Sammy Zakaria, MD, MPH

Dr. Sammy Zakaria is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM). Because he specializes in critical care cardiology, he predominately works in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC) as well as the Cardiac Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH). He also serves as the Director of the JHBMC CICU.

His practice encompasses most of cardiology, with many of his patients having had life-threatening cardiac issues, such as shock, end-stage heart failure, or multi-organ system failure. He also has an interest in caring for pregnant women with cardiovascular disease, including those with severe preeclampsia, and his clinical research efforts focus on the effects of preeclampsia on the cardiovascular system. Additionally, his other research areas of interest include critical care issues affecting cardiac patients and studying innovations in medical education.

Dr. Zakaria is heavily involved in medical education and serves as an educator for students, residents, fellows, and staff. He served as a JHUSOM Colleges Advisor for 10 years and was responsible for teaching and mentoring a cohort of medical students during their time in medical school. In his role as Interim Program Director for the JHBMC Internal Medicine Residency Program, he has helped to increase the JHBMC Internal Medicine residency program’s nationally-recognized reputation for excellence by championing curricular innovations, resident scholarly work, and resident academic careers. He also is a Core Faculty member for the JHH Osler Internal Medicine residency program and for the Johns Hopkins Cardiovascular Disease fellowship. As a result of his efforts in education, he has been honored with multiple teaching awards, including the Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Award from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Excellence in Education.

Dr. Zakaria earned his undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University, his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College, and his master of public health degree from the University of Maryland. He trained at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Internal Medicine and also practiced there as a faculty attending for one year. He then completed a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Maryland and subsequently a Critical Care Medicine fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. He joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2008.