Our Team

Leadership at Amavita Research

Globally recognized cardiovascular investigators leading clinical trials in Miami.

FACCStructural Heart ResearchStructural Heart

Dr. William W. O'Neill, MD, FACC

Chief Medical Officer & Senior Principal Investigator

Senior principal investigator and interventional cardiologist with a structural-heart (TAVR) research background. Founding Medical Director of the Center for Structural Heart Disease at Henry Ford Hospital (2012–2023), now Medical Director Emeritus · Chief Medical Advisor, CardioElite™. He served as National Principal Investigator (chair) of the PROTECT II trial; Steering Committee member for PROTECT IV; Principal Investigator at Henry Ford for the PARTNER trial.

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FACCHarvard-TrainedTrans-Caval TAVR

Dr. Pedro Martinez-Clark, MD, FACC

Founder and Lead Investigator

Harvard-trained, board-certified interventional cardiologist (since 2009) and investigator on 30+ clinical trials and registries, 6 of them ongoing, including pivotal work helping develop the Trans-Caval TAVR approach and serving as Worldwide PI on the Percutaneous Mitral Valve Annuloplasty trial. Founder and CEO of amavita Heart and Vascular Health® — independent Miami cardiovascular practice; 16,000+ patients seen in the last 3 years.

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CEOStrategyLATAM ↔ US

Julio G. Martinez-Clark

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Drives growth strategy, sponsor relationships, and cross-border trial operations at Amavita Research. CEO of bioaccess® with 20+ years scaling clinical research operations across the Americas. Former Ambassador of IAOCR / GCSA Americas.

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Personal site

COOOperationsStart-Up

Nereisy Alonso, Sr CRC

Chief Operations Officer (COO)

Senior Clinical Research Coordinator and operations lead. Owns site administration, sponsor monitor coordination, study start-up logistics, IRB submissions, and SOP SITE-107 KPI tracking on Monday.com across Amavita Research's active cardiovascular trial portfolio.

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ElectrophysiologyTriple Board-CertifiedEchocardiography

Dr. Hans C. Rutzen-Lopez, MD

Sub-Investigator, Cardiac Electrophysiology

Board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist with 9+ years of practice. Triple board-certified by the American Boards of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology, with the National Board of Echocardiography. Clinical Assistant Professor at Nova Southeastern University and electrophysiologist at Heart Rhythm Specialists of South Florida. Joined Amavita Research as Sub-Investigator on AnaCardio AC01-02 and other arrhythmia and device trials.

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BilingualPatient ScreeningAANP-Certified

Yasnaya Cruz-Santiago, APRN

Sub-Investigator

Florida-licensed Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN #9443547), Family Nurse Practitioner (Universidad de Turabo, Puerto Rico, 2018), AANP-certified, and Florida-licensed RN since 2016. Bilingual (English / Spanish). Sub-Investigator on Amavita's active cardiovascular protocols, working closely with Dr. Pedro Martinez-Clark. Owns patient screening and informed consent, source data verification, sponsor monitor visit support, and visit-window adherence on the active portfolio.

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PA-CNCCPA Board-CertifiedBilingual EN/ES/PT

Angela Paez, PA-C

Sub-Investigator, Cardiovascular Physician Assistant

Board-certified Cardiovascular Physician Assistant with a Colombian medical degree (Universidad San Martin, Bogota, 2007) and 14+ years of research and clinical experience across the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Amavita Health. Trilingual in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Co-author on peer-reviewed cardiovascular research (American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 2019).

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PA-C · NCCPA CertifiedCardiovascular PA (since 2023)Bilingual EN/ES

Vanessa Jimenez

Sub-Investigator, Cardiovascular Physician Assistant

NCCPA-Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) and Florida-licensed Cardiovascular Physician Assistant at amavita Heart and Vascular Health® since 2023. MMS with Honors from Saint Francis University, Loretto, PA (2022); Bachelor in Physician Assistant Studies with Honors from Miami Dade College (2020); also a Foreign Medical Doctor (Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia, 2004). Bilingual in English and Spanish. Interprets 2D echocardiograms, stress tests, cardiac monitors, and vascular studies, and coordinates patient evaluations and care plans. Joins Amavita Research as Sub-Investigator on cardiovascular protocols.

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BilingualCath-Lab SupportProcedural Coordination

Orlando Ortega-Izquierdo, APRN

Sub-Investigator

Florida-licensed Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN #9442363), Family Nurse Practitioner (Universidad de Turabo, Puerto Rico, 2018, 3.92 GPA), and Florida-licensed RN since 2016. Bilingual (English / Spanish). Sub-Investigator on Amavita's interventional cardiovascular protocols, working closely with Dr. Pedro Martinez-Clark. Supports cath-lab study conduct, procedural-visit coordination, post-procedure follow-up, and informed consent.

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GCSA CertifiedICH-GCP E6 (R3)

Adidley Garcia

Site Coordinator / Research Nurse

Adidley Garcia coordinates clinical study operations at Amavita Research as Site Coordinator and Research Nurse, supporting trial conduct, participant care, and ICH-GCP E6 (R3) compliance at our Miami site.

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MD (International Medical Graduate)Cardiology EducationClinical Quality & Documentation

Oscar Quintero, MD

Director of Clinical Education and Quality

International medical graduate (Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia, 2019, GPA 4.23) with focused experience in cardiovascular research coordination, medical education, and clinical quality. Director of Clinical Education and Quality at amavita Heart & Vascular and CardioElite™ since 2024; previously Research Coordinator at amavita Heart & Vascular (2022–2024), where he coordinated cardiovascular research operations including patient identification, data collection, protocol support, and cross-team coordination. Supports Amavita Research with clinical education for advanced-practice providers, documentation standards, workflow standardization, and quality oversight across cardiology trial workflows. Spanish native, English professional fluency.

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