Drs. Ugochukwu Egolum and Kyle Thompson of Georgia Heart Institute

Drs. Ugochukwu Egolum, heart failure cardiologist, and Kyle Thompson, cardiothoracic surgeon, of Georgia Heart Institute join The Weekly Check-Up on March 9, 2025.

Ugochukwu Egolum, MD, is a heart failure cardiologist who practices at Georgia Heart Institute locations in Gainesville and Braselton. He serves as program director for the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) clinical program and program director for Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program. He joined Georgia Heart Institute in 2017 and has held several other leadership roles, including Chief of Cardiology for Northeast Georgia Health System and Medical Director of Georgia Heart Institute’s Heart Failure Treatment & Recovery Center.

Dr. Egolum received his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and two fellowships from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, one in General Cardiology and another in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology. He is board-certified in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease.

Dr. Egolum has been honored with numerous awards for his scholarship, clinical practice, teaching and research. Since 2008, he has contributed to or has been lead author of more than 50 original research articles, book chapters and abstracts in peer-reviewed publications and presented at national and international society meetings. Dr. Egolum is a member of the Heart Failure Society of America, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Physicians, and the American Board of Internal Medicine. He has served on a national guideline writing committee and functions as an advisory consultant to several pharmaceutical/device companies. He is the principal investigator on several key Heart Failure clinical trials, often being the top enroller nationwide. Additionally, Dr. Egolum has expertise and a specific interest in the care and management of patients with cardiac amyloidosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension and cardiac sarcoidosis.

Kyle Thompson, MD, is a cardiothoracic surgeon who practices in Gainesville with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, an integral part of Georgia Heart Institute. As Surgical Director for Advanced Heart Failure, he implants left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) to help patients regain heart function and quality of life.

Dr. Thompson’s introduction to cardiothoracic surgery started after he graduated from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and went on to work as a Cardiothoracic Surgical Physician Assistant in Jackson, Mississippi. After a few years assisting, he went on to receive his medical degree from the University of Mississippi. He cmpleted a Cardiothoracic Surgery residency at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Thompson once took a 63-day philanthropic bike ride across the United States. The “Journey of Hope” ride started in San Francisco and ended in Washington, D.C., raising awareness and money across the nation for people with mental and physical disabilities.