Carissa M. Baker-Smith, MD, MPH

Cardiology

Primary Office

Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware 1600 Rockland Road Wilmington, DE 19803 Appointment: (800) 416-4441

Other Offices

Get to Know Me

Carissa M Baker-Smith, MD, MPH, MS is a nationally recognized preventive cardiologist and transplant cardiologist, and the director of the Nemours Preventive Cardiology program. She currently serves as Chair, Atherosclerosis Hypertension and Obesity in the Young (AHOY) Subcommittee, American Heart Association Cardiovascular Disease of the Young.

Why I Treat Children

As a preventive cardiologist, I diagnose and treat children with conditions that put them at greater risk for acquired heart disease. We know that roughly 20% of youth are obese. These children are at particularly high risk for the development of hypertension, high cholesterol and for other conditions that put them at risk for early (premature) heart disease. I diagnose and treat children with congenital heart disease. Finally, in addition to specializing in pediatric preventive cardiology, I also specialize in pediatric heart transplantation.

What I'm Passionate About

I am an ardent and passionate believer in the right of all children to live healthy and productive lives. But without proper attention to matters of diet, exercise, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol, we are cutting short their abilities.  My medical interests include:  Familial Dyslipidemia Pediatric Hypertension Pediatric Heart Transplantation Social Determinants of Health Outside of work, I am a mother, a wife, and a daughter. I am a runner, artist and gardener.

How I Try to Make A Difference

Every family has a unique story so I tailor my care to the unique needs of the children that I care for and their families.

Education & Training

Fellowship

  • Pediatric Cardiology - Duke University Medical Center, 2010
  • Pediatric Cardiology - Duke University Medical Center, 2007

Internship Residency

  • General Pediatrics - Duke University Medical Center, 2006

Medical/Dental School

  • MD - University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2003

Board Certifications

  • American Board of Pediatrics/General Pediatrics
  • American Board of Pediatrics/Pediatric Cardiology

Awards & Recognition

  • 2020 Chair, Atherosclerosis Hypertension and Obesity in the Young (AHOY) Subcommittee, American Heart Association Cardiovascular Disease of the Young
  • 2020 Nemours Liaison of the Delaware ACCEL Center for Translational Research (CTR)
  • 2020 Nemours Lead, Delaware Community Engagement and Outreach (CEO)
  • 2019 Baltimore’s Top Doctors for 2019, Baltimore Magazine
  • 2018 Baltimore’s Top Doctors for 2018, Baltimore Magazine
  • 2016 Baltimore’s Top Doctors for 2016, Baltimore Magazine

Insurance Accepted

  • Aetna Better Health PA Kids HMO
  • Aetna HMO
  • Aetna PPO/POS/EPO
  • Amerihealth Caritas DE - PENNSYLVANIA SPECIALISTS ONLY
  • Amerihealth Caritas Delaware
  • Carefirst MD Community Health Plan Mcaid
  • Cigna Lifesource Transplant
  • Cigna/Great West HMO EPO POS
  • Cigna/Great West PPO
  • Delaware First Health
  • Delaware Medicaid/Diamond State
  • Delaware Medicare
  • Devon Health Services
  • Fidelis Care NJ Medicaid HMO
  • First Health/Affordable PPO
  • Geisinger Health Plan Commercial
  • Global Medical Managment DE/PA
  • Health Partners Medicaid/Kidz Partner HMO
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware *PA Loc Contiguous to DE*
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware *PA Loc NONContiguous to DE*
  • Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Pennsylvania
  • Highmark Medicaid Health Options
  • Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
  • Independance Blue Cross/Amerihealth/Keystone Health Plan
  • Insurance Administrators of America
  • INTEGRA Administrative Group (ClaimsBridge)
  • Interlink Transplant
  • Keystone First Medicaid HMO
  • Lifetrac Transplant
  • Maryland Medicaid
  • Multiplan PPO
  • National Transplant (Humana)
  • New Jersey Medicaid
  • Olympus Managed Healthcare PPO DE/PA
  • Pennsylvania Medicaid
  • Plan Vista/NPPN PPO
  • Preferred Healthcare PPO
  • Private Health Care Systems (PHCS)
  • Qualcare HMO/POS/PPO
  • Star Healthcare Network
  • Three Rivers Provider Network
  • Tricare/Humana Military Health Services
  • United Healthcare of the Mid-Atlantic
  • UPMC MCAID/CHIP PA DE
  • US Family Health Plan
  • Wellpoint Maryland Medcaid

