FACULTY AND FELLOWS
New faculty
The Heart Institute is thrilled to report that eight physicians and one advanced practice provider joined the Heart Institute in 2023 , greatly increasing our ability to serve our growing cardiac population .
Emily Downs , MD , Congenital Cardiac Surgery Dr . Downs is a cardiothoracic surgeon specializing in the care of children and adults with congenital heart disease . She joins the Heart Institute from Children ’ s Hospital of The King ’ s Daughters in Norfolk , Virginia and the UVA Health Children ’ s . As an undergraduate student , she attended the University of Michigan , where she studied oboe performance and biomedical engineering . She attended medical school at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed her residency there in adult cardiothoracic surgery . Dr . Downs completed her training with a fellowship in congenital cardiac surgery at Children ’ s Hospital Colorado . She looks forward to caring for congenital heart disease patients across the age spectrum and pediatric patients with acquired heart disease . Her clinical research interests include exploring clinical outcomes for congenital heart surgery through the lens of equity , as well as device design and surgical simulation for cardiac surgery trainees .
Robin Klein , MD , Cardiac Critical Care Dr . Klein joined Children ’ s Colorado in the Heart Institute ’ s cardiac intensive care unit ( CICU ). She came from Children ’ s Hospital Los Angeles , where she served as an attending physician in cardiac critical care and as a staff physician for the critical care transport team . She was also an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Southern California . Previously , Dr . Klein completed her residency in pediatrics at University of California , San Francisco . After residency , she worked as a pediatrician building pediatric care capacity at Klinik Timoun Nou Yo , the only pediatric health and medical center located in southwest Haiti . After returning to the United States , she completed a fellowship in pediatric critical care at Boston Children ’ s Hospital , and her fellowship in pediatric cardiac critical care at Children ’ s Hospital Los Angeles . Her interests include quality improvement through multidisciplinary projects , increasing pediatric cardiac critical care capacity globally through education and mentorship , and growing healthcare leaders through leadership education .
Priya Misra , MD , Colorado Springs Cardiology Dr . Misra joined the Heart Institute as the newest provider at the Colorado Springs Outpatient Cardiology Clinic . With an interest in preventive cardiology , she also acts as the local lipid specialist at the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic . She earned her medical degree at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University , her general pediatrics residency training at the Maria Fareri Children ’ s Hospital in Westchester , New York , and stayed for an additional year as chief resident . Dr . Misra then completed her fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Children ' s National Hospital in Washington , D . C . She is passionate about narrative medicine and medical education , as well as outreach and community-based medicine . Her research interests include qualitative medicine , medical humanities and medical education .
Jessica Persson , MD , Cardiac Critical Care Dr . Persson joined the Heart Institute as a cardiac intensivist in the CICU after completing fellowships in pediatric cardiology and pediatric critical care medicine as well as a pediatric residency at Children ’ s Colorado . Jessica was born in Sweden and grew up in northeast Ohio . She earned her medical degree at Northeast Ohio Medical University in 2015 . Seeking more sunshine than Scandinavia and Ohio could offer , she moved to Denver for her pediatric residency and has called it home ever since . Her nonclinical medical interests include medical education and point-of-care ultrasound .
8 Children ' s Hospital Colorado Heart Institute