Tarek Alsaied, M.D.

Associate Professor

Schools: Medical School
Departments: Pediatrics

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Biography

Tarek Alsaied, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, specializing in pediatric cardiology.

Dr. Alsaied has held academic positions at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the University of Cincinnati College Medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Alsaied also served as Co-Director and Director of the Fontan Program at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, respectively.

He joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2025 as a pediatric cardiologist.

Dr. Alsaied has demonstrated expertise in congenital heart disease and complex cardiac imaging. His research focuses on outcomes in congenital heart disease, cardiovascular imaging, and Fontan circulation. He is a principal investigator for multiple clinical trials and registries, including COMPASS and FORCE studies, and his research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and other industry grants.

Dr. Alsaeid earned his medical degree at Damascus University Faculty of Medicine in Damascus, Syria. He completed his pediatric residency at the American University of Beirut Medical Center and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Alsaeid completed a pediatric cardiology fellowship at Cincinnati Children's and gained advanced training in pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular imaging at Boston Children's Hospital. He also earned his M.Sc. in clinical and translational research from the University of Cincinnati.

His scholarly contributions include more than 160 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and editorial contributions to major cardiology journals. Dr. Alsaeid serves as an associate editor of the journal Pediatric Cardiology and participates in several journal review boards. He is frequently invited to give lectures nationally and internationally. He also is active in professional societies, holding committee leadership positions in the American College of Cardiology and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.

Dr. Alsaied has been recognized for his contributions to teaching, curriculum development, and mentorship, receiving numerous awards, including the Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Teacher of the Year Award from UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

He also engages in community service through global health initiatives and educational outreach.

Education

Medical Education: University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine (2008)
Residency: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (2014), Pediatrics
Other: University of Cincinnati (2017), Master of Science in Clinical Research
Fellowship: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (2017), Pediatric Cardiology

Publications

Lower Child Opportunity Index is Associated with Lower Exercise Capacity Post-Fontan Palliation: Karolcik BA, Wang L, Ragavan MI, Hoskoppal AK, Saraf AP, Arora G, Kreutzer J, Viegas ML, Alsaied T Pediatric Cardiology 2026 Jan 47 240-248
Efficacy of Heart Failure Medications in Fontan Circulation: A Systematic Review of Evidence and Gaps in Pharmacological Strategy: ABDULKARIM A, ALSAIED T, VAN DEN EYNDE J, NERO N, RUSH N, AMDANI S Journal of Cardiac Failure 2026 Jan 32 145-150
Association of Child Opportunity Index with Outcomes in Pediatric Supraventricular Tachycardia: Karolcik BA, Calcaterra MJ, Smith KL, Schiff MD, Ragavan MI, Alsaied T, Follansbee CW, Beerman LB, Arora G Pediatric Cardiology 2026 Jan 47 57-63
Septal leaflet augmentation during Da Silva cone repair: Valvar function and anatomic features compared to nonpatch repair: Stoll VK, Da Silva JP, Sundaram K, Diaz-Castrillon CE, Schiff M, Thoma F, Seese L, Alsaied T, Hajovsky D, Tang R, Castro-Medina M, Morell V, Moulik M, Da Fonseca Da Silva L Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2026 172 247-256.e2
Measuring Atrioventricular Valve Regurgitation Using 4D Flow Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Post-Fontan: Author Collaboration FI, Ladha HM, Wang JC, Li Y, Christopher AB, Kreutzer J, Krishnamurthy R, Raimondi F, Robinson JD, Loke YH, Olivieri LJ, Fogel MA, Ceschin R, Rathod RH, Alsaied T Pediatric Cardiology 2026
From Other Journals: A Review of Recent Articles by Our Editorial Team — 2026 First Edition: Alhayek N, Shibbani K, Alsaied T, Diab K Pediatric Cardiology 2026
Shape Variations in Right Ventricular 3D Geometry Are Associated With Adverse Outcomes in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Patients: A Fontan Outcomes Registry Using CMR Examinations (FORCE) Study: Loke YH, O’Hara R, Contento J, Marella N, Kollar S, Vegulla R, Gaviria S, Mehta R, Balaras E, Fetch A, d’Udekem Y, Alsaied T, Olivieri L, Truong U, Anwar S, Rathod RH, Capuano F Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging 2025 Dec 18 e018455
Multicenter Comparison of Long-Term Outcomes: Extracardiac Conduit Fontan vs Lateral Tunnel Fontan at 15-Year Follow-Up: Seese L, Schiff M, Morell VO, Tran M, Arora G, Olivieri LJ, Follansbee C, Christopher AB, Kreutzer J, Fogel M, Medina MC, Diaz-Castrillon CE, Da Fonseca Da Silva L, Da Silva JP, Rathod RH, Alsaied T, Aggarwal M, Alsaied T, Thattaliyah B, Dorfman AL, Files MD, Fogel M, Hedge S, Krishnamurthy R, Doshi A, Lam C, Loke YH, Marsden A, Muthurangu V, Olivieri LJ, Renella P, Ramachandran P, Rathod R, Quail M, Raimondi F, Renno M, Robinson J, Ruchira G, Shah A, Slesnik TC, Soslow J, Steele J, Stern M, Johnson T, House AV, Weigand J Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2025 Dec 120 1115-1123
The long-term effect of the Fontan fenestration on clinical outcomes: A FORCE registry study: Author Collaboration tF, Li Y, Schiff M, Olivieri LJ, Christopher AB, Morell V, Seese L, Rathod RH, Kreutzer J, Alsaied T, Alsaied T, Dorfman AL, Files MD, Fogel M, Hegde S, Johnson T, Krishnamurthy R, Kutty S, Lam CZ, Loke Y, Marsden AL, Muthurangu V, Olivieri LJ, Quail M, Raimondi F, Ramachandran P, Rathod RH, Renella P, Renno MS, Robinson JD, Ruchira G, Shah A, Slesnick TC, Soslow JH, Steele J, Stern KW, Thattaliyath B, House AV, Weigand J American heart journal 2025 Dec 290 105-114
Defining diastolic dysfunction post-Fontan: Threshold, risk factors, and associations with outcomes: Alsaied T, Li R, Grant H, Schiff MD, Li Y, Christopher AB, Kreutzer J, Goldstein BH, Soslow JH, Loke YH, Fogel MA, Slesnick TC, Krishnamurthy R, Muthurangu V, Dorfman AL, Lam C, Weigand JD, Robinson JD, Olivieri LJ, Rathod RH, Aggarwal M, Alsaied T, Doshi A, Files MD, Fogel M, Hegde S, Hoyer A, Johnson T, Krishnamurthy R, Lam CZ, Loke Y, Marsden AL, Muthurangu V, Olivieri LJ, Quail M, Raimondi F, Ramachandran P, Rathod RH, Renella P, Renno MS, Robinson JD, Ruchira G, Shah A, Slesnick TC, Soslow JH, Steele J, Stern KW, Thattaliyath B, House AV, Weigand J American heart journal 2025 Dec 290 288-296