Who can give a patient with a failing heart time — and the strength to enjoy it?

A problem-solving team like Dr. Thomas Beaver and Dr. Juan Aranda.

Dr. Beaver specializes in minimally invasive cardiac surgery for aortic and mitral valves, atrial fibrillation and thoracic aortic surgery. He is the surgical director of heart transplantation at UF Health and a member of the lung transplant team.

Dr. Beaver is the co-principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health RO1 grant studying diaphragm function following cardiac surgery. He is a clinical investigator with an interest in making cardiac surgery safer through clinical trials that evaluate kidney protection strategies, minimally invasive valves and stent grafting for thoracic aneurysms. His laboratory interests include projects studying inflammatory response following lung transplantation.

Dr. Aranda is active in the treatment of heart failure and the use of advanced therapies, such as the left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, and cardiac transplantation. His clinical interests include cardiovascular disease and pathways to treat, stabilize and prevent heart failure admissions and complications.

He works with a team of cardiothoracic surgeons and other cardiologists at UF Health to create customized treatment plans for heart patients, which may include medical therapy, surgery or a combination of both.