Prabhjot S. Nijjar, MD

Dr Nijjar received his early education in India, and after completing his Internal Medicine residency and Cardiac Prevention training in Philadelphia, he moved to Minneapolis for fellowship training in Cardiology and Advanced Cardiac Imaging at the University of Minnesota. He has a general cardiology practice, with a focus on cardiac prevention. He is involved in the conduct of clinical trials in behavioral cardiology, including studying the benefits of meditation in treatment of heart disease. He is the medical director of cardiac CT, and is passionate about the optimal use of CT in diagnosis of various heart conditions.

Expertise

Mindfulness meditation and effects on the heart

Cardiac disease prevention

Cardiac Imaging

Lipid Disorders

Awards & Recognition

• CV Imaging Fellow of the Year, University of Minnesota (2013)
• Anthony Garofalo Fellowship Award in Preventive Cardiology, University of Minnesota (2012)
• Outstanding Teacher Award, Albert Einstein Medical Center (2009)

Professional Associations

• Fellow, Americal College of Cardiology
• Fellow, Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Research Summary/Interests

Dr Nijjar’s research interests include optimal use of cardiac CT and MRI, behavioral cardiology, and benefits of meditation in treatment of heart disease.

Publications

1. Velangi PS, Kenny B, Hooks M, Kanda A, Schertz K, Kharoud H, Sandhu GS, Kalra R, Allen T, Begnaud A, Nijjar PS. Impact of 2016 SCCT/STR Guidelines for Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring of Noncardiac Chest CT Scans on Lung Cancer Screening CT Reporting. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-021-02241-z
2. Velangi PS, Kalra R, Markowitz J, Nijjar PS. Utility of CT in the Diagnosis of Prosthetic Valve Abnormalities. Journal of Cardiac Surgery. 2020 Aug 21. doi: 10.1111/jocs.14966. Epub ahead of print.
3. Velangi PS, Said SM, Nijjar PS. Solitary Left Ventricular Septal Mass and Amaurosis Fugax. Circulation. 2020 Sep 15;142(11):1108-1113. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.048724. Epub 2020 Sep 14.
4. Velangi PS, Maharaj V, Athwal SS, Bartos J, Markowitz J, Duval S, Nijjar PS. CT Coronary Plaque Characteristics Predict Ischemia Detected by Invasive Fractional Flow Reserve. Journal of Thoracic Imaging. 2020 Jul 21. doi: 10.1097/RTI.0000000000000543. Epub ahead of print.
5. Nijjar PS, Connett JE, Lindquist R, Brown R, Burt M, Pergolski A, Wolfe A, Balaji P, Chandiramani N, Yu X, Kreitzer MJ, Everson-Rose SA. Randomized Trial of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Cardiac Patients Eligible for Cardiac Rehabilitation. Scientific Reports. December 2019;9(1):18415.

Board Certifications

• Internal Medicine
• Cardiology
• Clinical Lipidology
• Echocardiography
• Cardiac CT

Clinical Interests

Cardiac Imaging; Coronary artery disease; Lipid/Cholesterol disorders; Cardiac Prevention; Cardiac CT; Cardiac MRI; Wellness/Integrative Medicine; South Asian Health