Emile A. Bacha, MD, Assumes Presidency of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery
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American Association for Thoracic Surgery
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Emile A. Bacha, MD, Assumes Presidency of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Leonard N. Girardi joins presidential succession as Vice President. Maral Ouzounian was elected to Secretary-Elect position. Anelechi C. Anyanwu rejoins the Board of Directors as Treasurer. New additions to the Board of Directors include Bryan M. Burt, Sitaram Emani, and Song Wan.
Emile A. Bacha, MD, became the 106th President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS). He officially succeeded David R. Jones, MD, in a presentation during the AATS 105th Annual Meeting in Seattle.
Dr. Bacha is Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and serves as Chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. He is also co-Director of the Congenital Heart Center at NewYork-Presbyterian. Prior to this, he held the position of Senior Associate in Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
An internationally recognized leader in both pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery, Dr. Bacha is among the pioneers of the hybrid stage I procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. He is also the principal developer of a widely adopted technical competency metric for pediatric heart surgeons.
His research focuses on making pediatric cardiac surgery safer and less invasive and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the AATS Foundation, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
Dr. Bacha has held numerous leadership roles within the AATS and the AATS Foundation, including serving as Treasurer of both organizations for five years. He has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and is a past Associate Editor of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Bacha earned his medical degree from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. He completed his surgical residency at Emory University, a research fellowship at Hôpital Marie-Lannelongue of Paris-Sud University, and his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Commenting on his presidential priorities, Dr. Bacha stated, “My focus will be on the importance of leadership, character, and innovation in cardiothoracic surgery. Our specialty has continuously advanced through bold innovation and dedicated leadership—both clinically and academically—resulting in tremendous benefits for patients. These achievements deserve to be highlighted and celebrated.”
Joining him in a new position on the Executive Committee is Joseph Woo, MD, who is now President-Elect and is in line to become the Association’s 107th President.
Dr. Woo serves as the Norman E. Shumway Professor and Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University and holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Bioengineering.
Dr. Woo was educated and trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Pennsylvania. He currently has an active clinical practice of more than 300 pump cases/year focusing on complex mitral and aortic valve repair, thoracic aortic surgery, cardiopulmonary transplantation, and adult congenital heart surgery, and has advanced these fields by developing several innovative operations. Currently funded via two NIH R01 grants on which he serves as principal investigator, Dr. Woo leads a basic science research lab studying stem cells, angiogenesis, tissue engineering, and valvular biomechanics and has held continuous NIH funding since 2004. He has also served as PI for several clinical device trials as well as translational scientific clinical trials entailing stem cell therapy during coronary artery bypass grafting and LVAD implantation.
Dr. Woo has co-authored over 490 peer-reviewed publications. He has held numerous leadership roles at the AATS including as the current AATS Foundation Secretary, the 2024 Annual Meeting Program Co-Director, Chair of the AATS Scientific Affairs and Government Relations Committee, and immediate past-president of the AATS Cardiac Surgery Biology Club.
Leonard N. Girardi, MD, was elected to Vice President, and is in line to become the Association’s 108th President.
Dr. Girardi is the O. Wayne Isom Professor and Chairman of The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also the Cardiothoracic Surgeon-in-Chief at The New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and oversees all cardiothoracic surgical services at the hospital’s main campus as well as the New York Presbyterian regional hospitals in Queens and Brooklyn.
Dr. Girardi completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard University in 1985, obtaining a degree in biochemistry. He then pursued his medical education at Cornell University Medical College, graduating in 1989. He matriculated into a general surgery residency at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and completed his cardiothoracic surgery residency there in 1996. He then pursued an advanced cardiovascular and aortic surgery fellowship at The Baylor College of Medicine before accepting a faculty position in The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell in 1997. He moved through the promotion process and was ultimately named chairman of the department in February 2015. He is a longstanding member of the Weill Cornell Physician Organization’s executive committee and also serves as chair of that organization’s finance committee.
Throughout his career, Dr. Girardi has been committed to the three pillars of academic surgery including outstanding clinical care, cutting edge research and the education and training of the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons. He and his team have published extensively across a broad range of adult cardiothoracic surgery topics and have successfully completed numerous prospective, randomized trials in both cardiac surgery and thoracic oncology. Dr. Girardi is an internationally recognized leader in surgery of the aorta and is currently co-director of the AATS Aortic Symposium.
Dr. Girardi served in several leadership positions across the AATS and AATS Foundation including as Treasurer of both organizations from 2023-2025, and as a Director of the Association Board from 2019-2022. Dr. Girardi has chaired numerous AATS Committees and has been instrumental in shaping the Association’s Clinical Practice Standards Documents.
Maral Ouzounian, MD, was named Secretary-Elect of the Board and will assume the Secretary role during the 106th Annual Meeting succeeding Dr. Rosemary F. Kelly as the 23rd AATS Secretary.
Dr. Ouzounian is Head of the Division of Cardiovascular at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. She is the Munk Chair in Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics and the Antonio Helga De Gasperis Chair in Clinical Trials and Outcome Studies at University Health Network. Her clinical and academic interests are in the understanding and management of valvular and aortic diseases including aortic root reconstruction and valve repair, the Ross procedure, and the surgical treatment of complex aortic aneurysms and dissections. She has published over 250 papers in the field and is an author on multiple guidelines and position statements.
