Ankur Kalra, M.D.

Dr. Kalra is an interventional cardiologist, and founder of the non-profit startup, makeadent.org. He is primary investigator at Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center, and an adjunct clinical associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is director of Barry J. Maron Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center in New Delhi, India. He is also the host of the award-winning, top-ranked cardiology podcast show, Parallax. He has presented late-breaking science at national and international scientific cardiovascular meetings, and has published over 300 scientific manuscripts in various peer-reviewed journals. His past appointments include interventional cardiologist, associate professor, and medical director of clinical research for regional cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Educated at Indira Gandhi Medical College (Shimla, India), he completed medical and cardiology training at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi, India), Cooper University Hospital (Camden, NJ), and Hennepin County Medical Center and Minneapolis Heart Institute (Minneapolis, MN). He served as a clinical and research fellow in interventional cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA). He then completed a year of advanced interventional and structural cardiology fellowship at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Houston Methodist Hospital (Houston, TX).

Dr. Kalra is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology from the American Board of Internal Medicine, and a Diplomate in Adult Comprehensive Echocardiography from the National Board of Echocardiography. He is also certified in patient safety, healthcare quality, health informatics and leadership from Harvard Medical School’s 1-year Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership certification program. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science program in Health Economics, Outcomes and Management in Cardiovascular Sciences at the London School of Economics & Political Science in London, United Kingdom.

He is also the author of the poetry book, "Ibadah" that was released on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and launched in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic Arts and Medicine Institute on Valentine's Day, 2020.  

1. Bhat V, Kumar A, Kalra A. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers after transcatheter aortic valve replacement: a meta-analysis. JACC Adv. 2024;3:100927.

2. Gunderman D, Kumar A, Munguia-Vasquez R, Vora KP, Shah C, Lambert ND, Cavanaugh BJ, Dharmakumar R, Kalra A. Clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction in health professional shortage areas in Indiana. JACC Adv. 2024;

3. Rao VU, Ziedonis K, Gunderman D, Kumar A, Bashall A, Stark K, Chugh AR, Daly R, Kalra A. Structured program for weight loss in heart failure patients: findings from a cardiology-driven obesity clinic. JACC Adv. 2024,3:100741.

4. Majmundar M, Patel KN, Doshi R, Kumar A, Arora S, Panaich S, Kalra A. Transcatheter versus surgical mitral valve repair in patients with mitral regurgitation. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2024;65:ezad391.

5. Kalra A, Das R, Alkhalil M, Dykun I, Candreva A, Jarral O, Rehman SM, Majmundar M, Patel KN, Rodes-Cabau J, Reardon MJ, Puri R. Bicuspid aortic valve disease: classifications, treatments, and emerging transcatheter paradigms. Struct Heart. 2023;8:100227.

6. Kalra A, Kumar A. Endovascular reperfusion strategy for infra-popliteal chronic limb threatening ischaemia. Lancet. 2023;401:1749-1750.

7. Iqbal K, Kumar A, Ishaque A, Farid E, Iqbal A, Rathore SS, Majmundar M, Shariff M, Kalra A. Sex differences in introductions at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session and Expo (ACC.22). JACC Adv. 2023;2:100253.

8. Kalra A, Jose AP, Prabhakaran P, Kumar A, Agrawal A, Roy A, Bhargava B, Tandon N, Prabhakaran D. The burgeoning cardiovascular disease epidemic in Indians - perspectives on contextual factors and potential solutions. Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2023;12:100156. 

9. Howard T, Majmundar M, Sarin S, Kumar A, Ajay A, Krishnaswamy A, Reed GW, Harb SC, Harmon E, Dykun I, Ghandakly E, Kapadia SR, Kalra A, Puri R. Predictors of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with moderate aortic stenosis: implications for aortic valve replacement. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2023;16:557-565.

10. Majmundar M, Doshi R, Patel KN, Zala H, Kumar A, Kalra A. Prevalence, trends, and outcomes of cardiovascular diseases in pregnant patients in the USA: 2010-19. Eur Heart J. 2023;44:726-737.

11. Bhat V, Ozair A, Bellur S, Subhash NR, Kumar A, Majmundar M, Kalra A. Inequities in country- and gender-based authorship representation in cardiology-related Cochrane reviews. JACC Adv. 2022;1:100140.

12. Shariff M, Kumar A, Kansara T, Majmundar M, Doshi R, Stulak JM, Kapadia SR, Reed GW, Puri R, Kalra A. A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing intravascular ultrasound versus optical coherence tomography versus angiography-guided technique for drug-eluting stent implantation. JSCAI. 2022;1:100507.

13. Kalra A, Chinnaiyan KM, Lala A. Bhagavad Gita, dichotomy of control and metric medicine: the conflict of burnout. Eur Heart J. 2022;43:4769-4771.

14. Majmundar M, Vasudeva R, Zala H, Kumar A, Nasir K, Kalra A. Representation of international medical graduates amongst top cardiology hospitals in the United States. JACC Adv. 2022;1:100119.

15. Majmundar M, Patel KN, Doshi R, Anantha-Narayanan M, Kumar A, Reed GW, Puri R, Kapadia SR, Jaradat ZA, Bhatt DL, Kalra A. Comparison of 6-Month outcomes of endovascular vs surgical revascularization for patients with critical limb ischemia. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5:e2227746.

16. Majmundar M, Ibarra G, Kumar A, Doshi R, Shah P, Mehran R, Reed GW, Puri R, Kapadia SR, Bangalore S, Kalra A. Invasive versus medical management in patients with chronic kidney disease and non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022;11:e025205.

17. Kalra A, Reed G, Puri R, Majmundar M, Kumar A, Foley JD, Zala H, Nasir K, Kapadia SR, Bhatt DL. Trend of demographics of cardiovascular disease fellows and association between fellows and program director race. JACC Adv. 2022;1:100032.

