Dr. Blase A. Carabello is the Distinguished John “Jack” rose Professor of Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University and Chief of Cardiology at East Carolina Heart institute and Vidant Medical Center. Dr. Carabello is an internationally recognized expert in the field of valvular heart disease. He specializes in the care of patients who have complex valvular heart disease, and in the practice of general internal medicine. Prior to joining ECHI, Dr. Carabello served as Chair of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, Chief of Cardiology at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System, and Director of its Center for Heart Valve Disease . He was also Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Chief of Medicine at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Administration Medical Center. Prior to that he was The Charles Ezra Daniels Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. As a leading researcher in valvular heart disease, Dr. Carabello has published more than 250 peer-reviewed research studies and 200 book chapters and editorials. He has co-authored the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Guidelines for the Treatment of Valvular Disease from 1998-2017. In 2009, he was honored by the American College of Cardiology as a recipient of its prestigious Distinguished Scientist Award. Dr. Carabello is past President of both the Society for Heart Valve Disease and the Association of University Cardiologists, past Vice President of the Heart Valve Society of America, and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. After attending Gettysburg College, Dr. Carabello graduated cum laude from Temple University School of Medicine. At Harvard Medical School, he received his residency training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed his cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.