Meet our Program Leadership & Staff!

Alexis Tumolo

Cardiovascular Disease
Program Director

After growing up in Central Massachusetts, Lexi completed her BA in Classics-Latin at Harvard, MD at UMass Medical School, and internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center before moving to Colorado in 2014 for Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowships. Through these experiences and additional training paths and fellowships in education, she found her passion for Medical Education—fostering enthusiasm, curiosity, and growth in students and trainees remains one of the most fulfilling aspects of her work. When she is not in the hospital, Lexi is swimming, singing, and building Legos with her two boys, checking out new fiction (currently My Friends by Frederik Backman), training for a half marathon, spending time in the mountains or at the beach, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

 Christine Sailer

Cardiovascular Disease
Associate Program Director

Christine grew up in Chapel Hill, NC. She completed her MD and IM residency at Johns Hopkins, and cardiology and advanced heart failure and transplant fellowships at the University of Colorado. She loves teaching and learning from the fellows, especially in the ICU setting, and feels it is a privilege to work with them through their final years of training. When not in the hospital, she and her husband enjoyed hiking with their two dogs; more recently, she has been spending her time at home with their baby girl.

 Joseph (Joe) Kay

Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Program Director

Joe is originally from Buffalo, NY, and completed his fellowship in Adult and Pediatric Cardiology at Duke University from 1999–2004. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys studying history and exploring various expressions of spirituality. He is passionate about bringing people of different religious traditions together, with a focus on emphasizing shared values and common ground rather than differences.

Elizabeth (Liz) Yeung

Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Associate Program Director

Liz is originally from New York City, which will always have a place in her heart, but she considers herself a Coloradan for the last 20 years. She did her fellowship training at Children’s Hospital CO and hasn’t left since. She loves teaching because it reminds her of everything that we don’t know and stimulates the curious brain which makes us push harder.  When she's not in the hospital, you can find her hanging with her family or trying to improve her golf game.  She's always up for trying new things!

Brian Stauffer

Denver Health Chair of Cardiology

Brian grew up in central Pennsylvania, where he spent his childhood taking care of horses and sheep in Lancaster County. After completing his undergraduate studies in Virginia, he attended medical school in Hershey, where he also engaged in cardiovascular physiology research—living between the Hershey’s Chocolate and Reese’s Peanut Butter factories. During medical school, he spent a research year at CU Boulder and ultimately came to CU following his internal medicine training at Case Western for his Cardiology and research fellowships. He enjoys the bidirectional learning that is inherent in a teaching program. When not in the hospital, Brian can usually be found with his family, enjoying Colorado’s outdoors through skiing, mountain biking, or club/high school soccer.

Greg Schwartz

VA Chief of Cardiology

Originally from Queens, NY and a product of NYC Public Schools, Greg completed his residency at CU and his cardiology fellowship at UCSF. Greg finds that teaching reminds him of how much there is still to learn, which keeps him curious and engaged, and he values the opportunity to learn from fellows as much as they learn from him. Outside of work, Greg enjoys hiking, skiing, traveling, and gardening.

Matt Zipse

Electrophysiology
Program Director

Matt grew up in Indiana and completed both undergraduate and medical school training at Indiana University. He later moved to Colorado and stayed at the University of Colorado for residency, fellowship, and subspecialty fellowships. He joined the EP faculty in 2015 and now serves as the program director for the EP fellowship program and as medical director for the lead extraction program and device clinic. Matt enjoys working with trainees at all levels and considers it a privilege to train the next generation of physicians. Outside the hospital, he is a sports fanatic and enjoys spending time with his wife and young daughter in the mountains.

Lohit Garg

Electrophysiology
Associate Program Director

Lohit Garg was born and raised in New Delhi, India. He completed medical school in Delhi before moving to Michigan for electives. He went on to complete his residency at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, his cardiology fellowship at LVHN in Allentown, and his Electrophysiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the University of Colorado faculty in 2021 as an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Electrophysiology section. His particular interests include management of complex arrhythmias and risk stratification for sudden cardiac death. Lohit enjoys mentoring fellows and residents as they develop into future clinicians and leaders. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling and exploring food and restaurants around the country (47 states so far), cars and track racing, and hopes to attend every F1 race one day.

Larry Allen

Chief of Cardiology

Larry Allen grew up in Morrison, Colorado, and attended the University of Colorado Boulder. After serving in the Peace Corps in Ghana, he completed his medical training at Harvard, MGH, and Duke. In 2008 he returned to Colorado to join the CU Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Program. He is currently the Chief of Cardiology, co-Director for the Colorado Program for Patient-Centered Decisions, and Chair for the Clinical Cardiology Council of the American Heart Association. Across all of these roles, his favorite part remains teaching the next generation of cardiologists. Outside of work, Larry enjoys Colorado’s outdoors—skiing, trail running, or mountain biking, ideally with family and friends.

Kevin Rogers

Interventional Cardiology
Program Director

.Originally from Mississippi, he completed fellowships at Oregon Health Sciences University, the University of Utah, the University of Colorado, and Massachusetts General Hospital. He finds it deeply gratifying to see trainees grow into independent, skilled clinicians. Outside of the hospital, he enjoys running, walking his Husky, and playing frisbee and basketball with his son.

Rory Bricker

Interventional Cardiology
Associate Program Director

Originally from Fresno, California, he attended UC Berkeley before completing medical training at Temple, residency at the University of Maryland, and general and interventional cardiology training at the University of Colorado. He especially enjoys coaching fellows on how to treat heart attacks and watching them grow into independent cardiologists. Outside of work, he can often be found at a local playground or ice cream shop with his kids, riding his bike, or enjoying the mountains.

Prateeti Khazanie

Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology 
Program Director