Rate My Professor Lisa Hornberger

Dr. Lisa Hornberger is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, at the University of Alberta, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She serves as Divisional Director of Pediatric Cardiology and Section Head of Pediatric Echocardiography at Stollery Children’s Hospital. Dr. Hornberger founded and served as the initial Director of the University of Alberta’s Fetal & Neonatal Cardiology Program from 2008 to 2020, relocating it to the Royal Alexandra Hospital Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Under her leadership, the program expanded dramatically, increasing annual fetal echocardiograms from 350-400 to over 2,200, developing a first-trimester fetal echocardiography service, establishing a neonatal cardiology consult service in the NICU, and growing the Stollery Echo Lab volume by 60-70% with advanced functional and 3D/4D imaging capabilities. She directs the Fetal and Neonatal Cardiology Fellowship program, training 2-3 subspecialty fellows annually in fetal/neonatal cardiology and 2-4 in echocardiography/noninvasive imaging.

Prior to joining the University of Alberta in 2008, Dr. Hornberger established leading fetal cardiovascular programs at the University of Toronto (1996-2003) and the University of California, San Francisco Fetal Treatment Center (2003-2008). For nearly three decades, her clinical, educational, and research efforts have focused on prenatal diagnosis, natural evolution, management, and outcomes of fetal structural, functional, and rhythm-related cardiovascular disorders, the impact of congenital heart disease on fetal cardiovascular function and perinatal transition, effects of adverse prenatal exposures like maternal heart disease and preterm birth on long-term cardiovascular health, vascular dysfunction in adverse pregnancy outcomes, and influences of socioeconomic status and remoteness on cardiac care access and outcomes. She has authored over 170 peer-reviewed articles and co-authored textbooks on fetal and newborn heart disease. Key publications include “Impact of Socioeconomic Status and Remoteness of Residence on Access to Cardiac Care for Pediatric Heart Disease in Alberta” (Circulation, 2022), “Trends in the Prenatal Detection of Major Congenital Heart Disease in Alberta From 2008-2018” (Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 2022), and guidelines contributions such as “Guidelines and Recommendations for Performance of the Fetal Echocardiogram” (Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, 2023). She received the American Society of Echocardiography Founders’ Lifetime Achievement Award in Echocardiography for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease (2022) and a Heart & Stroke Foundation grant for research on vascular dysfunction in maternal heart disease. Dr. Hornberger chairs the North American Fetal Heart Society’s Publications and Grant Committee, directs Stollery Cardiac Program Research Rounds, and serves on advisory committees for the Women’s & Children’s Health Research Institute, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, and Cardiovascular Research Centre.