Meet Our Team

The Brenner Heart Program is made up of a team of multidisciplinary experts specially trained in pediatrics and other specialties. Our renowned cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants are all dedicated to providing the best possible care for your child. 

	The director of Brenner Children’s Hospital’s Heart Program is Dr. Ross Ungerleider, the most experienced pediatric heart surgeon in North Carolina and a leader in pediatric cardiovascular surgery. Dr. Ungerleider is a national expert with over 25 years of experience in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and one of just 60 cardiac surgeons in the United States certified in congenital heart surgery by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is an expert in all congenital heart surgery procedures and has special expertise in aortic valve surgery and hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
	In addition to our exceptionally trained pediatric cardiology surgery team, the Brenner Heart Program also has the only pediatric interventional cardiologist in the region, Derek A. Williams, DO, Interim Chief of Pediatric Cardiology. Dr. Williams is also the director of Brenner’s pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratory and the pediatric pulmonary hypertension clinic.

Select a name below to learn more about the health care practitioners at Brenner’s Heart Program:

Pediatric Cardiology Team– doctors and health care practitioners who diagnose and treat children with heart conditions

• Cheryl E. Cammock, MD
• Wesley Covitz, MD
• Callie Lenfest, PNP 
• Deborah Palmer, PA-C, RDCS 
• Michael David Quartermain, MD
  
• Karen H. Raines, MD
• Michael J. Walsh, MD
• Derek A. Williams, DO

Pediatric Heart Surgeons – doctors who perform heart surgery and heart transplantation in children

• Yoshio Otaki, MD
• Ross Ungerleider, MD

Echo and Imaging – doctors and other health care practitioners who use state-of-the-art technology, including ultrasound, x-rays and magnet resonance imaging (MRI), to better diagnose your child’s heart condition

• Cheryl E. Cammock, MD
• Daniel Entrikin, MD
• Michael David Quartermain, MD
• Michael J. Walsh, MD
• Sherry McNeill, RN, RDCS
• Jeanette Pauley, RDCS
• Marty Rush, RDCS
• Tammie Shine, RDCS
• Jackie Sledge, RDCS

Fetal Cardiology – doctors and other health care practitioners who use ultrasound to see and care for the hearts of babies inside the womb, enabling prenatal diagnosis and management of heart disease

• Cheryl E. Cammock, MD
• Martha L. Decker, MD
• Arnold S. Grandis, MD, PhD
• Heather L. Mertz, MD
• Joshua F. Nitsche, MD, PhD
• Michael David Quartermain, MD
• Michael J. Walsh, MD
• Marty Rush, RDCS
• Sherry McNeill, RN, RDCS
• Jeanette Pauley, RDCS
• Tammie Shine, RDCS
• Jackie Sledge, RDCS

Catheterization Laboratory – doctors and health care practitioners who use the body’s arteries to view and treat the heart without the need for surgery

• Derek A. Williams, DO
• Kay Long, RT-R
• Shannon Merritt, RN

Transplant Team – doctors and health care practitioners who provide care for children who need or have had a heart transplant

• Cheryl E. Cammock, MD
• Karen H. Raines, MD
• Ross Ungerlieder, MD (surgeon)
• Sherry Close, RN, CCTC

Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiologists – specially trained doctors who provide anesthesia care for children during heart surgery 

• Lauren Bauman, MD
• James J. O’Brien, MD
• Tricia L. Pockey, MD
• Douglas G. Ririe, MD
• Timothy E. Smith, MD
• Wesley Templeton, MD

Pediatric Intensivists – specially trained doctors who provide care for children after heart surgery

• Samuel J. Ajizian, MD
• Andora L. Bass, M.D    
• Michael L. Cannon, MD
• Suzanne M. Edmunds, MD
• Rima J. Jarrah, MD
• Michael McCrory, MD
• Steven S. Mou, MD
• Thomas A. Nakagawa, MD
• Gregory A. Ross, MD

Pediatric Cardiac Nurses – health care practitioners who provide comprehensive nursing care and education for children with heart disease and other heart conditions