Danielle Burstein

BIO

Dr. Danielle Burstein is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont (UVM) Robert Larner MD, College of Medicine, and a Pediatric Cardiologist at the UVM Health Golisano Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and research interests focus on evaluating the impact of exercise participation in cardiovascular outcomes in children and young adults with underlying heart disease. Regular exercise improves children’s cardiovascular health, mental health, confidence, focus, and ability for social engagement. However, children and young adults with chronic diseases such as heart disease are often less active compared to healthy peers and are also at the highest risk of morbidity from acquired health risks resulting from physical inactivity. These patients may experience exercise insecurity engrained by providers, caregivers, school systems, and extramural sports organizations based on theoretical risks of exercise participation. Dr. Burstein's research interest aims to better understand the role of exercise participation in this population to improve long-term physical and mental health. Since her recruitment to the UVM Health Golisano Children’s Hospital in 2022, she has built the region’s first comprehensive pediatric exercise program aimed at improving children’s cardiovascular health through exercise interventions. This program. the University of Vermont Monty’s Fitness Program, is the region's first pediatric fitness program for children and young adults with special health care needs. This program has established resources for detailed metabolic cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and exercise training through collaboration and partnership with the UVM Health Golisano Children’s Hospital and collaborations with the UVM Department of Rehabilitation & Movement Science as well as the Department of Psychological Science. CPET provides detailed assessments of the body’s cardiac, pulmonary, and musculoskeletal responses to exercise. This information is critical to understand hemodynamic responses to exercise, which can help explain symptoms, diagnose clinical disorders (including metabolic disease), and provide detailed risk stratification for exercise participation. Through advanced fellowship training in pediatric cardiac exercise physiology, Dr. Burstein provides detailed assessments of exercise physiology in children and young adults with complex heart disease, including single ventricle physiology, and uses this data to inform the development of individualized exercise recommendations to support children and young adults to participate safely in exercise.

Publications

PubMed Publications

Awards and Achievements

• Distinguished Major with Highest Distinction, University of Virginia (2007) 
• Crile Summer Research Fellowship Award, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (2010)
• Honors Distinction in Research, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (2012) 
• Alice Paige Cleveland Award for Outstanding Leadership Qualities, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (2012) 
• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (2012)
• Teaching Honor Roll with Letter of Distinction, Stanford Pediatrics Residency (2013-2015) 
• Young Investigator Award, International Conference on Cardiomyopathy in Children (2017) 
• Ann Newman Fellow Award, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2018) 
• Best Poster Abstract on Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device Research, International Pediatric Heart Failure Summit (2018) 
• American Heart Association (AHA) Young Investigator Award Finalist, Council on Cardiovascular Diseases in the Young (2019) 
• Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Faculty Award Finalist, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine (2024) 
• Fellow of the Academy of Exercise Medicine (2025)