Jorge Enrique Romero, M.D., FHRS, FACC
Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology
Positions
- Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology
-
Medicine
Medicine-Cardiology
Texas Heart Institute - Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, US
- Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)
-
Medicine
Medicine-Cardiology
Texas Heart Institute - Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States
Addresses
- Baylor Cardiology - McNair Campus (Clinic)
-
7200 Cambridge Street
6th Floor
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
- The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine (Office)
-
6770 Bertner Avenue, MC 3-116
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-2545
Fax: (713) 798-2578
jorge.romero@bcm.edu
- Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (Hospital)
-
6720 Bertner Avenue
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-2545
Fax: (713) 798-2578
jorge.romero@bcm.edu
Education
- Fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- 06/2016 - Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Advanced Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Clinical Fellowship at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
- 06/2015 - Los Angeles, California, United States
- Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- 06/2014 - Bronx, New York, United States
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Residency at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
- 06/2011 - Manhattan, New York, United States
- Internal Medicine
- MD from Universidad del Valle
- 12/2004 - Cali, Columbia
- Internship at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
- 06/2009 - Manhattan, New York, United States
- Internal Medicine
Honors & Awards
- Joan and Douglas P. Zipes Publication of the Year Award
- Heart Rhythm Society (04/2025)
- Emerging Leader
- Heart Rhythm Society (09/2022)
- Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award
- American Heart Association (11/2020)
- The Eric N. Prystowsky Early Career Researcher Award
- Heart Rhythm Society (05/2018)
- Director's Award - Cardiology Fellowship
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (06/2014)
- Young Investigator Award
- American Heart Association (11/2012)
- Young Investigator Award
- American Society of Hypertension (05/2011)
Professional Interests
- Ventricular Tachycardia (VT)
- Epicardial VT Ablation
- Hybrid Thoracoscopic VT Ablation
- Intramural Ventricular Arrhythmias
- Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs)
- Electrical Storm
- Cardiac Autonomic Modulation
- Cardiac Sympathetic Denervation
- Cardiac Stereotactic Radioablation (SBRT)
- Atrial Fibrillation (AF)
- Pulsed-Field Ablation (PFA)
- Left Atrial Appendage Electrical Isolation
- Left Atrial Appendage Closure (WATCHMAN)
- Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT-P/CRT-D)
- Adult Congenital Arrhythmias
- Conduction System Pacing (His Bundle and Left Bundle Branch Area Pacing)
Professional Statement
Dr. Jorge E. Romero, MD, FACC, FHRS, is an internationally recognized cardiac electrophysiologist, physician-scientist, and academic leader specializing in advanced catheter ablation of ventricular arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation, cardiac implantable electronic devices, and emerging electrophysiology technologies. His clinical expertise encompasses endocardial and epicardial VT ablation, autonomic modulation, cardiac stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), left atrial appendage interventions, conduction system pacing, leadless pacemakers, and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Throughout his career at major tertiary and quaternary referral centers, Dr. Romero has frequently treated patients referred after multiple unsuccessful ablation procedures, attracting referrals from across the United States, South America, Central America, the Dominican Republic, and other Caribbean nations.
Dr. Romero has made original contributions to the development of innovative mapping and ablation techniques for ventricular arrhythmias. His work includes intracoronary guidewire mapping and radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmias arising from the left ventricular summit and deep intramural myocardium, as well as coronary venous mapping, bipolar ablation, half-normal saline irrigation, and other approaches designed to treat substrates inaccessible to conventional ablation catheters. He developed the SAFER epicardial access technique and has extensive experience performing percutaneous epicardial mapping and ablation, including specialized methods for protecting the phrenic nerve and preventing injury to adjacent cardiac structures. His procedural expertise also encompasses hybrid VT ablation using minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which provides surgical access to epicardial arrhythmia substrates without requiring a full median sternotomy in appropriately selected patients. He incorporates advanced three-dimensional cardiovascular imaging, including inHEART technology, to characterize myocardial scar, identify potential conduction channels, and guide procedural planning and substrate modification. His work in autonomic modulation includes stellate ganglion blockade, cardiac sympathetic denervation, and renal sympathetic denervation. He also has experience with cardiac SBRT, integrating electrophysiologic mapping, advanced imaging, radiation oncology, and medical physics in the treatment of selected patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia.
