Non-invasive cardiologist with special interest in prevention, reversal and recovery of heart disease.

Dr Nicole Harkin, MD, FACC is a preventive cardiologist and founder of Whole Heart Cardiology, a preventive telecardiology practice that provides patients in NY, CA, and FL with comprehensive cardiac risk assessment, preventive counseling including plant based nutrition, and heart health optimization. She is boarded in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Clinical Lipidology, Nuclear Cardiology, and Echocardiography. Dr Harkin attended Boston University for medical school, Columbia University for Internal Medicine residency, and New York University for Cardiology fellowship. She worked as a private practice cardiologist for over 5 years in Manhattan, helping hundreds of patients prevent and treat heart disease through an integrative, patient centered approach. Dr Harkin serves on the American College of Cardiology California Prevention Committee and the American Society for Preventive Cardiology Nutrition Working Group.
Dr Harkin launched Whole Heart Cardiology with the mission of preventing heart disease with sustainable lifestyle changes. She offers direct to patient care that prioritizes lengthy, patient centered appointments, increased accessibility, and personalized care.

Thank you Drs Campbell, Esselstyn, Greger, Barnard, Ornish and others for providing the high quality literature that enlightened me to the undeniable healing power of plant-based nutrition for cardiovascular diseases. Thank you Dr Kim Willams for bringing it to the forefront of topics at American College of Cardiology. And thank you to my many patients who have shown me the actual real case examples of the amazing results as they have embraced the proven benefits of a whole food plant based diet and made life altering changes to their diet and eating habits. My knowing them and their testimonies has meant the world to me, and has helped me be a more complete physician. And opened my mind to a new universe of knowledge.  The exploding wonder of our microbiome is next!!

I am an interventional cardiologist with an interest in complex and structural interventional cardiology, adult congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension.  However, my long time passion is in the prevention, treatment and reversal of heart disease through diet and lifestyle interventions.  I have been a strong advocate for a Whole-Food, Plant-Based diet for my patients (and myself) for several years.  I completed the eCornell certificate program in Plant-Based Nutrition at the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies in April 2018 and hope to bring greater awareness of these powerful benefits to patients and practitioners in the community.

I have seen dramatic clinical and metabolic improvements in multiple patients, friends, and family members in the 2 years since embarking on my own personal journey towards plant based eating. In that time I have become certified in plant based nutrition through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and have become a diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine to expand my knowledge and clinical skills necessary to effectively educate, council and help transform the llives of my patients. My husband and two young sons have transitioned to a plant based diet and have embraced this new way of life. My husband and I quickly noticed a big difference in our fitness levels achieving a higher level of fitness at age 41 than we both had as collegiate athletes. In addition to improved fitness, we have noticed improved flexibility, less muscle soreness, improved energy, and improved immune function.
 
As a non-invasive cardiologist practicing at large academic centers for the past 11 years I have watched my patients progressively suffer with recurrent myocardial infarctions, strokes, atrial fibrillation, and more frequent hospitalizations for heart failure despite my attempts at optimizing goal directed medical therapy and referrals for repeat invasive procedures and surgeries.  Since I have incorporated lifestyle medicine and plant-based nutrition counseling into my practice over the past 2 years I have seen dramatic improvements in my patients health and well being while decreasing the amount of pharmaceuticals they take.  As I enter the middle part of my career I have a new passion to cure and heal my patients with a combination of lifestyle intervention and traditional medicinal and procedural approaches when necessary. I look forward to sharing the wisdom I have gained not only with my patients, but with colleagues, friends and family, through my own personal journey towards plant based eating and the formal knowledge I have gained through formal plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine training. 

I am an interventional cardiologist who is skilled at performing angioplasty. However, I prefer to use my knowledge of medicine, nutrition, and exercise science to help my patients stay heart healthy. As a competitive triathlete and follower of a plant-based diet for over ten years, I set a healthful example for my patients.

Families pass on diseases more effectively through recipes than through genes.