Community Leaders

Kavitha Chinnaiyan, MD, MSCCT

Dr. Chinnaiyan received her medical degree from Gulbarga University in India, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, where she served as Chief Resident. She completed her fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI where she also received advanced training in cardiac imaging. 

She focuses her research endeavors on the clinical applications of cardiac CT, adoption of novel CT technology, radiation dose reduction and outcomes related to imaging. As Program Director, she led the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Consortium (ACIC), a statewide collaborative quality initiative sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan that included 90 institutions in Michigan. The ACIC established the role of registries for real-world practice of cardiac CT, including dose reduction and appropriate use. She has authored and co-authored more than a hundred manuscripts and abstracts, and several book chapters. She has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association of Southeast Michigan, Co-Chair of the Detroit Go Red for Women, Conference Chair for the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Cardiology and on the Think Tank of the Future of Cardiovascular Imaging initiative of the ACC.

She is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of SCCT.

Leslee Shaw, PhD, MSCCT

Dr. Leslee Shaw is a leading cardiovascular outcomes researcher whose major focus is clinical diagnosis and imaging of ischemic heart disease. Before joining the faculty at Mount Sinai as Professor of Medicine and Population Health, she led a team at Weill Cornell and directed the Emory University Clinical Cardiovascular Research Institute.

Dr. Shaw has published more than 600 publications and presented more than 300 abstracts in major scientific meetings in the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. She has been ranked for more than a decade as one of the top 1% of clinical researchers with the most highly cited publications (awarded by Thomson Reuters). Based on her scientific contributions, in 2009,

Dr. Shaw was recognized with the Simon Dack Award for academic excellence from the American College of Cardiology and, in 2013, the Coalition to Reduce Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Award for her research contributions in racial and ethnic differences in cardiovascular disease. In 2013, she received the Women’s Day Red Dress Award for her scientific contributions to women’s health. While at Emory, she was appointed as a member of the MilliPub Club (awarded for a publication that is cited ≥1,000 times) and received the Albert E. Levy Scientific Research Award, the University’s highest research award, in 2014. In 2015, Dr. Shaw received Emory University School of Medicine’s highest award – the Dean’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture and Award. In 2017, she presented the Mario Verani Lecture at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology. In 2018, she was awarded the Gold Medal from the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.

She has served as an Associated Editor for several journals and now serves as Executive Editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging, with the highest rated impact factor for imaging journals (2017 Impact Factor: 10.2). She is also an editorial consultant for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation. Dr. Shaw is a Past-President of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and the Society for Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. The only individual having served as president of two medical societies within cardiovascular medicine.

Barbara Srichai-Parsia, MD, FSCCT

Dr. Monvadi Barbara Srichai-Parsia, MD, is the Vice Chief of Cardiology and the Director of the Non-Invasive Cardiology Lab at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. She treats patients with heart failure, congenital heart disease, aortopathies, syncope, coronary artery disease, and other conditions of the heart. Dr. Srichai-Parsia has a special focus on autonomic dysfunction disease and connective tissue disorders. In addition, she does work in cardio-oncology, treating cancer patients who have developed heart failure or weak hearts. She is a member of the Board of Directors of SCCT.

With specialized training in non-invasive testing, Dr. Srichai-Parsia uses advanced cardiac imaging, including echocardiography, cardiac MRI, and CT, as well as stress testing. In her practice, she emphasizes shared decision making with the patient when selecting tests and treatments.

Dr. Srichai-Parsia’s research interests have focused on the roles of advanced imaging and other new technology in refining treatment and diagnosis. She also participates in research on the patient-centered treatment approach of shared decision making. Dr. Srichai-Parsia is exploring the different testing techniques for patients with chest pain and the factors that go into choosing diagnostic techniques based on symptomology and patient preferences for certain tests.

Dr. Srichai-Parsia received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her residency in internal medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. As a fellow in general cardiology, imaging, and radiology at Cleveland Clinic, she has received a Young Investigator Award. Dr. Srichai-Parsia has a Master’s degree from New York University in Comparative Effectiveness, a course of study that focuses on improving the use of health care resources where they are most valued.

Philosophy of Care: “I like to hear and understand a patient’s background and get their input and opinions on treatment. I am a strong proponent of shared decision-making. I like to present all the options as I know them, and discuss my patients’ preferences and how they would like to proceed.”

Michelle Williams, MD, PhD, FSCCT

Dr. Michelle Williams is a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Radiology Consultant at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian. Her research centers around multi-modality non-invasive imaging of the heart and vasculature.

After completing her medical training in Edinburgh she undertook a BHF Clinical Research Fellowship and successfully defended her PhD on CT imaging of the heart at the University of Edinburgh. She was a research fellow for the SCOT-HEART study, a multi-center randomized control trial of the role of CT imaging in patients attending outpatient cardiology clinics. This work has been awarded numerous prizes, including the “BMJ Imaging Team of the Year” 2017 award.

She is secretary of the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging, member of the Board of Directors of SCCT and lead for the Online Education Task Force of SCCT.