Dr. Ouzounian has held several leadership positions at the AATS including most recently as the 2025 Annual Meeting Program Co-Director. Dr. Ouzounian also serves on the Leadership Academy Committee and Membership Committee. She was recently the Adult Cardiac Chair of the Education Committee, and Chair of the Adult Cardiac Program for the 102nd and 104th Annual Meetings.
Anelechi C. Anyanwu, MD, was named Treasurer of the Board. Dr. Anyanwu is Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His clinical interests include mitral valve surgery, reoperative surgery, and surgery for heart-failure. Dr. Anyanwu has served the AATS in various roles, including serving on the Program Committee for prior Mitral Conclaves and Annual Meeting and recently as a Director on the Board for a four-year term.
Bryan M. Burt, MD, was named Director of the Board. Dr. Burt is Professor and Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at UCLA. He is Associate Editor for the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and serves as Co-Chair of the Research Scholarship Committee and as member of the Scientific Affairs and Government Relations Committee. Dr. Burt is a surgeon-scientist with an NIH-funded thoracic oncology laboratory and an innovator with a keen interest in device development.
Sitaram Emani, MD, was named Director of the Board. Dr. Emani is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Complex Biventricular Repair Program at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Emani has held numerous leadership positions at the AATS including as Co-Chair of the AATS Expert Consensus Document on the Management of Tetralogy of Fallot, Co-Chair of the Congenital Clinical Practice Standards Committee, and member of the Membership Committee.
Song Wan, MD, PhD, FRCS(Eng.), was named Director of the Board. Being a senior consultant surgeon in adult cardiac surgery over the past two decades, his major clinical and research interests include reconstructive valve surgery, prevention of vein graft failure, and surgical septal reduction therapy for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Currently, he is Professor of Surgery and Director at Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China. To date, he has published more than 240 peer-reviewed articles and 18 book chapters.
Dr. Wan was a Clinical Fellow (April 1994–March 1998) at Department of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, in Brussels, Belgium, where he also obtained his Doctor of Medical Science degree with Plus Grande Distinction in 1997. He received a Young Investigators Award of American College of Chest Physicians in 1996. He joined the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in April 1998. He was subsequently promoted to Professor and Honorary Advisor in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Prince of Wales Hospital, CUHK, Hong Kong, China (2008–2024).
Professor Wan is a Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of England, American College of Cardiology, Hong Kong College of Cardiology, and College of Surgeons of Hong Kong. He is a member of 12 learned professional bodies, such as AATS and STS. He has been a Councilor of Asian Society for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (ASCVTS) since 2011. He served as a member of the AATS Cardiac Education Committee and was Chairman of the ASCVTS Education Committee between 2020 and 2022. Dr. Wan is currently starting his roles as International Chair for the AATS Membership Committee and Co-Chair for the AATS Foundation Asian Scholarship Committee. He has been awarded Visiting Professorship at 11 leading medical schools. He is an Assistant Editor of Heart Surgery Forum and an editorial board member of 14 international referred journals, including Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals.
Professor Wan was previously elected Deputy Director for Committee on Valvular Surgery and Committee on Coronary Surgery, respectively; and Director for Committee on International Collaborations, the Chinese Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons (2009–2015). He also holds leadership positions at Committee on Valve Disease, Chinese Research Hospital Association from 2018 onwards.
“This group of AATS surgeon leaders are dedicated to the innovation and leadership of the cardiothoracic specialty, and each have contributed significantly to AATS throughout their careers,” said AATS Chief Executive Officer, David R. Bobbitt, MSc, MBA. “As we move into a new strategic plan, I look forward to their collaboration as we continue our shared goal of advancing the specialty and ultimately enhancing patient care.”
Full 2025-2026 Leadership:
- President: Emile A. Bacha, Columbia University
- President-Elect: Y. Joseph Woo, Stanford University
- Vice President: Leonard N. Girardi, Weill Cornell
- Secretary: Rosemary F. Kelly, University of Minnesota
- Secretary-Elect: Maral Ouzounian, Toronto General Hospital
- Treasurer: Anelechi C. Anyanwu, Mount Sinai
Directors of the Board:
- Craig J. Baker, University of Southern California
- Clifford W. Barlow, University Hospital Southampton
- Bryan M. Burt, University of California Los Angeles
- Ismail El-Hamamsy, Mount Sinai
- Sitaram Emani, Boston Children's Hospital
- Marc Gillinov, Cleveland Clinic
- David R. Jones, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Daniela Molena, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Scott J. Swanson, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Song Wan, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College
- Kazuhiro Yasufuku, University Health Network
Ex-Officio Roles
- AATS Foundation President: David H. Adams, Mount Sinai Hospital
- Director of Industry Relations: Yolonda L. Colson, Massachusetts General Hospital
ABOUT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THORACIC SURGERY (AATS)
The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) is an international organization that encourages, promotes, and stimulates the scientific investigation of cardiothoracic surgery. Founded in 1917 by a respected group of the earliest pioneers in the field, its original mission was to “foster the evolution of an interest in surgery of the Thorax.” Today, the AATS is the premiere association for cardiothoracic surgeons in the world and works to continually enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality of patient care. Its more than 1,500 members have a proven record of distinction within the specialty and have made significant contributions to the care and treatment of cardiothoracic disease. Visit www.aats.org to learn more.