In the field of atrial fibrillation, Dr. Romero has contributed to the development and clinical evaluation of advanced substrate-based ablation strategies, particularly left atrial appendage electrical isolation in patients with persistent and long-standing persistent AF. His investigations have examined long-term clinical outcomes, the anatomical relationships between the left atrial appendage, coronary arteries, and left phrenic nerve, and techniques to reduce procedural complications. For more than a decade, he has routinely performed catheter ablation for AF, supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular arrhythmias without fluoroscopy, using three-dimensional electroanatomic mapping and intracardiac echocardiography. He has extended these techniques to fluoroless WATCHMAN left atrial appendage closure, a specialized approach performed by relatively few electrophysiologists in the United States. His experience also includes epicardial left atrial appendage exclusion using the LARIAT system. Dr. Romero has served as site principal investigator in multiple pivotal multicenter trials evaluating leading pulsed-field ablation (PFA) platforms, gaining extensive experience with investigational technologies and contributing to their clinical assessment.
Dr. Romero has extensive procedural experience with pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization systems, and leadless pacing technologies, including the Medtronic Micra family of pacemakers. He is also among a limited number of electrophysiologists in the United States with experience implanting the WiSE-CRT system, which enables wireless left ventricular endocardial pacing for selected patients requiring cardiac resynchronization therapy. His expertise extends to His bundle pacing and left bundle branch area pacing, with a particular scientific interest in improving ventricular synchrony and outcomes in patients with heart failure.
An accomplished international clinical investigator, Dr. Romero is the principal architect, global principal investigator, and co-chair of the steering committee for SYNCHRONICITY (NCT07069738), a large international randomized clinical trial comparing left bundle branch area pacing with conventional biventricular CRT in patients with heart failure and left bundle branch block. He has also served as principal investigator or site principal investigator in numerous major multicenter studies, including STAR-AF III, OPTION, CHAMPION-AF, ADVANTAGE, AVANT-GUARD, and JEWEL, and has led investigator-initiated trials such as PLEA and SMILE-AF. Throughout his academic career, he has overseen extensive clinical research portfolios, obtained substantial research funding, and developed collaborations with investigators and academic institutions across North America, Europe, and Latin America.
Dr. Romero has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications and contributed over 30 chapters to leading medical and cardiovascular textbooks, including *Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine* and *Huang's Catheter Ablation of Cardiac Arrhythmias*. He has contributed to international expert consensus documents and scientific statements, including the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) clinical consensus on conduction system pacing implantation, work on antithrombotic management in electrophysiology and cardiovascular interventions, and Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) initiatives addressing persistent atrial fibrillation and clinical trial endpoints for ventricular arrhythmias. His scientific contributions have received distinguished recognition, including the Heart Rhythm Society's Eric N. Prystowsky Early Career Researcher Award and the 2025 Joan and Douglas P. Zipes Publication of the Year Award. He serves as Vice President of the Scientific Committee of the Latin American Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS) for 2025–2026 and is a member of the editorial boards of *JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology* and the *Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology* (JCE).
Dr. Romero's academic leadership spans Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and SUNY Upstate Medical University. At Brigham and Women's Hospital, he served as Director of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Research and Associate Director of the Ventricular Arrhythmia Program while holding the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He subsequently served at SUNY Upstate Medical University as Section Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Director of Electrophysiology Services, Director of Cardiovascular Research and Innovation, and Professor of Medicine. He was also the inaugural holder of the Sakti Pada Mookherjee Endowed Professorship in Cardiology. Across these institutions, he developed and expanded specialized programs in VT ablation, autonomic modulation, atrial fibrillation, left atrial appendage therapies, and clinical research.
Dr. Romero is committed to academic mentorship and has trained and mentored more than 100 medical students, residents, cardiovascular fellows, electrophysiology fellows, research trainees, and early-career physicians from the United States and abroad. His contributions to global cardiovascular health include serving as Director of Clinical Operations for Project Pacer International, through which he has participated in humanitarian missions to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, evaluating more than 1,000 patients with Chagas disease and helping provide pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization devices. He is also a co-founder of GIVE, an initiative focused on cardiovascular education and improving access to care in underserved communities.
Dr. Romero serves as Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine and Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He will also serve as the inaugural holder of the Ken and Janie Valach Distinguished Endowed Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology. His vision is to establish an internationally recognized electrophysiology program integrating specialized clinical care, advanced technologies, investigator-initiated research, and fellowship training. His priorities include developing comprehensive centers of excellence in atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia; expanding leadless pacing, conduction system pacing, CRT, lead extraction, and adult congenital electrophysiology; and establishing multidisciplinary programs incorporating cardiac surgery, autonomic modulation, and noninvasive radioablation. Through these initiatives, Dr. Romero aims to expand access to highly specialized arrhythmia care while contributing to the clinical research and technological advances that will shape the future of cardiac electrophysiology.
