Fellow Spotlight: Rawan Rumman, MD, PhD
Growing up, Rawan Rumman, MD, PhD, attended many medical appointments with a sibling who had congenital heart disease (CHD). “My inability to help when my sibling got sick weighed on me heavily, which drove me to a career where I could help others,” she said.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in life sciences from Queen’s University in Canada, and her medical degree and doctorate in aortic diseases and cardiac physiology at the University of Toronto. For her PhD, she studied middle aortic syndrome, a rare disease causing narrowing of the abdominal aorta. Given her interest in cardiology, her mentors taught her to perform echocardiograms and vascular imaging even before she attended medical school. Dr. Rumman helped create the world’s largest single-center patient cohort of this syndrome, discovering its effects on the cardiovascular system, and helping to shape patient care.
She completed internal medicine residency at the University of Toronto, and chose UCSF for fellowship because of its expertise in CHD and strong research focus. “Everyone here is extremely collegial and keen to help,” said Dr. Rumman. She hopes to pursue advanced fellowship training in adult congenital heart disease or structural interventional cardiology, and to continue her clinical research in those areas.
Dr. Rumman enjoys spending time outdoors, traveling, and exploring San Francisco’s many cuisines.