  • Aortic Stenosis
  • Atrial Septal Defects
  • Atrioventricular Canal Defect
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Coarctation of the Aorta
  • Congenital Heart Disease
  • Heart Failure
  • Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
  • Interrupted Aortic Arch
  • Patent Ductus Arteriosis
  • Pulmonary Artery Sling
  • Pulmonary Atresia
  • Pulmonary Hypertension
  • Pulmonary Stenosis
  • Tetralogy of Fallot
  • Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return
  • Transposition of the Great Arteries
  • Tricuspid Atresia
  • Truncus Arteriosus
  • Ventricular Septal Defects

Research Activities

Dr. Baker-Smith’s research interests center around decreasing the burden of acquired heart disease, particularly among vulnerable populations, by addressing risk factors in youth via the creation of standardized practice models, outcomes research and quality improvement. At Nemours, she serves as the primary investigator for a new investigational drug (evinacumab) used for the management of youth with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.

  • Carissa Baker-Smith, MD, MPH, MS Nemours. ACCEL Rapid Grant. Barriers to Utilization and Impact on Patient Experience and Outcomes: Early Experience of Telehealth in Pediatric Cardiology During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Familial Hypercholesterolemia Drug Trial

  • Impact of race and health coverage on listing and waitlist mortality in pediatric cardiac transplantation; Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation; (2023).

    View Full Publication
  • Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2023 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association.; Circulation; (2023).

    View Full Publication
  • Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2023 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association; Circulation; (2023).

  • Association of Area Deprivation With Primary Hypertension Diagnosis Among Youth Medicaid Recipients in Delaware.; JAMA network open; (2023).

    View Full Publication
  • Telehealth and Application of Appropriate Use Criteria for Pediatric Transthoracic Echocardiography; Pediatric Cardiology; (2022).

    View Full Publication
  • Nutrition interventions for youth with dyslipidemia: a National Lipid Association clinical perspective; Journal of Clinical Lipidology; (2022).

    View Full Publication
  • Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Children and Adolescents: 2022 Update: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association; Hypertension; (2022).

    View Full Publication
  • Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Mitigating Health Disparities Across the Lifespan in Congenital Heart Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association; Journal of the American Heart Association; (2022).

    View Full Publication
  • Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Cardiovascular Disease in Children and Adolescents: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.; Journal of the American Heart Association; (2021).

    View Full Publication
  • Impact of Social Determinants and Digital Literacy on Telehealth Acceptance for Pediatric Cardiology Care Delivery during the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic.; The Journal of pediatrics; (2021).

    View Full Publication
  • Pediatric Ambulatory Blood Pressure Classification: The Case for a Change.; Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979); (2021).

    View Full Publication
  • Health Care Policy and Congenital Heart Disease: 2020 Focus on Our 2030 Future.; Journal of the American Heart Association; (2021).

    View Full Publication
  • Microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II is associated with global vascular disease.; Orphanet journal of rare diseases; (2021).

    View Full Publication
  • Arch intervention following stage 1 palliation in hypoplastic left heart syndrome is associated with slower feed advancement: A report from the National Pediatric Quality Cardiology Improvement Collaborative; Cardiology in the Young; (2020).

    View Full Publication
  • Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Youth: An Important Marker of Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association; Circulation; (2020).

    View Full Publication
  • Echocardiographic assessment of mechanical circulatory support and heart transplant; Progress in Pediatric Cardiology; (2020).

    View Full Publication
  • Recommendations for exercise and screening for safe athletic participation in hypertensive youth; Pediatric Nephrology; (2020).

    View Full Publication
  • Preventing Premature Atherosclerotic Disease; Current Hypertension Reports; (2020).

    View Full Publication
  • Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, COVID-19, and the Renin-Angiotensin System: Pressing Needs and Best Research Practices; Hypertension; (2020).