18. Kalra A, Kumar A, Shariff M, Jain V, Majmundar M, Mehran R, Kapadia S. Racial disparities in first authorship of cardiology editorials. JSCAI. 2022;1:100017.

19. Majmundar M, Kumar A, Doshi R, Shariff M, Krishnaswamy A, Reed GW, Brockett J, Lahorra JA, Svensson LG, Puri R, Kapadia SR, Kalra A. Early outcomes of transcatheter versus surgical aortic valve implantation in patients with bicuspid aortic valve stenosis. EuroIntervention. 2022;18:23-32.

20. Kalra A, Raza S, Jafry BH, King HE, Lahorra JA, Svensson LG, Kapadia SR. Off-label use of direct oral anticoagulants in patients receiving surgical mechanical and bioprosthetic heart valves. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4:e211259.

21. Mehran R, Kumar A, Bansal A, Shariff M, Gulati M, Kalra A. Gender and disparity in first authorship in cardiology randomized clinical trials. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4:e211043.

22. Kalra A, Hawkins ES, Nowacki AS, Jain V, Milinovich A, Saef J, Thomas G, Gebreselassie SK, Karnik SS, Jehi L, Young JB, Svensson LG, Chung MK, Mehta N. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors versus angiotensin II receptor blockers: a comparison of outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2020;13:e007115.

23. Khan SU, Singh M, Valavoor S, Khan MU, Lone AN, Khan MZ, Khan MS, Mani P, Kapadia SR, Michos ED, Stone GW, Kalra A, Bhatt DL. Dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention and drug-eluting stents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Circulation. 2020;142:1425-1436.

24. Mehta N, Kalra A, Nowacki AS, Anjewierden S, Han Z, Bhat P, Carmona-Rubio AE, Jacob M, Procop GW, Harrington S, Milinovich A, Svensson LG, Jehi L, Young JB, Chung MK. Association of Use of angiotensin-converting enzyme Inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers with testing positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiol. 2020;5:1020-1026.

25. Panhwar MS, Chatterjee S, Kalra A. Training the critical care cardiologists of the future: an interventional cardiology critical care pathway. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;75:2984-2988.

26. Kalra A, Michos ED, Chinnaiyan KM. COVID-19 and the healthcare workers. Eur Heart J. 2020;41:2936-2937. 

27. Jabri A, Kalra A, Kumar A, Alameh A, Adroja S, Bashir H, Nowacki AS, Shah R, Khubber S, Kanaa'N A, Hedrick DP, Sleik KM, Mehta N, Chung MK, Khot UN, Kapadia SR, Puri R, Reed GW. Incidence of stress cardiomyopathy during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e2014780. 

28. Gage A, Higgins A, Lee R, Panhwar MS, Kalra A. Reacquainting cardiology with mechanical ventilation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. JACC Case Rep. 2020;2:1402-1406.

29. Khan MS, Khan MS, Ansari ZN, Siddiqi TJ, Khan SU, Riaz IB, Asad ZUA, Mandrola J, Wason J, Warraich HJ, Stone GW, Bhatt DL, Kapadia SR, Kalra A. Prevalence of multiplicity and appropriate adjustments among cardiovascular randomized clinical trials published in major medical journals. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e203082.

30. Bandyopadhyay D, Chakraborty S, Amgai B, Kapadia SR, Braunwald E, Naidu SS, Kalra A. Association of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy with outcomes following transcatheter aortic valve replacement. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e1921669.

31. Khan MS, Shahadat A, Khan SU, Ahmed S, Doukky R, Michos ED, Kalra A. The Kardashian index of cardiologists: celebrities or experts? JACC Case Rep. 2020;2:330-332. 

32. Kalra A, Kumbhani DJ, Hill JA. Cardiovascular Science India Tour: impacting cardiovascular disease in South Asia. Circulation. 2020;141:159-160.

33. Luong P, Bojansky AM, Kalra A. Academic physician compensation in the United States: should providers' work at academic medical centres be judged by just one metric, the relative value unit (RVU)? Eur Heart J. 2018;39:3633-3634.

34. Deo SV, Raza S, Kalra A, Deo VS, Altarabsheh SE, Zia A, Khan MS, Markowitz AH, Sabik JF 3rd, Park SJ. Admissions for infective endocarditis in intravenous drug users. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;71:1596-1597. 

35. Kalra A, Adusumalli S, Sinha SS. Cultivating skills for success in learning health systems: learning to lead. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;70:2450-2454.

36. Hafiz AM, Kalra A, Ramadan R, Poulin MF, Andalib A, Phillips CT, Bhatt DL, Reardon MJ, Kleiman NS, Popma JJ. Clinical or symptomatic leaflet thrombosis following transcatheter aortic valve replacement: insights from the U.S. FDA MAUDE database. Struct Heart. 2017;1:256-264.

37. Kalra A. Perseverance versus Pedigree: Ankur Kalra, MD, a foreign medical graduate, discusses how determination and perseverance overcame 'pedigree' in his quest for a successful academic cardiology career in America. Determination was the ingredient to success. Eur Heart J. 2017;38:1789-1791.

38. Kalra A, Pokharel Y, Hira RS, Risch S, Vicera V, Li Q, Kalra RN, Kerkar PG, Kumar G, Maddox TM, Oetgen WJ, Glusenkamp N, Turakhia MP, Virani SS. Cardiovascular disease performance measures in the outpatient setting in India: insights from the American College of Cardiology's PINNACLE India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP). J Am Heart Assoc. 2015;4:e001910.

39. Maron BJ, Kalra A. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the developing world: focus on India. Eur Heart J. 2014;35(36):2492-2495.