Piers Barker

Piers Barker, MD is an attending Pediatric Cardiologist, Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Section Head of Pediatric Cardiac Non-Invasive Imaging and Director of Academic Affairs and Faculty Development in the Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center. Born in England but raised in Canada (except for a 5-month student exchange at The Southport School in Queensland!), Dr. Barker has been in the United States since his undergraduate and medical school training at Cornell University. He completed his Pediatrics internship and residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Pediatric Cardiology fellowship at the University of Michigan, and served on faculty at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse before joining Duke University in 2004. Dr. Barker’s research interests include improving our understanding of single ventricle physiology and outcomes, the use of 3-dimensional modeling to teach and plan interventional procedures, the intersection of human-animal cardiac mechanics and physiology, and how human-animal bonding can help children and pregnant women during imaging procedures. Clinically, Dr. Barker works to optimize the perinatal management of infants with prenatally diagnosed heart disease that balances infant stability with family bonding. He served as the Chair of the Council on Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease and representative to the Board of Directors for the American Society of Echocardiography from 2019-21, and as the Co-Chair of the American Society of Echocardiography Committee on Guidelines and Standards from 2023-26.