Enter your keyword

Physicians

Our Cardiologists

Our cardiologists and staff strive to provide the highest quality cardiac care while providing our patients with personalized treatment. In addition to General Cardiology, we have staff Cardiologists specially trained in Cardiac Electrophysiology, Nuclear Cardiology, Congestive Heart Failure and Women’s Cardiac Care. Here is more information about our medical and support team.

Rex Ghassemi, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Dr. Ghassemi is certified by the American Board of Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology. In addition to his practice at Advanced Cardiology Practice, he serves as Medical Director of Cardiac Catheterization at St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital.

He specializes in advanced cardiovascular procedures, which include angioplasty, laser atherectomy and stenting of the carotid arteries, as well as arteries of the legs and kidneys.

Dr. Ghassemi also specializes in laser varicose vein treatment and is director of The Vein Center.

Dr. Ghassemi received his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ/Robrt Wood Johnson Medical School.) His internship and residency were completed at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia in Internal Medicine in 1991. Following this, he completed his cardiology fellowship at Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, in 1994 in Cardiology. He then went on to complete a fellowship in Interventional/Invasive Cardiology at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, in 1995.

After his fellowship in 1995, Dr. Ghassemi founded Cardiology Consultants of North Jersey, which became known as Advanced Cardiology Practice in 2009. He is licensed in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

He is a member and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He has served as a clinical instructor of Medicine on the faculty of Hahnemann University Hospital since 1991.

In addition to serving as Medical Director of Cardiac Catheterization at St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital, Dr. Ghassemi also maintains privileges as an attending physician at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson.

Dr. Ghassemi has earned Interventional Certifications in Cardiac Catheterization; Percutaneous Transluminal Balloon Angioplasty; Directional Coronary Athrectomy; Intracoronary Stenting; Rotational Atherectomy; Transluminal Extraction Catheter and Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump placement.

A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Dr. Ghassemi graduated from Paramus High School and Rutgers University in New Brunswick, where he earned a BA. He is married and the father of two children.

Donna Konlian, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Dr. Konlian is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Board of Cardiovascular disease. In addition to her practice at Advanced Cardiology Practice she currently serves as Director of non-invasive imaging at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center.

Dr. Konlian earned her M.D. from Thomas Jefferson University Medical College in 1989. Her internship and residency were completed at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Internal Medicine.

Dr. Konlian completed her cardiology fellowship at Atlanta’s Emory University, Department of Cardiology, in 1995. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease. Her undergraduate degree was earned at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a BA in Biology with general honors in 1984.

Since 1996 she has served as Associate Chief of Cardiology and Director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. She previously served as an Instructor of Medicine in the Department of Cardiology at Emory University.

Dr. Konlian is an attending physician at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson; St. Joseph’s Wayne Valley Hospital in Ridgewood; General Hospital Center at Passaic; St. Joseph’s Wayne; Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains; and Beth Israel Hospital in Passaic.

She is a member of the American Medical Association. She is licensed in Nuclear Cardiology and Transesophageal Echocardiography. She is licensed in the state of New Jersey. She has been awarded several honors over her professional career, including Fellow of the American College of Cardiology; the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society; the Hare Medical Honor Society; she is the recipient of the Janet Glasgow American Medical Women’s Association Award of Outstanding Achievement; and she had graduated magna cum laude from Jefferson Medical College.

Michael Biehl, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Dr. Biehl earned his M.D. from St. George’s University School of Medicine in St. George, Grenada, in 1986. His internship and residency in Internal Medicine were completed at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Newark, between 1987 and 1990.

Dr. Biehl went on to complete a fellowship in Pacemaker in 1991 from Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark; a fellowship in Cardiology in 1993 from UMDNJ; and a fellowship in Electrophysiology in 1994 at the Sinai Samaritan Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisc.

Since 2003 he has served as the Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. Previously he served from 1997 to 2003 as the Director of the Pacemaker Center of St. Joseph’s Regional. Prior to this appointment he was an Instructor of Medicine and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Milwaukee.

Dr. Biehl is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a diplomate in Cardiovascular Disease and in Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology. He is licensed in the states of New Jersey and Wisconsin.

He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology; and a member of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology, the American Medical Association, and the American College of Physicians. He is the recipient of the Christiansen Award for Excellence in Research from Brigham Young University, where he earned undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry in 1981 and 1982.

Dr. Biehl and his wife Annie reside in Randolph.

Mostafa Salimi, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Dr. Salimi earned his M.D. from Tehran University, Tehran, Iran, in 1964. He interned at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia between 1966 and 1967. He served as a medical resident at Einstein Medical Center from 1966 to 1967, and at the Veterans Administration Hospital in New York City from 1968 to 1970.

