Click on a physicians name for their full bio.
Primary Care
Antonella Auciello, MD
Dr. Antonella Auciello is a board-certified internist with almost 30 years of clinical experience and expertise in all aspects of medical care of adult patients. Prior to joining Advanced Cardiology and Primary Care, she founded a primary care practice in Hackettstown with Atlantic Health Systems-Atlantic Medical Group. During this time, she served as managing physician as well as several committee member positions at Hackettstown Medical Center.
Bijal Dave, MD
Bijal Dave, MD started with Advanced Primary Care in 2014, after she moved from Brooklyn to join her husband at Advanced Cardiology. She graduated medical school with honors from Mumbai University in 2001 following which she moved to the US. After finishing her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from USM, Hattiesburg, she dedicated a year of research at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn.
Hinesh Upadhyay, MD
Dr. Hinesh Upadhyay, MD, is a board-certified expert in pulmonary, critical care, sleep medicine, and internal medicine, practicing in New Jersey. After earning his medical degree in 2005 from Government Medical College, Surat, he completed residencies and fellowships in internal medicine, sleep medicine, and pulmonary & critical care at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, JFK Medical Center, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. A skilled clinician and educator, Dr. Upadhyay also advises digital health initiatives, and helps design pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine services.
Lillian Theune, D.O.
Lillian Theune, D.O. has lived and worked in Sussex/Warren counties since 1997. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine. Dr. Theune earned her medical degree at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. She excels at taking care of adult patients with diverse medical conditions, helping to coordinate specialists, overseeing multiple medications, and monitoring all aspects of the patient’s care. In her free time, she loves hiking, Disney, and traveling the world.
Miguel A. Carreno, MD
Miguel A. Carreno, MD is board-certified in Internal Medicine. He received his medical school education from Ross University School Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ in 2012.
After completing a residency in Internal Medicine, he dedicated 8 years to Hospital Medicine. He worked as a Hospitalist for Atlantic Health in Morristown Medical Center from 2012-2018. From 2018 to 2020, he transitioned to St. Joseph’s Hospital where he worked as a Hospitalist in St. Joseph’s Wayne.
Valery Vera-Connolly, MD
Valery Vera-Connolly, MD is a board certified Family Medicine physician. Her areas of clinical expertise include primary care with a particular interest in preventative care and health maintenance, long term care of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, and women’s health.
Dr. Vera-Connolly attended Seton Hall University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and received her Bachelor in Science degree. She received her medical degree from St George’s University School of Medicine, and completed her Family Medicine residency at Hackensack Mountainside Family Medicine in Montclair, NJ in 2019.
Cardiology
Adil Pervaiz, MD
Adil Pervaiz MD started with Advanced Cardiology in 2022. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami. Also received his medical school education from St George University, Grenada. He completed his Internal Medicine residency from Coney Island Hospital, Brooklyn, NY in 2017. He was honored with “resident of the year” for each year, 2015, 2016, & 2017.
Anirudh Khanna MD, FACC
Dr. Anirudh Khanna MD, FACC has been an interventional and consultative cardiologist since 2000. He received his medical education at Seth GS Medical College and King Edward Memorial Hospital, a premier medical school in in Mumbai, India. He completed his Medical Residency and Cardiology Fellowship at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY and then his subspecialty Fellowship in interventional Cardiology at St. Vincent’s hospital, New York, NY.
Charles J. Marotta, MD
Charles J. Marotta, MD, FACC is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Interventional Cardiology, Nuclear Cardiology, and Echocardiography. Dr Marotta was the founder of Advanced Cardiology, LLC in 2002 and has been in private practice since 1989.
Clifford C. Sebastian MD FACC
Clifford C. Sebastian MD FACC is Board Certified in General Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology, and Nuclear Cardiology. He has been in private practice in New Jersey since 2007 and joined Advanced Cardiology in 2025. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and medical school training at Albany Medical College. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency as well as a Chief Resident year at Temple University in Philadelphia in 2003. He finished his training in General Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology at Brown University.
Darshan Godkar, MD
Darshan Godkar MD, FACC, FSCAI, FASE, FASNC has been with Advanced Cardiology since 2009. He received his medical school education from Mumbai University, India and subsequently moved to the US in 2001. He completed his Internal Medicine residency from Coney Island Hospital, Brooklyn, NY in 2006 where he was also the Chief Resident.
David James, MD
David James MD, has been with Advanced Cardiology since 2014. He did undergraduate studies at Brown University and medical school training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine ending in 2006. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell in 2009. He worked as an Instructor of Medicine at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2009. He then finished his training in Cardiology and then Interventional cardiology at New York Beth Israel Medical Center.
Dhaval Shah, MD
Dr. Dhaval Shah attended medical school at Terna Medical College in Navi Mumbai, India. After completing his degree, he underwent cardiology training and earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Cardiology. He practiced cardiology for two years before moving to the United States in 2016.
Gurpreet Sidhu, MD
Hailing from New Jersey, Dr. Sidhu brings a wealth of expertise and a warm dedication to patient care. After earning a medical degree from Central America Health Sciences University, Dr. Sidhu completed an Internal Medicine residency at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, NJ, where leadership shone as Chief Resident.
