About Steven D. Zangwill, MD
Steven D. Zangwill, MD, has served as Medical Director of the Heart Transplant and Heart Failure Programs at Phoenix Children's since 2015. In 2017, he took on the additional role of Director, Heart Center Research. Academically, he is a clinical professor of Child Health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix.
Before joining Phoenix Children's, Dr. Zangwill served as director of the Pediatric Heart Transplant Program at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, which grew to become one of the nation's busiest heart transplantation programs in the United States. There, he helped establish their pediatric cardiology fellowship program and served as fellowship director. In addition, he was the medical director for the Wisconsin Donor Network.
Dr. Zangwill's patient care philosophy focuses on being respectful and truthful while shaping communication to best help families understand and effectively process what they need to know. Dr. Zangwill makes it a point to address children as individuals and believes it is important to speak to them directly from an early age. Dr. Zangwill shared he could not imagine being as satisfied doing anything other than what he does now - providing subspecialty care for kids with advanced heart failure.
Dr. Zangwill earned his bachelor of arts degree in psychology and philosophy at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. He completed his pediatric residency at Wyler Children's Hospital/University of Chicago, and fellowships in pediatric cardiology and cardiac transplant at Babies & Children's Hospital of New York (Columbia Presbyterian).
Recognized as a Best Doctor in Wisconsin and Arizona for multiple years, Dr. Zangwill is board certified in pediatric cardiology (1998) by the American Board of Pediatrics. He is a member of the Pediatric Heart Transplant Society, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant, the ACTION Learning Network and a past member of the American College of Cardiology.
Dr. Zangwill has presented lectures and workshops at the local, regional, national and international levels, sharing his expertise with a broad audience of learners and professionals. In addition to presenting at professional symposia, he especially enjoys giving talks directly to families. He has served as an invited speaker at several large family-run conferences, including the Mended Little Hearts Symposium and the Transplant Families Conference. He considers it a special honor and a privilege to be able to address large groups of highly engaged families in this context.
Outside of work, Dr. Zangwill enjoys staying active with his family, including traveling, hiking, playing golf and supporting the Green Bay Packers.
Medical School / Education
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Internship
Wyler Children's Hospital, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL
Residency
Wyler Children's Hospital, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL
Fellowship
(Pediatric Cardiology, Transplant) Babies & Children's Hospital of New York & Columbia Presbyterian, New York, NY
Subspecialty-Pediatric Cardiology
American Board of Pediatrics
Advanced Heart Failure
Heart Transplant
Professional Affiliations
American College of Cardiology
American Heart Association
International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant
Heart Failure Society of America
Deshpande SR, Zangwill SD, Kindel SJ, Schroder JN, Bichell DP, Wigger MA, Richmond ME, Knecht KR, Pahl E, Gaglianello NA, Mahle WT, Stamm KD, Simpson PM, Dasgupta M, Zhang L, North PE, Tomita-Mitchell A, Mitchell ME. Relationship between donor fraction cell-free DNA and clinical rejection in heart transplantation. Pediatr Transplant. 2022 Jun;26(4):e14264. doi: 10.1111/petr.14264. Epub 2022 Mar 8. PMID: 35258162.
Richmond ME, Zangwill SD, Kindel SJ, Deshpande SR, Schroder JN, Bichell DP, Knecht KR, Mahle WT, Wigger MA, Gaglianello NA, Pahl E, Simpson PM, Dasgupta M, North PE, Hidestrand M, Tomita-Mitchell A, Mitchell ME. Donor fraction cell-free DNA and rejection in adult and pediatric heart transplantation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2020 May;39(5):454-463. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2019.11.015. Epub 2019 Nov 29. PMID: 31983667.
Zangwill SD, Kindel SJ, Ragalie WS, North PE, Pollow A, Hidestrand M, Tomita-Mitchell A, Stamm KD, Mitchell ME. Early changes in cell-free DNA levels in newly transplanted heart transplant patients. Pediatr Transplant. 2020 Feb;24(1):e13622. doi: 10.1111/petr.13622. Epub 2019 Dec 11. PMID: 31825144; PMCID: PMC7065377.
Zangwill SD, Deshpande SR, Simpson PM, Liang HL, Zhang L, Dasgupta M, Richmond ME, Kindel SJ, Bichell DP, Mahle WT, Wigger MA, Schroder JN, Knecht KR, Pahl E, Gaglianello NA, North PE, Tomita-Mitchell A, Mitchell ME. Increase in nuclear cell-free DNA is associated with major adverse events in adult and pediatric heart transplant recipients. Clin Transplant. 2022 Jan;36(1):e14509. doi: 10.1111/ctr.14509. Epub 2021 Nov 24. PMID: 34649304.
Ploutz MS, Plasencia JD, Mirea L, Pophal SG, Velez DA, Zangwill SD. Volumetrics and fit assessments for donor to recipient size matching in pediatric heart transplantation: Is it time for a new paradigm? Clin Transplant. 2020 May;34(5):e13843. doi: 10.1111/ctr.13843. Epub 2020 Mar 23. PMID: 32090373.
Plasencia JD, Kamarianakis Y, Ryan JR, Karamlou T, Park SS, Nigro JJ, Frakes DH, Pophal SG, Lagerstrom CF, Velez DA, Zangwill SD. Alternative methods for virtual heart transplant-Size matching for pediatric heart transplantation with and without donor medical images available. Pediatr Transplant. 2018 Dec;22(8):e13290. doi: 10.1111/petr.13290. Epub 2018 Sep 24. PMID: 30251298.
Camarda J, Saudek D, Tweddell J, Mitchell M, Woods R, Otto M, Simpson P, Stendahl G, Berger S, Zangwill S. MRI validated echocardiographic technique to measure total cardiac volume: a tool for donor-recipient size matching in pediatric heart transplantation. Pediatr Transplant. 2013 May;17(3):300-6. doi: 10.1111/petr.12063. Epub 2013 Mar 12. PMID: 23489637; PMCID: PMC4662949.
Bansal S, Franz BJ, Land G, Mohanakumar T, Zangwill S. Pre-existing Ab against vimentin leads to false-positive HLA Ab results in two pediatric heart transplant candidates. Pediatr Transplant. 2022 May 4:e14302. doi: 10.1111/petr.14302. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35509112.
View more at PubMedPediatric Heart Transplant Study Group
Rating & Reviews
Every person of the staff was very nice!
Always had great experience in coming to Phoenix Children's over 10 years now and been dealing with the same doctor and always had a great experience.
Always a great experience. The Transplant team is amazing.
I had a wounderful experience. And truly appreciate the time and information that was provided to us.