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About
I am a pediatric cardiologist at University Health Cardiovascular Center in San Antonio. I grew up in rural Montana. I earned my medical degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, and completed my residency in pediatrics at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA. I also completed a pediatric cardiology fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. Prior to joining the Congenital Heart Center team at University Health in San Antonio, I practiced pediatric cardiology in Indianapolis, IN, Atlanta, GA and St. Louis, MO.
I have been involved in public health research with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as clinical research in the areas of echocardiography and cardio-neurodevelopment. I currently hold the office of Treasurer with the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Collaborative (CNOC).
My clinical interests include quality improvement, cardio-neurodevelopment and fetal cardiology.
On a more personal note, my husband Dr. Aaron Abarbanell and I are a team. Dr. Aaron Abarbanell is a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. My goal as a pediatric cardiologist is to create a dynamic team that relentlessly strives for clinical excellence for our patients and their families with a mindset to embrace challenges and grow the practice.
Philosophy of Care Statement
“Excellence at the heart of it” is to deliver exceptional cardiac care to children and adults with congenital heart disease and their families, and to be a vibrant, nationally prominent team that is the cornerstone of pediatric heart care in South Texas.
Video
Articles & Publications
Book Chapters
Plastino KA. Placenta Previa In: Essential Emergency Medicine for the Healthcare Practitioner. Philadelphia, PA 19103-2899: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. p. 540 - 542..
Journal Articles
Kim HS, Abarbanell G, Simpson K, Abarbanell AM, Eghtesady P, Levy PT, Singh GK. Evolution and Predictors of Right Ventricular Failure in Fontan Patients: A Case-Control Study. J Clin Med. 2025 Jun 29;14(13):4602. doi: 10.3390/jcm14134602. PMID: 40648976; PMCID: PMC12250303.
Ginnie Abarbanell, Martina Oneko, Laura Steinhardt, Reuben Yego, Ryan E Wiegand, Phillip A. Swanson, Natasha KC, Dorcas Akach, Tony Sang, Julie Gutman, Elizabeth Nzuu, Allan Dungani, B. Kim Lee Sim, Paul Ndaya Oloo, Kephas Otieno, Dennis K. Bii, Peter F. Billingsley, Eric R James, Simon Kariuki, Aaron Samuels, Said Jongo, Winnie Chebore, Salim Abdulla, Claudia A Daubenberger, Maxmillian Mpina, David Styers, Gail E Potter, Thomas L. Richie, Stephen Hoffman, Robert A. Seder. Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of PfSPZ Vaccine against malaria in infants in western Kenya: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in Nature Medicine 27(9):1-10, September 2021.
Ginnie Abarbanell, Kayla N. Anderson, Naomi K. Tepper, Karrie Downing, Elizabeth C. Ailes, Sherry Farr. Contraceptive methods of privately-insured U.S. women with congenital heart defects in American Heart Journal 222, April 2020.
Ginnie Abarbanell, Naomi K. Tepper, Sherry L. Farr. Safety of contraceptive use among women with congenital heart disease: A systematic review in Clinical Infectious Diseases 71(4), September 2019.
Ginnie Abarbanell, Laura Steinhardt, Thomas L Richie, Reuben Yego, Dorcas Akach
Mary J Hamel, Julie Gutman, Ryan E Wiegand, Elizabeth Nzuu, Allan Dungani
Natasha Kc, Tooba Murshedkar, L W Preston Church, B Kim Lee Sim, Peter Billingsley, Eric R James, Yonas Abebe, Simon Kariuki, Aaron Samuels, Kephas Otieno, Tony Sang, Patrick Kachur, David Styers, Kelly Schlessman, Stephen Hoffman, Robert A Seder, Martina Oneko. Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of PfSPZ Vaccine administered by direct venous inoculation to infants and young children: findings from an age de-escalation, dose-escalation double-blinded randomized, controlled study in western Kenya in Congenital Heart Disease 14(3), January 2019.
Ginnie Abarbanell, Sherry L. Farr, Karrie F. Downing, Tiffany Riehle-Colarusso . Functional limitations and educational needs among children and adolescents with heart disease in Congenital Heart Disease 13(4), July 2018.
Ginnie Abarbanell, William L Border, Brian Schlosser, Gemma Morrow, Mike Kelleman,
Ritu Sachdeva. Preoperative echocardiographic measures in interrupted aortic arch: Which ones best predict surgical approach and outcome? in Congenital Heart Disease 13(4), March 2018.
Riehle-Colarusso TJ, Bergersen L, Broberg CS, Cassell CH, Gray DT, Grosse SD, Jacobs JP, Jacobs ML, Kirby RS, Kochilas L, Krishnaswamy A, Marelli A, Pasquali SK, Wood T, Oster ME. Congenital Heart Public Health Consortium. Databases for Congenital Heart Defect Public Health Studies Across the Lifespan. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Oct 26;5(11):e004148. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.116.004148. PMID: 27912209; PMCID: PMC5210337.
Ginnie L. Abarbanell, Gemma Morrow, Mike Kelleman, Kirk R. Kanter, William L Border, Ritu Sachdeva. Echocardiographic Predictors of Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction following Repair of Atrioventricular Septal Defect: LV Outflow Obstruction in AVSD in Congenital Heart Disease 11(6), May 2016.
Abarbanell GL, Goldberg CS, Devaney EJ, Ohye RG, Bove EL, Charpie JR. Early surgical morbidity and mortality in adults with congenital heart disease: the University of Michigan experience. Congenit Heart Dis. 2008 Mar-Apr;3(2):82-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1747-0803.2008.00170.x. PMID: 18380757.
Abarbanell G, Mulla N, Chinnock R, Larsen R. Exercise assessment in infants after cardiac transplantation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2004 Dec;23(12):1334-8. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2003.09.019. PMID: 15607660.
Abarbanell G, Janner D. Failure to thrive and history of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in a six-year-old Hispanic boy. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2002 Mar;21(3):259, 268-9. doi: 10.1097/00006454-200203000-00020. PMID: 12005094.
