Heart & Wellness on Chicago’s Near North Side: A Connected Circle of Care

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Staying heart-healthy on Chicago’s Near North Side increasingly means having a coordinated team—specialists who can prevent problems, catch issues early, and provide advanced treatment when it’s needed. From concierge primary care to cardiology, genetics, imaging, heart failure, and complex surgery, a remarkable range of expertise is clustered within a few city blocks.

This guide highlights how these physicians fit together into a comprehensive heart and wellness network, and how different points along that spectrum might support you or someone you love.

A Strong Foundation: Concierge Primary Care and Prevention

Heart health often starts outside the cardiologist’s office—with everyday choices, preventive screenings, and careful coordination when something changes.

Gabrielle Navon, MD is an internal medicine physician in Chicago who specializes in personalized, unhurried primary care through her concierge practice, TruCare Concierge. Her approach is built around direct access—by phone, text, or video—plus same- or next-day appointments and extended visits that allow time to address every concern.

With a strong focus on prevention, wellness, and the management of complex medical conditions, Dr. Navon offers thoughtful guidance and continuity across care settings. She also provides coordination with trusted Northwestern specialists. Her limited membership model is designed so that each patient receives the time, attention, and advocacy they deserve—often serving as the central hub that connects patients to the right cardiologist, geneticist, or surgeon when heart issues arise.

Understanding Your Risk: Cardiovascular Genetics and Imaging

For many people, heart health is tied to family history or inherited conditions. On the Near North Side, cardiovascular genetics and advanced imaging are key tools in clarifying risk and guiding care.

Elizabeth M. McNally, MD, PhD, is a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and a leader in cardiovascular genetics. Her practice incorporates genetic information to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. Dr. McNally’s interest centers on the genetic mechanisms responsible for inherited human diseases, including heart failure, cardiomyopathy, muscular dystrophy, arrhythmias, and aortic aneurysms. As director of the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, she is positioned at the intersection of research and clinical care, helping patients understand how genetics may influence their heart health.

Advanced imaging and noninvasive testing also play a critical role in both diagnosis and prevention. Lubna Choudhury, MD is a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital whose specific areas of interest include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, nuclear cardiology, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). She focuses on the noninvasive assessment of coronary artery disease and preoperative cardiac evaluation. Board certified in cardiovascular disease and nuclear cardiology, and an associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Choudhury uses these tools to better define risk, guide treatment decisions, and help patients safely prepare for surgery when needed.

Heart Rhythm & Electrophysiology: Managing the Beat

Many heart concerns involve the electrical system—conditions like atrial fibrillation, flutter, or more complex rhythm disorders. On the Near North Side, specialized cardiac electrophysiologists offer both diagnostic and procedural care.

Nishant Verma, MD, MPH is a cardiac electrophysiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital. His practice focuses include cardiac rhythm disorders, atrial fibrillation/flutter, catheter ablation, and defibrillators/pacemakers. Board certified in cardiovascular disease, clinical cardiac electrophysiology, and internal medicine, and serving as an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Verma provides expertise in both medical management and interventional procedures for patients with rhythm issues.

Susan S. Kim, MD is also a cardiac electrophysiologist and serves as director of the Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Clinic at Northwestern Medicine. Considered an expert in the management of patients with heart rhythm disorders, Dr. Kim’s clinical interests remain broad and include management of all types of heart rhythm disorders, as well as implantation of cardiac rhythm management devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. As an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, she blends clinical leadership with academic insight to guide patients through device therapy and long-term follow-up.

Together, electrophysiology specialists like Dr. Verma and Dr. Kim form a crucial pillar of comprehensive heart care—identifying arrhythmias, reducing symptoms, and helping lower the risk of complications like stroke.

Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy & Complex Conditions

As people live longer with heart disease, advanced heart failure and cardiomyopathies are increasingly common—and often require specialized clinics and multidisciplinary teams.

Jane E. Wilcox, MD is a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine and director of the Myocardial Recovery Clinic for patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Her practice focuses include cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, heart transplantation, and ventricular assist devices. She also has expertise in muscular dystrophy-associated cardiomyopathy and is an integral member of the multidisciplinary Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) clinic at Northwestern. As an assistant professor of medicine and the associate director of the T1 Center for Cardiovascular Therapeutics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Wilcox is deeply involved in both clinical care and innovation for patients with complex heart muscle disease.

Sanjiv J. Shah, MD is a cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital whose practice focuses include heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), cardiac sarcoidosis, and pulmonary hypertension. Board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, and adult echocardiography and perioperative echocardiography, Dr. Shah brings a broad toolkit to managing nuanced forms of heart failure and related conditions that can be difficult to diagnose and treat.

These advanced heart failure and cardiomyopathy services complement the preventive and diagnostic resources available on the Near North Side, allowing patients to remain within a coordinated system of care even as their needs become more complex.

Cancer & the Heart: Specialized Cardio-Oncology

For patients undergoing cancer treatment, protecting the heart becomes an essential part of their overall care plan. On the Near North Side, specialized cardio-oncology services focus on exactly that intersection.

Nausheen Akhter, MD is a cardiologist and medical director of the Diagnostic Cardiac Sonography Program who leads the Cardio-Oncology Service at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She specializes in echocardiography and cardio-oncology. Board certified in echocardiography, cardiovascular computer tomography, nuclear cardiology, and cardiovascular disease, and serving as an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Akhter works with patients and cancer care teams to monitor heart function, manage cardiovascular risk, and help patients safely receive life-saving cancer therapies.

Surgical Excellence: Valves, Aorta & Advanced Procedures

When medication and less invasive procedures are not enough, cardiac surgery becomes a vital part of the spectrum of care.

Patrick M. McCarthy, MD is the chief of cardiac surgery at Northwestern Medicine and executive director of Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. He has performed more than 11,000 heart operations, and currently over 80 percent involve heart valve surgery and/or atrial fibrillation surgery. Dr. McCarthy has achieved national and international recognition in the fields of complex adult cardiac surgery, including valve repair and replacement and atrial fibrillation. As the Heller-Sacks Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, he leads a program that handles some of the most challenging surgical cases.

Christopher K. Mehta, MD, a cardiac surgeon with Northwestern Medicine and associate director of the Thoracic Aortic Surgery Program at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, focuses his clinical and research interests on aortic dissections and aneurysms, aortic valve repair, aortic arch reconstruction, thoracoabdominal aortic repair, endovascular aorta stent grafting, and transcatheter valve therapies. As an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Mehta combines surgical expertise with ongoing research into better ways to treat complex aortic and valve disease.

These surgical leaders round out the heart-care continuum available on the Near North Side, providing options for patients who require open-heart or advanced endovascular procedures.

A Connected Heart & Wellness Community on the Near North Side

From a preventive visit with a concierge internist to highly specialized genetics, imaging, rhythm care, heart failure management, cardio-oncology, and complex surgery, the Near North Side of Chicago offers a tightly connected ecosystem for heart and overall wellness.

Whether you are looking to better understand your risk, address a new diagnosis, or explore advanced treatment options, this cluster of physicians provides a path that can evolve with your needs—keeping care connected, coordinated, and close to home.