Lisa Zahakos, RPA-C · Founder & proposed campaign lead
Medical knowledge. A family’s lived experience. The ability to bring people together.
Lisa founded HEART RESERVE to help women carry the parts of their health story that are too easily left behind. She brings 15 years of clinical practice, a twin pregnancy that led to fetal surgery and months in the NICU, and a record of turning concern into organized community action.
Cardiology, preventive medicine and behavioral health. Clinical practice, 2003–2018.
A mother of four, NICU parent and patient-family advocate since 2018.
Published essays, clinician education development, interviews and practical visit tools.
Peter & Maurice
During Lisa’s pregnancy with identical twins Peter and Maurice, the family faced stage III twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and selective intrauterine growth restriction. They traveled for fetal laser surgery. Ten days later, the boys were born by emergency cesarean at 28 weeks and five days.
Peter spent 53 days in the NICU. Maurice stayed for about three months. Lisa was already a physician assistant. She also became a mother learning how to care for her babies while recovering from a difficult pregnancy herself.
That experience shaped the question at the heart of this campaign: when a family’s attention is on the baby, who is making sure the mother has a care plan of her own?
Lisa’s family story explains her commitment. The campaign’s medical guidance comes from the evidence on adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular health.
Read her essay: When the Clinician Becomes the Patient ↗Why Lisa can lead this work
A national education effort needs clear medical communication, trust with families and the persistence to move an idea into practice. Lisa brings experience in each.
Her 2003–2018 practice spanned interventional cardiology, preventive and executive medicine, and psychiatry and addiction medicine. She understands risk factors, follow-up, medication questions and the practical barriers that can interrupt care.
Since 2018, Lisa has supported families facing TTTS, fetal surgery, early birth and neonatal intensive care. Her patient-family advocacy includes USFetus and family storytelling for the TTTS Foundation’s annual awareness campaign.
Through HEART RESERVE, published writing and educational conversations, Lisa connects medical evidence with questions a woman can bring to her next visit. Heart Story turns that approach into a free visit-preparation tool.
As founder of Sew Away Corona, Lisa coordinated volunteers, professional seamstresses, Broadway costume designers, supply sourcing and distribution to support frontline workers and communities.
Education & editorial work
Her current work connects patient education, clinician learning and the story that travels from one healthcare visit to the next.
Professional foundation
Completed in 2003. Lisa’s CV lists NCCPA certification and physician assistant licensure in New Jersey and New York.
Clinical practice: 2003–2018. Family advocacy followed, with HEART RESERVE education work beginning in 2025.
Current editorial role · 2026
American College of Cardiology. Project goals and editorial scope are being developed with the team.
The role is project-specific; it does not establish ACC endorsement of this independent campaign.
Clinician education · In development
Lisa is developing the concept, written content, clinical cases and PA narration for education connecting pregnancy history with later cardiovascular care.
Development work includes accreditation and grant planning with Global Education Group; audience, outcomes and distribution planning with myCME / Haymarket Medical Education; and separate program-development discussions with ReachMD.
This is a development-stage program. Clinical and accreditation approvals, funding and launch remain pending.
Lisa reports that Dr. Rubén Quintero has agreed to help with research and explore a relevant cohort. Rutgers’ Office for Research has offered clinical-team introductions. Her September WHI investigator meeting led to guidance on manuscript development and data feasibility.
The proposed work asks what pregnancy history, menopausal timing and selected biomarkers could add to cardiovascular assessment. Study roles, access and approvals remain to be established.
See the research status, WHI data & cohort plan →Sew Away Corona · Founded 2020
A community effort that grew from an immediate need into a coordinated operation.
Lisa organized sewing, supplies, packing and delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her project archive documents volunteers working alongside professional seamstresses and 20 Broadway costume designers, two Citi collaborations, and support for frontline workers and schools.
Figures are reported in Lisa’s CV and project archive. They describe Sew Away Corona’s work, not outcomes or committed partners for this campaign.
Explore the project, press & photographs ↗
Selected published work
Read and listen to Lisa’s work in her own words: pregnancy, the NICU, women’s health and the information that should follow a patient through care.
How fetal surgery and the NICU changed her understanding of a mother’s recovery.
Read the story ↗Healthcare IT Today · CommentaryA case for making a patient’s story useful across visits and care settings.
Read the article ↗World Heart Federation · First-person storyLisa’s published contribution to the World Heart Day story collection.
Read the contribution ↗Society for Women’s Health Research · StoryA personal contribution to the organization’s women’s health perspectives.
Read the story ↗TIPQC · Healthy Mom Healthy Baby TennesseeEpisode 236: a conversation about maternal health and the purpose of HEART RESERVE.
Listen to the conversation ↗The Incubator · Beyond the BeepsEpisode 027: the family experience behind her advocacy.
Listen to the family story ↗These links identify published contributions and appearances. Publication does not imply endorsement of HEART RESERVE or this campaign.
Author of Love Your Heart, an unpublished book in revision. Finalist, 2026 Women in Change Awards, Inspiring Change Leader of the Year; nominee, 2026 AMA Honors, Excellence in Communication. Further writing and appearances are listed in her professional CV.
A clear role. A shared national goal.
As founder and proposed campaign lead, Lisa would direct the educational message, family storytelling, public engagement and partner coordination. Clinical and community partners would shape local delivery, review medical content and evaluate whether women reach the follow-up they need.
The invitation: bring this experience together with New Jersey’s existing maternal-health work to build a campaign that can travel nationally—and remain useful at the next healthcare visit.