Joan Marie Cain, FNP

Dr. Vishal Rao is an Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by fellowships in Cardiovascular Disease and Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology at Duke University. Dr. Rao provides comprehensive care across the full spectrum of heart failure, from early diagnosis to the management of advanced and end-stage disease. His clinical expertise includes optimizing medical therapy, implementing device-based strategies to reduce hospitalizations, guiding lifestyle modifications, and performing heart transplantation and durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. He is also highly skilled in invasive hemodynamic testing, which he uses to uncover complex heart failure phenotypes and tailor individualized treatment plans. His research interests span implementation science, cardiometabolic risk profiling in heart failure populations, and advanced phenotyping using both non-invasive and invasive diagnostics. Dr. Rao actively contributes to cutting-edge clinical trials aimed at improving outcomes for patients with heart failure. Dr. Rao is committed to partnering with patients to deliver personalized, compassionate care that empowers them to live fuller lives with heart failure.

Dr. Lucas Witer is a fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon in Charleston, South Carolina who specializes in heart transplantation, coronary artery disease, aortic valve surgery and advanced heart failure. He is a part of the MUSC Heart and Vascular multidisciplinary team, collaborating with world class colleagues in areas like cardiology and vascular surgery.MUSC Health has a Blue Distinction® Center+ designation in the area of cardiac care. The MUSC Health heart program is ranked high-performing in abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, heart bypass surgery and heart failure by U.S. News & World Report. Dr. Witer completed residency in general surgery at the Oakland University – William Beaumont Hospital, a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the New York Presbyterian– Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He continued advanced subspecialty training at the New York Presbyterian – Columbia University Medical Center in heart failure, advanced mechanical circulatory support, ventricular assist device implantation and cardiac transplantation.