Jason Kaplan, MD
Dr. Jason Kaplan completed his medical education at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences at St. Kitts, followed by an Internal Medicine residency at McLaren Oakland in Pontiac, Michigan, where he served as Chief Resident and was named Researcher of the Year. He then completed a General Cardiology fellowship at McLaren Macomb-Oakland in Mount Clemens, Michigan. He subsequently completed his Interventional Cardiology fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York, where he received the Best in Teaching Award, as voted on by his peers.
Lawrence C. Antonucci, MD FACC
Lawrence C. Antonucci MD FACC graduated of St Peters Prep, St Peters College and The University of Padova Medical school in Italy. Practicing Clinical and Interventional Cardiology in private practice since 1990.
Sumit Som, MD, FACC, RPVI
Dr. Som earned his medical degree and completed his Internship from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India in 2006. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Seton Hall University, New Jersey (Trinitas Regional Medical Center and St. Michael’s Medical Center) in 2011 and went on to complete a series of fellowships beginning with Advanced Cardiac Imaging (echocardiography and nuclear cardiology) from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, NY (2012), followed by Congestive Heart Failure from Beth Israel Medical Center, NY (2013), Cardiovascular Diseases from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel (2016) and Interventional Cardiology from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School based Hackensack University Medical Center (2017).
Nurse Practitioners
Peggy Fleck, APN, PhD
Peggy is a Nurse Practitioner who earned her Doctorate degree from Rutgers University in 2008. She was initially certified as a Nurse Practitioner in 2000 after completing her Master’s Degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark NJ, which is also where she received her training. In 2009 she successfully completed the American Board of Comprehensive Care’s exam and received designation as Diplomat in Comprehensive Care.
Peggy works alongside the Cardiology Team to provide an additional layer of care and monitoring that allows Advanced Cardiology the ability to provide the highest quality of cardiac care to our patients.
Peggy spends her free time hiking and spending time with family and friends.
Alexa Dendulk, RN, BSN, FNP-BC
Alexa began her career as a registered nurse in Saint Barnabas Medical Center in 2011 and Morristown Medical Center working in the emergency room and cardiac catheterization lab. She achieved her Masters in Science of Nursing degree from Ramapo College of New Jersey in 2020 and is a board certified FNP-C by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
She now has over four years of experience as a cardiac nurse practitioner, specializing in diagnosing and treatment of cardiovascular disease diseases including Heart Failure, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease among others. She has a particular interest in Heart Failure optimization and education. She, as well as our other nurse practitioners, collaborate closely with our Cardiology team to deliver the highest quality of care to the patients in our practice.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, spending time outside and traveling.
Miguel Garcia, NP
Miguel Garcia is a board-certified nurse practitioner with extensive experience in emergency medicine and internal medicine. He has worked as an emergency nurse practitioner for five years and as a hospitalist in internal medicine for two years, managing a wide range of acute and chronic conditions. His diverse clinical background has given him a strong foundation in critical care, chronic disease management, and preventive medicine.
Nicole Douglas, APN
Nicole is a Nurse Practitioner who has specialized in Cardiology for over 10+ years. She graduated with her Bachelors Degree from Seton Hall University and started working in the CCU at Morristown Medical Center.
Rachael Craig, RN, MSN, FNP-C
Rachael earned her non-clinical degree from Drew University, and then pursued her nursing degree. Her more than 20 year career as an RN was spent specializing in critical care. She is a graduate of Loyola University, where she received her nurse practitioner education and is board-certified in family practice medicine. Rachael considers herself a life-long learner and is always looking for new innovations to achieve the best possible outcome for her patients.
Suzanne M. Seeley, APN
Suzanne M. Seeley is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She has a Bachelor of Nursing degree from William Paterson University and a Master of Science degree in Nursing from Georgetown University. Suzanne is passionate about wellness and mental health. She focuses on each patient as a whole and listens to each patient to hear what they have to say about their own health. Her goal is to make each person comfortable and heard. Early in her career, a physician told her to “treat every patient as you would treat your family” and she took this to heart. This is the basis of how she cares for each patient.
Electrophysiology
Gourg Atteya, MD
Dr. Gourg Atteya, who has joined our Advanced Cardiology group in 2022 as a pioneer to our Cardiac Electrophysiology services. Dr. Atteya received his medical education from Cairo University School of Medicine in Egypt and moved to the U.S. in 2011 shortly after completion. He performed clinical and translational research in the field of Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Yale School of Medicine.
Vaibhavi Uppin, MD
Dr. Uppin is devoted to delivering exceptional care for patients with complex cardiac arrhythmias. She is driven by a deep passion to propel the Cardiac Electrophysiology field through her academic research endeavors and by addressing healthcare disparities. Certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Echocardiography.
Physical Therapy
Dr. Chandni Patel, PT DPT
An alumni from Dominican College of NY with a Doctor of Physical therapy and a Doctor of Ayurvedic medicine from India. She has over 12 years of experience and skills working in various settings such as skilled nursing, acute care, home care, outpatient, and pediatric neuro.