Professional Background
My first position outside of training was at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. I was a surgical director of the structural heart program and the assistant director for the heart transplant program.
While at St Luke's I performed the first TAVR in Kansas City, and one of the first in the nation. I was the local surgical PI for the PARTNER trial, the original randomized trial for TAVR that led to multiple NEJM publications and stands as one of the most important recent medical trials.
During my tenure as assistant director of the transplant program we increased our yearly volume from an average of 12 transplants a year to over 40. That placed our program as one of the top fifteen programs by volume for that year.
I moved to KU in 2008. I have been the surgical director of the structural heart program since that time. In collaboration with Dr. Peter Tadros, I helped advance the concept of the heart team. Also along with Dr. Tadros, I implanted the first Corevalve in the region in 2011. Subsequently, we implanted the first percutaneous pulmonary valve in the region. Other notable accomplishments include; the first valve in valve mitral replacement in the region, the first valve in valve tricuspid replacement in the region, the first tricuspid clip implantation in the region. Our program has developed to be the largest and most complete structural program in the region, and one of the largest in the country.
In 2020 I became the Surgical Director of Cardiac Surgery at KU. I am also helping to develop the Aortic Center of Excellence at KU to broaden the range of opportunities for our patients.
- BA, English, University of Virginia
- MD, Doctor of Medicine, University of Alabama
- Residency, General Surgery, Vanderbilt University
- Clinical Fellowship, Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Virginia
- American College of Cardiology, Fellow, 2012 - Present
- American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Member, 2005 - Present
