Dr. J. A. Mustapha, MD

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Get to know Interventional Cardiologist Dr. J. A. Mustapha, who serves patients in Michigan & Las Vegas, Nevada.

A board-certified interventional cardiologist, Dr. Mustapha is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Endovascular Interventions at Advanced Cardiac & Vascular Centers. He operates out of the offices in Grand Rapids and Lansing, Michigan & Las Vegas, Nevada.

Specializing in endovascular revascularization of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and critical limb ischemia (CLI), he has held many academic and professional titles throughout his career, but the one he’s most proud of is the simplest: “The Leg Saver.” he developed the notion early in his practice that a device to unblock arteries leading to the heart might be used to perform the same thing for legs. He performed his first peripheral vascular limb-salvage treatment more than a dozen years ago, preventing the amputation of the leg of a 52-year-old woman suffering from severe PAD.

Today, Dr. Mustapha is recognized throughout the world as a pioneer for his groundbreaking work in CLI, which is marked by the severe obstruction of arteries drastically reducing blood flow to the extremities. Left untreated, CLI can result in amputations. He has authored numerous papers and teaches and speaks internationally on the topic.

His story is even more incredible considering that at just 15, he fled his war-torn homeland of Lebanon, landing alongside not a single friend or family member at JFK airport, with $80 to his name and little more than a single change of clothes.

By the next day – despite knowing no English – he was hawking umbrellas and flowers on the streets of New York. He enrolled in night school to learn the language, lived with a sister to save money, and eventually moved to Michigan, where he worked at a restaurant cleaning toilets and bussing tables.

In time, Dr. Mustapha enrolled in college to become a physicist, but to honor the memory of a brother who died before realizing his own dream of becoming a doctor, switched gears and entered the pre-med program at Wayne State University. He later earned his medical degree from St. George University School of Medicine in Grenada.

“If anything, I do know a bit about loss and deficits, and I hope that has helped me to develop empathy for the many patients we have the privilege of treating. In virtually every instance, we are trying to create hope for people who have been given devastating news. That is what brings me to work every day. That is what motivates me as a doctor, but perhaps more importantly, as a human being. When you save someone’s leg, you’re often saving their life” expressed Dr. Mustapha. 

He is proud to have co-founded the first Advanced Cardiac and Vascular Amputation Prevention Center. With nephew Fadi Saab, M.D., Dr. Mustapha hopes it will serve as a national model for amputation prevention – one of many to eventually take root throughout the United States.

Serving as a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, he is a Founder and Director of the Amputation Prevention Symposium & a Founding Board Member of the CLI Global Society.

Achieving professional competence, Dr. Mustapha is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and a Fellow of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI).

An expert in his field, he is board-certified in interventional cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Furthermore, he is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and interventional cardiology by the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS). The NBPAS is committed to providing continuing board certification for both MDs and DOs that reduces physician burden and increases time for patient care, while upholding the highest standards of continuing medical education and lifelong learning.

Interventional cardiology is a subspecialty of cardiology that uses various diagnostic tools and imaging techniques to measure cardiovascular functions such as blood pressure and blood flow in major arteries throughout the body and within the different chambers of the heart. An interventional cardiologist specializes in diagnosing and treating conditions and diseases of the heart and blood vessels using nonsurgical, catheter-based procedures and specialized imaging techniques.

Happily married, Dr. Mustapha and his wife, Laurie, have three children.

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