He completed a fellowship at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., between 1970 and 1972.

Dr. Salimi is an attending physician at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, at St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital. Previously he has served as a Cardiologist/Internist at the Union Health Center in New York City, and as a Cardiologist at the Queen Pahlavi Cardiovascular Center in Tehran. In addition to his position in Advanced Cardiology Practice he has previously maintained offices in North Haledon and Clifton, as well as Wayne.

Dr. Salimi is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Board of Cardiovascular Diseases. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, a member of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Passaic County Medical Society. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Seton Hall Graduate School of Medicine.

Dr. Salimi and his wife, Manizheh Ghaen-Panah, M.D., are the proud parents of two daughters.

Sameer A. Azhak, M.D.

Dr. Azhak earned his M.D. in 2002 from St. George’s University School of Medicine in St. George, Grenada, West Indies. His internship and residency in Internal Medicine were completed at Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark between 2002 and 2005.

Dr. Azhak completed a fellowship in Invasive and Non-invasive Cardiovascular Disease at the Seton Hall University School of Graduate Medical Education. He also completed Graduate Medical Education at Saint Michael’s Medical Center; Saint Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, Paterson; and Trinitas Hospital, Elizabeth.

Dr. Azhak joined the staff of Advanced Cardiology Practice in 2008. His scope of practice includes Academic Clinical Teaching in the field of Clinical Cardiology. He holds a special interest in Complex Lipid Disorders, Metabolic Syndrome and Preventive Cardiology; Non-Invasive Cardiology Level II Echo and Nuclear training; and Invasive Cardiology Level III training.

He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is board certified in Nuclear Cardiology by the Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology and he is board eligible in Echocardiography.

Dr. Azhak earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1996 from Rutgers University, Cook College. He was on the Dean’s List from 1993 through 1996 and became a Phi Beta Kappa in 1996. He also was named to the Dean’s List from 1998 through 2000 at St Georges University.

He is a resident of Wayne.

Saddad Z. Toor, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.C., F.A.S.E., R.P.V.I.

Dr. Toor earned his M.D. in 2003 from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia (formerly MCP Hahnemann University School of Medicine) and joined the staff of Advanced Cardiology Practice in 2009.

Dr. Toor holds multiple board certifications. He is certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is also board certified in adult comprehensive echocardiography by the National Board of Echocardiography and was elected as a fellow to the American Society of Echocardiography. Dr. Toor holds a special interest in advanced cardiovascular imaging and valvular disorders.

Dr. Toor completed a three-year residency program in Internal Medicine at Boston University Medical Center. In June 2009 he completed a three-year fellowship in clinical cardiology from Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, NYC. His fellowship encompassed the study of echocardiography, stress testing with nuclear imaging, advanced cardiac imaging, electrophysiology, cardiac catheterization and angioplasty. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Nuclear Cardiology and Adult Echocardiography.

He is a member of the American College of Physicians/American Society of Internal Medicine; the American Medical Association; the Americah Society of Echocardiography; and the American College of Cardiology.

In addition to English, Dr. Toor is also fluent in Hindi and Urdu and is proficient in Spanish.

Dr. Toor earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University, graduating in 1999 with a major in Biology.

Dr. Toor recently earned his M.B.A. in Healthcare Management from Quinnipiac University in 2017.

Barry D. Schair, M.D., F.A.C.C., M.B.A.

Dr. Schair joined the staff of Advanced Cardiology Practice in 2010.
In June 2008, Dr. Schair completed a three-year fellowship in cardiology from Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York. He completed a three-year residency program in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx in 2005.

Licensed to practice medicine in both New Jersey and New York, he is board certified as a diplomat in Internal Medicine. He is also board certified in Cardiology, Nuclear Cardiology, and Echocardiography.

He earned his medical degree from SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn in 2002.

Dr. Schair earned his undergraduate degree from New York University in 1997. In addition to his medical degrees, he also holds an MBA in Finance from Bernard M. Baruch College of New York and a BS in Marketing from New York University, N.Y.

He resides in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. .

Surabhi Madhwal Atreja, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Dr. Atreja completed her internal medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, and cardiology training at Case Western Reserve University Cleveland and joined Mount Sinai Medical Center in July 2012 for interventional cardiology fellowship and then stayed as visiting faculty.

Dr. Atreja’s clinical interests are peripheral vascular disease, Aortic Stenosis, leg pain, Coronary artery disease management, Heart attacks, and specializes in coronary angioplasty, atherectomy, peripheral procedures, Aortic Valvuloplasty and Percutaneous Aortic valve replacement.

She is certified by the American Board of Cardiovascular disease, Interventional cardiology and Internal Medicine, She is also board certified in echocardiography and Nuclear medicine.