Professor of Surgery UCSD, Director Rady Children's Heart Center
Rady children’s hospital and UCSD, California, United States
I was born in Chicago Illinois and studied at Case Western Reserve University where I earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and a M.S. in polymer science (1987). I completed medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago (1993) and internship, general surgery residency, cardiac surgery residency, and congenital heart surgery training at LAC+USC Keck School of Medicine and CHLA. After a year as an assistant associate professor in cardiothoracic surgery, I was recruited to Phoenix (2005). At St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, I was the Medical Director of the Eller Congenital Heart Center. My team created the first integrated service-line congenital heart center in Arizona, developed the 1st pediatric cardiac ICU in the southwest and founded a lung transplant (TX) program (now the largest in North America). We established the first pediatric heart TX program in Arizona, performed the first infant heart TX, pediatric VAD, and the first lung TX in Phoenix.
I was subsequently recruited to be the Division Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Co-Director of the Heart Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) during a merger of children’s services (2011). At PCH, we integrated the 2 programs, expanded, and developed innovative strategies to manage complex congenital heart patients. We achieved national accolades, including becoming one of only seven 3-star STS programs (out of 125 total), improved our USNWR score to top 10 nationally, and were one of the top pediatric heart TX programs in the US. Following this tremendous personal and professional experience, I was recruited to serve as the Heart Institute Director at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego March 2017.
My clinical interests include congenital heart TX, neonatal heart surgery, care for patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). My research includes outcomes analysis and neurodevelopmental outcomes for single ventricle patients.
Disclosure information not submitted.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
5:00 PM – 5:40 PM US Eastern Time