Sonia Garg, M.D.

Associate Medical Director of Cardiac Transplantation

  • Internal Medicine - Cardiology
  • Heart Transplant
  • Heart Failure & Cardiac Support

Biography

Sonia Garg, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Cardiology in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern. She is a member of the heart failure, heart transplant, and mechanical circulatory support teams.

Dr. Garg is originally from Michigan and received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She started her career in the computer industry working for the Microsoft Corporation. Drawn by her commitment to service, she left this line of work to earn her medical degree at Brown University.

Dr. Garg completed her residency at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center and performed fellowships in cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure at UT Southwestern.

In addition to her clinical focus on the comprehensive care of heart failure patients, Dr. Garg’s research interests include cardiac remodeling, quality outcomes, and best practices in cardiac transplantation.

Meet Dr. Garg

Heart Failure and Transplantation Specialist in Dallas

As a cardiologist specializing in heart failure, heart transplant, and mechanical circulatory support, Sonia Garg, M.D., cares for patients at every stage of heart disease. She works with a multi-disciplinary team to ensure that patients are receiving the most comprehensive care possible.

Dr. Garg has a special focus on heart disease caused by rarer conditions such as amyloid, sarcoid, or myocarditis – and peripartum cardiomyopathy, a type of heart failure that occurs during pregnancy or soon after delivery.

“Heart failure isn’t always related to blockages in the arteries, or coronary artery disease. Often it’s related to something else, and it’s our job as a team to investigate those alternative causes so we can better tailor how to treat each patient,” Dr. Garg says.

No two patients – even those with similar diagnoses – are the same, so Dr. Garg makes sure she takes the time to talk through a patient’s health history.  

“I always start from the beginning, even if the patient was diagnosed a long time ago. I ask ‘How and when did your symptoms begin; how have your symptoms progressed over time; and how is your disease impacting your daily activities?’ Sometimes these questions will take us back decades to try to understand where it all began,” she says.

A Team for Life

Dr. Garg recommends patients see her or one of her colleagues as soon after diagnosis as possible because early treatment can sometimes reverse or improve heart disease. She offers drug and device therapies and can also help patients who need a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) or even transplant.

If patients are at a stage where their disease is advanced enough to be irreversible and the limits of medical therapy have been reached, it’s her job, working in collaboration with other experts at UT Southwestern, to recognize when to go to the next step.

“We will see you through your journey to receiving an LVAD or transplant, and beyond,” she says. “You adopt us. We adopt you. We’re a team for life.”

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Education & Training
  • Fellowship - UT Southwestern Medical Center (2015-2016), Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology
  • Fellowship - UT Southwestern Medical Center (2012-2015), Cardiology
  • Residency - University of California, San Francisco (2009-2012)
  • Medical School - Brown University Medical School (2005-2009)
Professional Associations & Affiliations
  • American College of Cardiology (2012), Member
  • Heart Failure Society of America (2014), Member
  • International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (2016), Member
Honors & Awards
  • Alpha Omega Alpha 2009, Medical Honor Society
Books & Publications
Research
  • Left Ventricular Remodeling
  • Left Ventricular Assist Devices
  • Heart Transplantation and Rejection
  • Dilated Cardiomyopathy
  • Advanced Heart Failure

Clinical Focus

  • Heart Transplant
  • Heart Failure & Cardiac Support
  • Cardiomyopathies

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