Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery
UK HealthCare Kentucky Children's Hospital
Carl L. Backer, MD, is the Chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at UK HealthCare Kentucky Children's Hospital, and Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Heart Institute of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Backer formerly served as the Division Head of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery and Surgical Director of the Pediatric Heart Transplant program at Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and the A.C. Buehler Professor of Surgery at Northwestern University. Dr. Backer received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Mayo Medical School in 1980. He completed his general and cardiothoracic surgical training at Northwestern University Medical School in 1987.
Dr. Backer and the late Dr. Farouk Idriss performed the first heart transplant at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago on May 13, 1988. Dr. Backer has now performed more than 300 heart transplants. He also has a strong clinical interest in neonatal cardiac surgery, tracheal surgery, vascular ring surgery, and arrhythmia surgery. Dr. Backer has authored or co-authored over 400 peer-reviewed articles and 105 book chapters. He is the editor or co-editor of six cardiac surgery textbooks: Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, (2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions), Atlas of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery with Dr. Constantine Mavroudis, and Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy (4th ed.) with Dr. Robert H. Anderson.
Dr. Backer is the current President of the Mayo Alumni Association and is the past President of the Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society. He is a member of 25 national and international surgical societies and is also a Director on the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and the World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.
Dr. Backer and his wife, Julia have four children and enjoy skiing in Telluride, Colorado in the winter and sailing in Nantucket in the summer.
Nothing to disclose
Sunday, January 30, 2022
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM ET
Sunday, January 30, 2022
10:00 AM – 10:02 AM ET
Sunday, January 30, 2022
4:03 PM – 4:15 PM ET