Biography
Personal History
Dr Natale is an American cardiologist and electrophysiologist known for his work in atrial fibrillation ablation. He was born in Syracuse, Italy and has been practising medicine in the United States and Italy for over 35 years.2 His father, a physician, was a strong influence in his decision to choose cardiology.3
He is known as the first electrophysiologist in the US to perform certain types of ablations to help patients with atrial fibrillation and unable to heal with traditional ablation methods.2 Dr Natale is proud of creating and expanding worldwide EPLive, which is a cutting edge, intensive meeting targeting practising electrophysiologists and fellows in training.4
He attributes his success to a healthy routine, starting his days very early regardless of the time zone. “After spending some time at the gym and having breakfast with my family, I spend several hours at the hospital visiting my patients and performing ablations,” he says.9 Outside work, he enjoys skiing and spending quality time with his wife and daughters.
Academic History1
In 1985, Dr Natale graduated summa cum laude in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Florence Medical and Surgery School in Florence, Italy. He then continued his medical training by attending the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart’s School of Cardiology in Rome.
He did his internship in Internal Medicine there in 1986 and did Residencies in Cardiovascular Disease at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in 1989.
Dr Natale completed fellowships in Electrophysiology at the University of Wisconsin (1993), Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Western Ontario (1992) and Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Western Ontario (1990). He is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Cardiac Electrophysiology.
His major research interests include clinical cardiac electrophysiology, mechanisms of defibrillation, signal-averaging, ablation treatment of supraventricular arrhythmias, the effects of thrombosis on platelet aggregation and TxA2 metabolites production in patients with unstable angina and post-myocardial infarction. Dr Natale’s ultimate goal is to benefit patients through assistive technologies, including specialised ablation catheters and robotic devices.
Career Overview
Dr Natale is the Executive Medical Director of Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, TX.6 He leads the institute as a researcher, academician and clinician, specialising in electrophysiology and cardiology.
Dr Natale pioneered a circumferential ultrasound vein-ablation system to correct atrial fibrillation. He also developed some of the current catheter-based cure strategies for atrial fibrillation.7 He holds a patent for an atrial fibrillation device and has authored milestone papers on pivotal projects, such as PABA and RAAFT.7
He continues to be involved in many first-in-human trials to test investigational devices, such as ablation catheters with contact force-sensing technology, three-dimensional intracardiac echocardiography ultrasound probes and novel left atrial appendage closure devices. He has recently performed the first pre-clinical and clinical studies to develop and perfect ablation catheters utilising a novel, groundbreaking ablation energy source known as irreversible electroporation. He has also performed the first of these cases in the USA.1
Dr Natale has held faculty positions at various prestigious universities including Duke University, the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve, Stanford University and Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin.1 He is the Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology, the longest-running Journal in this highly specialised field of cardiology.1
Career Timeline7
- 1986 - 1991: Department of Medicine, Italian Air Force, Rome, Lazio, Italy
- Director, Electrophysiology Laboratory
- Head of Cardiovascular Physiopathology Section
- 1999 - 2007: Director, Electrophysiology Laboratories, Section of Electrophysiology and Pacing, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
- 2001 - 2005: Co-Section Head, Electrophysiology and Pacing Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- 2005 - 2007: Section Head, Electrophysiology and Pacing Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- 2005 - 2018: Senior Medical Director, California Pacific Medical Center, Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services Atrial Fibrillation and Complex Arrhythmia Program, California
- 2008 - 2018: Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Atrial Fibrillation
- 2012 - 2013: Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute, St. Luke's Hospital, New York
- 2019: Chief, Medical Advisory and Research Board, Ninety One, Inc.
- 2005 - Present: Consulting Professor, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
- 2007 - Present: Senior Director, Arrhythmia Center at California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco
- 2008 - Present: Executive Medical Director, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St. David's Medical Center, Austin, TX
- 2012 - Present: Director, Interventional Electrophysiology, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California
- 2013 - Present: Executive Director, Al Sabah Arrhythmia Institute at St Luke's Roosevelt Medical Center, New York
- 2015 - Present: HCA National Medical Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology
- 2016 - Present: Staff, Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Thousand Oaks, California
- 2018 - Present: Editor-in-chief, Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology (JICE)
Recognition1
- 2004, 2005 & 2006 Cleveland Clinic Innovator of the Year
- 2009 The Bury + Partners Innovation Award, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute
- 2012 Frist Humanitarian Award
- 2017 Eric N. Prystowsky Advocate for Patients Award
- 2018 Star of Texas Healthcare Award
- Cleveland Clinic Bakken Heart-Brain Institute Research Award
- Northern Ohio Live Best Doctors
- Best Doctors in America, by peer election
- Best Doctors, Austin Monthly Magazine
- Cleveland Top Doc List
Areas of Speciality8
- Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Cardiac Arrhythmia
- Adult Congenital Heart Disease
- Interventional Cardiology
Sources
- https://www.drandreanatale.com/about-andrea-natale
- https://www.drandreanatale.com/post/dr-andrea-natale-is-an-expert-cardiologist-serving-patients-in-austin-texas
- https://cardiacrhythmnews.com/andrea-natale/
- https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/ninety-one-inc-names-andrea-natale-md-facc-fhrs-as-chief-medical-and-research-advisor/
- http://www.jafib.com/published.php?type=pdf&id=180
- https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/eplab/articles/10-Minute-Interview-Andrea-Natale-MD
- https://prabook.com/web/andrea.natale/3778852
- https://health.usnews.com/doctors/andrea-natale-7687
- https://ideamensch.com/andrea-natale/
Dr Natale is on the Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Review (AER) Editorial Board.
Media
Articles by Andrea Natale, Executive Medical Director
Sanghamitra Mohanty, Andrea Natale,
Published:
Citation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology Review 2021;10(4):258–61.