Alliance Bank of Arizona announces new senior leadership

Alliance Bank of Arizona announced the appointment of two new leadership roles within the Southern Arizona region with the promotion of Sandra P. Barton and the hiring of Karen Sivert. Both Barton and Sivert are locally based in Tucson.

Barton, a Tucson native and University of Arizona graduate, has been with the bank since 2009, and was promoted to senior vice president, regional manager of commercial real estate. With 25 years of commercial banking experience in Southern Arizona, Barton will lead the commercial real estate banking department for the Tucson region. She also serves on the board of directors of Pima County Real Estate Research Council, the Tucson Industrial Development Authority, and National Charity League. She is a member of the Tucson Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), Executive Connection, Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, and Southern Arizona CCIM. 

Sivert has been appointed to senior vice president, commercial banking department manager. A Tucson resident, Sivert is a 30-year veteran of the banking industry, working primarily in commercial lending. She attended Pacific Coast School of Banking, a prestigious banking school housed at the University of Washington. She was involved with Project C.U.R.E. (the largest provider of donated medical supplies to developing countries), Habitat for Humanity, the Parker Chamber of Commerce, and Project Bridge for youth at risk. Sivert’s role will be to lead the commercial banking team for the Tucson region.

Sarver Heart Center and Banner  welcome 3 new cardiologists

The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center has welcomed three cardiologists to its faculty. Tushar Acharya, MD, Olivia Hung, MD, PhD, and Nader Makki, MD, have joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, as assistant professors and now are seeing patients at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson.

“With the addition of Drs. Acharya, Hung and Makki, we continue the rapid growth in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Arizona and Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and enhance our ability to provide highly personalized care to patients. Dr. Acharya is a general cardiologist with particular strength in cardiac imaging diagnostics. Dr. Hung also is a general cardiologist with broad interests and experience, including preventive cardiology, women’s heart disease and the growing field of cardio-oncology. Dr. Makki is a skilled interventional cardiologist who, like all our interventional cardiologists, will routinely manage acutely ill and complex cardiovascular patients, performing life-saving procedures,” said Nancy K. Sweitzer, MD, PhD, director of the UA Sarver Heart Center and chief of cardiology.

Dr. Acharya is board certified in cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology and internal medicine, and is board-eligible in nuclear cardiology. His clinical interests include integrating multi-modality cardiovascular imaging into routine patient care and delivering evidence-based cardiovascular care with an emphasis on preventative cardiology. His research interests include improving cardiovascular care and outcomes through application of advanced cardiovascular imaging modalities, such as cardiac CT and cardiac MRI, as well as through scholarly conduct of population-based studies, clinical effectiveness and implementation research to optimize cardiovascular care strategies. He has authored and co-authored multiple original research publications and has presented his research at national and international scientific meetings.

Dr. Hung is board certified in internal medicine and board-eligible in cardiovascular disease. Her clinical interests include non-invasive cardiology, heart disease prevention, women’s heart disease, cardio-oncology and cardiac imaging. Her research interests include cardiovascular disease in women and coronary physiology. She has authored multiple original research publications and textbook chapters.

Dr. Makki is board certified in cardiovascular medicine, vascular imaging and nuclear cardiology and board-eligible in interventional cardiology. His clinical interests include interventional cardiology specifically pertaining to complex coronary artery disease, structural heart disease and above-the-knee peripheral artery disease.

Dushyant Singh hired at Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails

Chef Dushyant Singh has been hired as executive chef of Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails at Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix.

Previously serving as the director of culinary experiences for The Camby, Autograph Collection, Chef Singh will start at Blue Hound on Oct. 15 and has big plans for the downtown Phoenix restaurant.