic

Monica Velasco is certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She received her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Columbia University School of Nursing in New York, NY. Previously, she received her Master of Science in Nursing and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Miami, FL. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society and the Transplant Nurses Association. She earned many awards and honors during her clinical and academic career, including the Mary Dickey Lindsay '45 Nursing Scholar, 2013 from Columbia University School of Nursing. She has co-authored numerous transplant publications and has served as an international guest speaker. She is considered an expert in the field of Intestinal and Multivisceral Transplant.Monica's nursing experience spans over 25 years. She began her transplant career in 1998 at the University of Miami, where she worked for 13 years as the Program Manager for the Pediatric Liver and Intestinal Transplant Division and Senior Transplant Clinical Coordinator. During her time there, she helped grow the Liver and Intestinal Transplant Program into one of the top transplant centers in the world. In 2010, she was recruited by the Center of Liver Disease and Abdominal Transplantation at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Currently, she is the Program Manager for the Intestinal and Ex-Vivo Transplant Division and is a Senior Transplant Clinical Coordinator. She has over two decades of clinical experience in pediatrics, taking care of complex liver and intestinal transplant patients. She has vast experience working with nutritionally challenged patients who require enteral and parenteral nutrition. She is a co-investigator on numerous research projects in the areas of liver and intestinal transplantation.She holds a Clinical Faculty Position at Columbia University School of Nursing, where she serves as an Assistant Professor of Nursing, Clinical Preceptor and Portfolio Advisor for their Doctorate Program.Fluent in SpanishVisit The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at columbiasurgery.org/liver

Dr. Tarun Sharma is a retina specialist with expertise in the diagnosis and management of both medical and surgical vitreoretinal diseases. His contributions to the field have been recognized by several prestigious honors from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, including the Achievement Award, International Ophthalmologist Education Award, and International Scholar Award. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Retinal Specialists (FASRS) and a recipient of the ASRS Honor Award for his leadership and dedication to retinal care. At Columbia, Dr. Sharma is proud to have launched and established the Surgical Retina Program at NYC HHC/Harlem. Prior to joining Columbia, Dr. Sharma served for more than three decades on the faculty of The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University in India. At Sankara Nethralaya, a premier tertiary eye care center in Chennai, he held key academic and clinical leadership positions, including Professor of Ophthalmology, Director of Vitreoretinal Services, and Program Director of the Retina Fellowship. He also led numerous clinical and epidemiological research studies as principal investigator, gaining national and international recognition. Dr. Sharma has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and remains an active peer reviewer for leading ophthalmology journals, including Retina, Ophthalmology, IOVS, TVST, The New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Ophthalmology, The British Journal of Ophthalmology and Eye. A passionate educator, Dr. Sharma has trained and mentored more than 100 surgical retinal fellows, many of whom now practice across the globe. He has been honored twice with the John Martin Wheeler Memorial Teaching Award at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia Ophthalmology, in recognition of his outstanding commitment to resident education and mentorship.