Timothy J. Gardner was the William M. Measey Professor of Surgery and chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery for the University of Pennsylvania Health System from 1993 to 2003. Under his leadership, the University of Pennsylvania Cardiac Surgery Program grew substantially in scope and numbers of patients cared for at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as at two other U Penn Health System Hospitals acquired during this period. Early in his tenure at U Penn, Dr. Gardner recruited Dr. Thomas Spray to lead the Heart Surgery program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. His leadership era at U Penn was marked by the expansion of a strong cardiac surgery faculty team, retention and career development of U Penn trainees, collaboration with his cardiac anesthesia colleagues in the development of a surgery-anesthesia model of care throughout the peri-operative and post-operative periods, and expansion of the already robust translational research programs under cardiac surgeon direction at U Penn. When he completed his decade of leadership of the cardiac surgery program at U Penn, Dr. Gardner was succeeded by his two younger U Penn colleagues as Chief and Associate Chief of the Division, internationally recognized leaders Michael A. Acker and Joseph E. Bavaria.
Prior to his service at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Gardner served on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1976 until 1993 and was cardiac surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, performing both adult and children's heart surgery. He was appointed professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins in 1986. He mentored numerous surgery residents and research fellows clinically and in the research laboratory at Johns Hopkins as well as at the University of Pennsylvania between 1976 and 2004.
Dr. Gardner left U Penn and joined Christiana Care Health System in Delaware in 2005 to oversee final phases of construction of the state-of the-science Center for Heart & Vascular Health in the Bank of America Pavilion on the Christiana Hospital campus. Under his leadership, Christiana Care continues to be recognized as a regional center of excellence in cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Gardner directed a team of cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons, and subspecialists in patient-centered care using the most advanced treatment options and therapies available, including a new acute stroke treatment program, providing advanced interventional treatment for stroke victims. In 2011, Dr. Gardner was named executive director of the Value Institute at Christiana Care Health System, leading clinician researchers in programs to evaluate and deliver innovative solutions influencing quality of care, patient safety, population health, system performance, and health policy development.
Dr. Gardner is past president of the American Heart Association (AHA). As president in 2008 - 2009 and member of the National Board of Directors, Dr. Gardner served as the AHA’s chief volunteer science and medical officer, responsible for medical, scientific, and public health matters. He continues to serve on AHA Advisory Boards and Committees and has been an AHA volunteer for more than 30 years.
From 1999 to 2002, he served as a councilor, vice president, then president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He was a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery for 10 years and served as the board’s chair and vice chair from 2001 to 2005. Dr. Gardner also served as an IPA Medical Officer in the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at National Institutes of Health from 2004 to 2007.
Dr. Gardner has lectured extensively both nationally and abroad. He is the author of more than 250 scientific papers and has edited or contributed to many texts on cardiac surgery. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Medical School and received his postgraduate training in surgery at Johns Hopkins, with a final period of training in cardiac surgery with Sir Brain Barratt-Boyes in Auckland, New Zealand. He was a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, serving at the U.S. Army Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1968 to 1970. Currently, he is adjunct professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.