Dr. Romero has made original contributions to the development of innovative mapping and ablation techniques for ventricular arrhythmias. His work includes intracoronary guidewire mapping and radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmias arising from the left ventricular summit and deep intramural myocardium, as well as coronary venous mapping, bipolar ablation, half-normal saline irrigation, and other approaches designed to treat substrates inaccessible to conventional ablation catheters. He developed the SAFER epicardial access technique and has extensive experience performing percutaneous epicardial mapping and ablation, including specialized methods for protecting the phrenic nerve and preventing injury to adjacent cardiac structures. His procedural expertise also encompasses hybrid VT ablation using minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which provides surgical access to epicardial arrhythmia substrates without requiring a full median sternotomy in appropriately selected patients. He incorporates advanced three-dimensional cardiovascular imaging, including inHEART technology, to characterize myocardial scar, identify potential conduction channels, and guide procedural planning and substrate modification. His work in autonomic modulation includes stellate ganglion blockade, cardiac sympathetic denervation, and renal sympathetic denervation. He also has experience with cardiac SBRT, integrating electrophysiologic mapping, advanced imaging, radiation oncology, and medical physics in the treatment of selected patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia.
In the field of atrial fibrillation, Dr. Romero has contributed to the development and clinical evaluation of advanced substrate-based ablation strategies, particularly left atrial appendage electrical isolation in patients with persistent and long-standing persistent AF. His investigations have examined long-term clinical outcomes, the anatomical relationships between the left atrial appendage, coronary arteries, and left phrenic nerve, and techniques to reduce procedural complications. For more than a decade, he has routinely performed catheter ablation for AF, supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular arrhythmias without fluoroscopy, using three-dimensional electroanatomic mapping and intracardiac echocardiography. He has extended these techniques to fluoroless WATCHMAN left atrial appendage closure, a specialized approach performed by relatively few electrophysiologists in the United States. His experience also includes epicardial left atrial appendage exclusion using the LARIAT system. Dr. Romero has served as site principal investigator in multiple pivotal multicenter trials evaluating leading pulsed-field ablation (PFA) platforms, gaining extensive experience with investigational technologies and contributing to their clinical assessment.
Dr. Romero has extensive procedural experience with pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization systems, and leadless pacing technologies, including the Medtronic Micra family of pacemakers. He is also among a limited number of electrophysiologists in the United States with experience implanting the WiSE-CRT system, which enables wireless left ventricular endocardial pacing for selected patients requiring cardiac resynchronization therapy. His expertise extends to His bundle pacing and left bundle branch area pacing, with a particular scientific interest in improving ventricular synchrony and outcomes in patients with heart failure.
An accomplished international clinical investigator, Dr. Romero is the principal architect, global principal investigator, and co-chair of the steering committee for SYNCHRONICITY (NCT07069738), a large international randomized clinical trial comparing left bundle branch area pacing with conventional biventricular CRT in patients with heart failure and left bundle branch block. He has also served as principal investigator or site principal investigator in numerous major multicenter studies, including STAR-AF III, OPTION, CHAMPION-AF, ADVANTAGE, AVANT-GUARD, and JEWEL, and has led investigator-initiated trials such as PLEA and SMILE-AF. Throughout his academic career, he has overseen extensive clinical research portfolios, obtained substantial research funding, and developed collaborations with investigators and academic institutions across North America, Europe, and Latin America.
Dr. Romero has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications and contributed over 30 chapters to leading medical and cardiovascular textbooks, including *Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine* and *Huang's Catheter Ablation of Cardiac Arrhythmias*. He has contributed to international expert consensus documents and scientific statements, including the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) clinical consensus on conduction system pacing implantation, work on antithrombotic management in electrophysiology and cardiovascular interventions, and Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) initiatives addressing persistent atrial fibrillation and clinical trial endpoints for ventricular arrhythmias. His scientific contributions have received distinguished recognition, including the Heart Rhythm Society's Eric N. Prystowsky Early Career Researcher Award and the 2025 Joan and Douglas P. Zipes Publication of the Year Award. He serves as Vice President of the Scientific Committee of the Latin American Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS) for 2025–2026 and is a member of the editorial boards of *JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology* and the *Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology* (JCE).
Dr. Romero's academic leadership spans Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and SUNY Upstate Medical University. At Brigham and Women's Hospital, he served as Director of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology Research and Associate Director of the Ventricular Arrhythmia Program while holding the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He subsequently served at SUNY Upstate Medical University as Section Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Director of Electrophysiology Services, Director of Cardiovascular Research and Innovation, and Professor of Medicine. He was also the inaugural holder of the Sakti Pada Mookherjee Endowed Professorship in Cardiology. Across these institutions, he developed and expanded specialized programs in VT ablation, autonomic modulation, atrial fibrillation, left atrial appendage therapies, and clinical research.
