Chantra Chao

Chantra Chao is a nurse practitioner who cares for patients when they need cardiac stress testing. She performs both exercise stress tests and nuclear stress tests – which produce images of blood flow to the heart – to detect ischemia (inadequate blood supply) and arrhythmias and to evaluate exercise tolerance. She also screens patients to ensure they receive the medical tests most appropriate for their conditions. In addition to her work with patients, she mentors new employees and students.

Chao is involved in quality improvement projects and has presented her work on reducing radiation exposure in nuclear stress testing at UCSF's annual health improvement symposium. She was also the primary care provider performing tests for a large international study to evaluate a treatment for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Chao earned a bachelor's degree in neurobiology, physiology and behavior from the University of California, Davis. She earned a master's degree in nursing from UCSF. She is a certified acute care nurse practitioner and a member of the American Nurses Association and American College of Cardiology.

In her free time, Chao loves to travel. On a past trip, she explored Asia for seven months and hiked the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal – one of the most memorable experiences of her life.