    View Full Publication
  • Aligning Adult and Pediatric Blood Pressure Guidelines; Hypertension; (2019).

    View Full Publication
  • Diagnosis, management, and treatment of systemic hypertension in youth, updates from the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Practice Guideline; Lifestyle Medicine: Third Edition; (2019).

    View Full Publication
  • Systematic reviews: A small fraction of the evidence used to generate the 2017 clinical pediatric hypertension clinical practice guideline; Journal of Hypertension; (2019).

    View Full Publication
  • Research gaps in primary pediatric hypertension; Pediatrics; (2019).

    View Full Publication
  • The landscape of cardiovascular care in pediatric cancer patients and survivors: A survey by the ACC Pediatric Cardio-Oncology Work Group; Cardio-Oncology; (2019).

    View Full Publication
  • The use of nonnutritive sweeteners in children; Pediatrics; (2019).

    View Full Publication
  • Exercise testing in hypertension and hypertension in athletes; Pediatric Hypertension; (2018).

    View Full Publication
  • Cardiovascular disease in the young council's science and clinical education lifelong learning committee: Year in review; Journal of the American Heart Association; (2018).

    View Full Publication
  • Development of quality metrics for ambulatory pediatric cardiology: Transposition of the great arteries after arterial switch operation; Congenital Heart Disease; (2018).

    View Full Publication
  • Erratum: Subcommittee on screening and management of high blood pressure in children. Clinical practice guideline for screening and management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents (Pediatrics (2017) 140:3 (e20171904) DOI: 10.1542/peds.2017-1904); Pediatrics; (2018).

    View Full Publication
  • Diagnosis, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents; Pediatrics; (2018).

    View Full Publication
  • The simplified table in the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics childhood hypertension guideline performs exactly as intended; Journal of hypertension; (2018).

    View Full Publication
  • Clinical practice guideline for screening and management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents; Pediatrics; (2017).

    View Full Publication
  • Description of Antihypertensive Medication Use in a Pediatric Practice: Single and Multiple Antihypertensive Medication Therapy; Journal of Clinical Hypertension; (2017).

    View Full Publication
  • Development of Quality Metrics in Ambulatory Pediatric Cardiology; Journal of the American College of Cardiology; (2017).

    View Full Publication
  • Safe and Effective Use of Pharmacologic and Device Therapy for Peripartum Cardiomyopathy; Pharmacotherapy; (2016).

    View Full Publication
  • Databases for congenital heart defect public health studies across the lifespan; Journal of the American Heart Association; (2016).

    View Full Publication
  • Predictors of Prolonged Hospital Length of Stay Following Stage II Palliation of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (and Variants): Analysis of the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC) Database; Pediatric Cardiology; (2015).

    View Full Publication
  • Predictors of prolonged length of intensive care unit stay after stage i palliation: A report from the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative; Pediatric Cardiology; (2014).

    View Full Publication
  • Lifestyle interventions for blood pressure control in children and adolescents; Nutrition, Lifestyle Factors, and Blood Pressure; (2012).

    View Full Publication
  • Variation in Postoperative Care following Stage I Palliation for Single-ventricle Patients: A Report from the Joint Council on Congenital Heart Disease National Quality Improvement Collaborative; Congenital Heart Disease; (2011).

    View Full Publication
  • Cough in pediatric patients receiving angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy or angiotensin receptor blocker therapy in randomized controlled trials; Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics; (2010).

    View Full Publication
  • Double aortic arch with aortic atresia and left-sided type B interruption; Congenital Heart Disease; (2010).

    View Full Publication
  • Erratum: Racial differences in blood pressure response to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in children: A meta-analysis (Clinical Pharmacology Therapeutics (2008) 84, (315-319)); Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics; (2008).

    View Full Publication
  • Pediatric antihypertensive trial failures: Analysis of end points and dose range; Hypertension; (2008).

    View Full Publication
  • Racial differences in blood pressure response to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in children: A meta-analysis; Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics; (2008).

    View Full Publication
  • The economic returns of pediatric clinical trials of antihypertensive drugs; American Heart Journal; (2008).

    View Full Publication
  • Chemokines and chemokine receptors in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis; (2000).

    View Full Publication

  • English