Washington University cardiothoracic surgeons are consistently ranked among the Top Doctors in St. Louis. Our experts are internationally regarded as leaders for their excellence in performing advanced techniques, conducting leading-edge research, and educating the next generation of surgeons. Our surgeons provide care at the best hospital in the state of Missouri in three of the highest performing surgical specialties (lung cancer treatment, heart surgery, and lung surgery) in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Ralph J. Damiano Jr., MD
Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery

Pirooz Eghtesady, MD, PhD
Chief, Section of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
Emerson Chair in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery

Tsuyoshi Kaneko, MD
Chief, Section of Cardiac Surgery
John M. Shoenberg Chair in Cardiovascular Disease
Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Daniel Kreisel, MD, PhD
Chief, Section of Lung Transplantation
G. Alexander Patterson, MD/Mid-America Transplant Endowed Distinguished Chair in Lung Transplantation
Surgical Director, Lung Transplantation

Varun Puri, MD, MSCI
Chief, Section of Thoracic Surgery
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Professor of Surgery
Section of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Program Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program

Alexander A. Brescia, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Section of Cardiac Surgery

Ralph J. Damiano Jr., MD
Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery

Puja Kachroo, MD
Surgical Director, Center for Diseases of the Thoracic Aorta (CDTA)
Associate Professor, Surgery
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Section of Cardiac Surgery

Tsuyoshi Kaneko, MD
Chief, Section of Cardiac Surgery
John M. Shoenberg Chair in Cardiovascular Disease
Professor of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Kunal Kotkar, MD
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Section of Cardiac Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Muhammad Faraz Masood, MD
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Associate Professor of Surgery
Section of Cardiac Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Associate Program Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program

Amit A. Pawale, MBBS, FRCS, FACS
Associate Professor of Surgery
Section of Cardiac Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Matthew Schill, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Section of Cardiac Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Christian Zemlin, PhD, MSc
Director, Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Laboratory
Associate Professor of Surgery
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Whitney Brandt, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Section of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Andrew Gelman, PhD
Professor of Surgery
Jacqueline G. and William E. Maritz Endowed Chair
in Immunology and Oncology
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Mohsen Ibrahim, MD, PhD
Instructor of Surgery
Section of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Benjamin D. Kozower, MD, MPH
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Professor of Surgery
Section of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Daniel Kreisel, MD, PhD
Chief, Section of Lung Transplantation
G. Alexander Patterson, MD/Mid-America Transplant Endowed Distinguished Chair in Lung Transplantation
Surgical Director, Lung Transplantation

Ruben G. Nava Bahena, MD
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Associate Professor of Surgery
Section of General Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Varun Puri, MD, MSCI
Chief, Section of Thoracic Surgery
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Professor of Surgery
Section of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Program Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program

Pirooz Eghtesady, MD, PhD
Chief, Section of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
Emerson Chair in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery

Jacob Miller, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Associate Program Director, Congenital CT Fellowship Program

Dilip Nath, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery

Varun Puri, MD, MSCI
Chief, Section of Thoracic Surgery
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Professor of Surgery
Section of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Program Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program

Muhammad Faraz Masood, MD
- Phone: 314-362-7260
Associate Professor of Surgery
Section of Cardiac Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Associate Program Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program

Connor Callahan, MD
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
Medical School
Medical College of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, WI

Dan Harris, MD
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
The John Hopkins Hospital – Baltimore, MD
Medical School
University of Illinois College of Medicine – Urbana, IL

Meghan Kelly
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
General Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
Medical School
University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO

Sujay Kulshrestha, MD
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
Loyola University Medical Center – Chicago, IL
Medical School
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL

Taras Lysyy, MD
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
Loyola University Medical Center – Chicago, IL
Medical School
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL

Michael Napolitano, MD
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
Surgery, George Washington University Hospital, Washington, D.C.
Medical School
New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY

Takuya Wada, MD
Mechanical Circulatory Support & Cardiac Transplantation Fellow
Residency
Akita University Hospital, Cardiovascular Surgery, Akita, Japan
Medical School
Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

Rodrigo Zea Vera
Thoracic Surgery Fellow
Residency
General Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Medical School
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Facultad de Medicina Alberto Hurtado, Lima, Peru