Click on a physicians name for their full bio.

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Primary Care

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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.

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. 

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Cardiology

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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.

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.

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.

Prem Patel, MD

Dr. Prem Patel, MD started with Advanced Cardiology in 2024.  He was born and raised in New Jersey and attended New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers-Newark for undergraduate studies and graduated with a biology major and chemistry minor. He received his medical education from St. George’s University, Grenada and then returned to his home state in New Jersey for residency, fellowship, and subspecialty training—all of which he completed at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, NJ.  He was voted ‘Most Reliable Intern’ during his first year of training in residency.

Sankalp Pathak, MD

Dr. Pathak joined Advanced Cardiology in 2022. He earned his medical degree from JLN Medical College, India in 2012 where he was honored several times for his remarkable academic performances. He then completed Internal medicine training at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ. He subsequently finished training in Cardiovascular disease/Cardiology at Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, New Jersey.

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).

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Nurse Practitioners

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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 at Morristown Medical Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. She has been a registered nurse for ten years specializing in Cardiology. Alexa earned both her BSN and FNP from Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is board certified in family medicine through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.  She specializes in cardiac procedures such as cardiac catheterization, coronary and peripheral angioplasty, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), loop recorder, and pacemaker insertions. In her free time, Alexa enjoys spending time with family and friends, being outdoors and travelling.

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.

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Electrophysiology

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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.

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Physical Therapy

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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.