Veli Kemal Topkara, MD

Veli K. Topkara is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with advanced heart failure including those requiring ventricular assist device support and heart transplantation. Dr. Topkara is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, and advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation

Dr. Topkara received his medical degree from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine in 2003. He completed internal medicine residency training at Baylor College of Medicine as a MeRIT Scholar and cardiology fellowship training at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Topkara completed post-doctoral basic cardiovascular research training at Washington University School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Douglas Mann and received a master’s degree in genetic epidemiology from Washington University School of Medicine in 2012. He also completed additional clinical fellowship training in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation at Columbia University Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian.

Dr. Topkara’s research focuses on basic mechanisms of myocardial recovery with an emphasis on transcriptional and metabolic regulation of cardiac reverse remodeling pathways. His research interests include clinical and genetic determinants of chemotherapy-induced heart failure, inherited cardiomyopathies, and clinical outcomes of patients requiring left ventricular assist device support and/or cardiac transplantation. Dr. Topkara analyzes biological samples obtained from patients with heart failure to identify novel biomarkers associated with disease progression, and performs mechanistic studies in cell and animal models. Dr. Topkara has received recognition for his research accomplishments. His research awards include the 2010 Jay N. Cohn New Investigator Award in Basic Science from the Heart Failure Society of America and 2010 Northwestern Cardiovascular Young Investigators' Forum Basic Science Award. Dr. Topkara has published more than 90 publications and presented his research nationally and internationally.