My name is Dr. Juan Aranda and I am a professor of medicine and the chief of cardiovascular
medicine at UF Health. I also serve as the vice chair for clinical affairs for the University of
Florida Department of Medicine. I am board-certified in cardiovascular medicine and advanced
heart failure/cardiac transplantation, and I possess more than 25 years of experience in the
treatment of cardiovascular disease. I became interested in treating heart failure early in my
career. At that time, the mechanisms of heart failure were not well understood, and I developed a
true commitment to the advancement of medicine to improve outcomes for my heart failure
patients.

I was drawn to the field of cardiology because my dad was a cardiologist specializing in
electrophysiology and I grew up observing his passion, commitment and dedication to helping
his patients. He is my true role model and has been a big contributor to the development of my
own passion for helping others. One aspect of being a doctor that I enjoy is the opportunity to
develop relationships with my patients – I treat my patients as if they were members of my own
family. That is a special bond.

My career has been committed to the education of cardiovascular residents, fellows and
physicians throughout the region and in Latin America. I am very proud that for the last 25 years,
I have been able to provide education and training opportunities for young Hispanic physicians
from Latin America. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, it gives me great pride to expand medical
training opportunities for these young doctors and to see them go on to provide excellent care to
underserved people in their communities.

As the chief of the division of cardiovascular medicine, other areas of importance to me are
advancing cardiology research to improve patient care and providing research opportunities for
my faculty members. Current research in our division includes the use of stem cells to improve
heart function in heart failure patients, developing artificial intelligence to enhance cardiac
imaging and diagnosis, and focusing on improving outcomes for elderly patients undergoing
valvular and high-risk cardiac procedures. I am a past governor of the American College of
Cardiology and have participated in multiple committees of the American College of Cardiology
to improve quality, education and services in the area of cardiovascular disease.
During my time away from work, I enjoy being with my family at the beach, taking early
morning weekend runs and walking my dogs around the neighborhood. I find working in my
yard and golfing to be activities that are especially peaceful and good for the soul.