Rakesh Chawla, MD, FACC, FACP, FSCAI
Specialties: Cardiology

Rakesh R. Chawla, MD, an invasive and interventional cardiologist, joined St. Joseph Medical Group in May 2013. Dr. Chawla came to SJMG from Cardiovascular Consultants of Cleveland, where he worked as an interventional cardiologist at Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood and at University Hospitals' Geauga Medical Center in Chardon. He also served as an interventional cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic's Euclid and Hillcrest hospitals and at Lake Health System's Lake West Medical Center in Willoughby. Dr. Chawla was owner/operator of Cardiovascular Care Unlimited in Columbus for five years before joining Cardiovascular Consultants.

While in clinical practice at Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe, Ohio in 2005, Dr. Chawla led a hospital team that performed emergency acute myocardial infraction angioplasty without surgical backup, a program known as CPORT that operates in collaboration with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As the program's chairman, Dr. Chawla was able to institute training requirements for cardiac catheterization personnel and telemetry and coronary care nursing, which led to the program becoming the only state-approved program of its kind in Ohio. In addition, Dr. Chawla was named principal investigator when the hospital was approved to participate in the CPORT elective angioplasty randomized clinical trial.

A native of Dayton, Dr. Chawla, who has special interest in aggressive acute-care cardiovascular and vascular medicine, completed a bachelor's degree in premedical studies at The Pennsylvania State University, in University Park, Pa., where he was in the PSU/Jefferson Medical College six-year BS/MD cooperative medical program. He graduated summa cum laude in 1989. He earned a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 1994 and completed an internship and residency at Akron City Hospital and St. Thomas Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, in 1997. He completed two fellowships, one in cardiovascular medicine at Medical College of Wisconsin in 2001, and the second, a fellowship in interventional cardiology, at the University of California San Francisco in 2003.

Dr. Chawla, who has participated in numerous research studies and presented extensively, is a fellow in the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Physicians and the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions. He is a member of the Society of Cardiac Computed Tomography.

Thomas P. Ryan, DO
Specialties: Cardiology

Thomas P. Ryan, DO, was the first cardiologist to join St. Joseph Medical Group. Dr. Ryan joined in September 2010 after working as a partner at Baltes Cardiology.

A native of Urbana, Ohio, Dr. Ryan graduated magna cum laude from St. Gregory Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1971, with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He earned a bachelor's degree in circulation technology from The Ohio State University in Columbus in 1975 and a medical degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Mo. in 1979. Dr. Ryan completed a flexible internship in 1980 and an internal medicine residency in 1982 at David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, near Fairfield, Calif., and he completed a fellowship in cardiology in 1991 at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Ryan began his medical career at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He served as chief of internal medicine at First Strategic Hospital at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, Calif. He was promoted to major in the United State Air Force Reserves in 1989.

Dr. Ryan is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine, the Indiana State Medical Association and the Fort Wayne Medical Society.

Nancy Gardner, NP
Specialties: Cardiology

Nancy V. Gardner, NP, joined St. Joseph Medical Group and Ryan Cardiology in September 2010. Prior to joining SJMG, she worked for Baltes Cardiology in Fort Wayne for 20 years, and she worked as a registered nurse at St. Joseph Hospital.

Gardner earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the Baptist School of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn., in 1968. She also earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Christopher Newport College in Newport News, Va., in 1975. Gardner earned a master's degree in business administration in 1983 and a master's in the family nurse practitioner program in 2006, both at the University of Saint Francis.

Gardner is a board certified family nurse practitioner. She is a member of the Coalition of Advanced Practice Nurses of Indiana, and she is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Academic Sorority.