AR Wattar, MD

AR Wattar, MD, FACC is a cardiologist in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, practicing in Mentor and Willoughby Hills Family Health Centers. Dr. Wattar is board certified in cardiovascular disease. His special interest is advanced cardiac imaging, including nuclear cardiography, cardiac CT and cardiac MRI.

Dr. Wattar earned his medical degree from Aleppo University,  Aleppo, Syria. He relocated to the United States to complete a three-year residency at Cleveland Clinic Lutheran and Fairview hospitals, followed by a research training program in molecular biology at Richard Freeman Research Institute, Ochsner Medical Institutions, New Orleans. Returning to Cleveland, Dr. Wattar served a one-year fellowship in molecular cardiology at Cleveland Clinic, followed by a one-year fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Temple University Health System, Philadelphia.

Dr. Wattar received Level II training in nuclear cardiology, diagnostic cardiac catheterization and echocardiography as a fellow in cardiovascular disease  at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago. He completed his post-graduate training with a cardiovascular diagnostics fellowship at The Ohio State University where he received Level III certification in advanced cardiac imaging, MRI and CT.

Prior to his appointment to the Cleveland Clinic staff in 2012, Dr. Wattar was a cardiovascular consultant at Fort Hamilton Hospital, Hamilton. Ohio. He previously was in private practice in Westlake, Ohio and on staff at Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Parma Heights, Ohio and Southwest Hospital, Middleburg Heights, Ohio.

Dr. Wattar has been an investigator in six clinical trials of new medications for treating heart disease and preventing stroke. He has published a number of textbook chapters and papers in professional journals on advanced cardiac imaging. He is a Fellow of the  American College of Cardiology and a member of  the American College of Physicians, the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Dr. Wattar was named to the Best Doctors in America list 2010-2012.

An accomplished violinist, Dr. Wattar is a graduate of the Aleppo Academic Conservatory of Music. He is fluent in English, Arabic and French.