Dr. Romero is committed to academic mentorship and has trained and mentored more than 100 medical students, residents, cardiovascular fellows, electrophysiology fellows, research trainees, and early-career physicians from the United States and abroad. His contributions to global cardiovascular health include serving as Director of Clinical Operations for Project Pacer International, through which he has participated in humanitarian missions to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, evaluating more than 1,000 patients with Chagas disease and helping provide pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization devices. He is also a co-founder of GIVE, an initiative focused on cardiovascular education and improving access to care in underserved communities.
Dr. Romero serves as Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine and Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He will also serve as the inaugural holder of the Ken and Janie Valach Distinguished Endowed Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology. His vision is to establish an internationally recognized electrophysiology program integrating specialized clinical care, advanced technologies, investigator-initiated research, and fellowship training. His priorities include developing comprehensive centers of excellence in atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia; expanding leadless pacing, conduction system pacing, CRT, lead extraction, and adult congenital electrophysiology; and establishing multidisciplinary programs incorporating cardiac surgery, autonomic modulation, and noninvasive radioablation. Through these initiatives, Dr. Romero aims to expand access to highly specialized arrhythmia care while contributing to the clinical research and technological advances that will shape the future of cardiac electrophysiology.
Websites
Selected Publications
-
Hummel J, Houmsse M, Tomassoni G, Nair D, Romero J, Hargrove J, Mathews K, Thakkar AB, Ullery S, Eapen ZJ, Kumar UN, Mehran R, Butler J; Jewel IDE Study Investigators.. " A Patch Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator for Patients at Risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. " Journal of American College of Cardiology. 2024 ;
Pubmed PMID: 39084827. -
Effect of Pulsed Field Timing Sequence and Electrode Cooling on Ablation Safety and Efficacy Surrogates: A Preclinical Study. " Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. 2026 ;
Pubmed PMID: 42775459. -
Osorio J, Varley AL, Silverstein JR, Matos CD, Thosani AJ, Thorne C, D’Souza B, Alviz I, Gabr M, Rajendra A, Oza S, Sharma D, Hoyos C, Singleton MJ, Mareddy C, Velasco A, Zei PC, Sauer WH, Romero JE.. " High-frequency, low tidal volume ventilation improves procedural and long-term clinical outcomes in persistent atrial fibrillation ablation: Prospective multicenter registry. " Heart Rhythm Journal. 2025 ;
Pubmed PMID: 39053748.
Projects
- SYNCHRONICITY TRIAL
- SYNCHRONICITY is a large, international, multicenter, randomized controlled trial evaluating left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) versus conventional biventricular cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with heart failure, reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and left bundle branch block. The study is designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of conduction system pacing as an alternative to conventional CRT, with the potential to influence future clinical practice and international guidelines. Dr. Romero conceived the study, developed its scientific framework, and leads its international clinical investigation, coordinating a network of approximately 100 participating centers. Sponsored by Boston Scientific, SYNCHRONICITY represents a major effort to generate definitive randomized evidence regarding the role of physiologic pacing in patients with heart failure.
- Cardiac Stereotactic Radioablation (SBRT) Research Program
- Dr. Romero is leading the development of a multidisciplinary cardiac stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) research program at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine, building upon the institution's established ventricular arrhythmia program. The initiative integrates advanced electrophysiologic mapping, three-dimensional cardiac imaging, radiation oncology, and medical physics to investigate noninvasive cardiac radioablation for patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia. A major objective is institutional participation in RADIATE-VT, an international randomized clinical trial evaluating cardiac radioablation for ventricular tachycardia. The program aims to advance patient selection, radiation treatment planning, procedural safety, and clinical outcomes while expanding treatment options for patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias who have limited conventional therapeutic alternatives.
Memberships
- American College of Cardiology
- Fellow
- Heart Rhythm Society
- Fellow
- Latin America Heart Rhythm Society
- Fellow
- American Heart Association
Funding
-
The PLEA Trial
- (01/01/2020 - 11/01/2023)
- Biosense Webster
- Multicenter randomized study which has the overall goal of establishing the efficacy and safety of different ablation techniques for patients with persistent and long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation.
-
The SMILE-AF Trial
- (07/01/2024 - 05/01/2026)
- Boston Scientific
- Posterior Wall Isolation Using Electroporation for the Treatment of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Languages
Spanish, Italian
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