Dr. Vivek Rao
Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Assistance
Toronto General Hospital

Dr. Vivek Rao is the Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Assistance at the Toronto General Hospital and the Alfredo and Teresa DeGasperis Chair in the Surgical Management of Heart Failure. Dr. Rao is a Full Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Rao completed his medical and surgical training at the University of Toronto prior to completing a fellowship in cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Rao's research lab is currently investigating novel techniques of myocardial protection for cardiac transplantation and new therapeutic strategies to prevent transplant coronary artery disease.

The heart transplant/LVAD research group at the Toronto General Hospital is part of the largest heart failure program in the country and is actively involved in several international trials in heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Rao is a recognized expert in the surgical treatment of end-stage heart disease including high risk coronary bypass surgery, valvular surgery and left ventricular reconstruction. He chairs a committee for the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) evaluating clinical trials in cardiac surgery.

Dr. Rao receives research funding from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Physicians Services Fund, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. In 2006, Dr. Rao was recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” by Caldwell Partners International. In 2009, Dr. Rao was named the Male Professional of the Year by the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

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