Ross Procedure: The Future or the Past?

Vaughn Starnes

Keynote

Dr. Starnes joined the Department of Surgery as a Hastings Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of the Heart and Lung Transplant Program in 1992 and became Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 1997. He was named a Distinguished Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2004 and became Chair and Surgeon-in-Chief of the Department of Surgery in 2008. As the founding Director of the USC Cardiac and Vascular Institute, Dr. Starnes has built an interdisciplinary powerhouse comprised of clinicians and basic scientists who are exploring better and more innovative ways of treating heart disease. Under his leadership, USC surgeons have conducted more than 16,000 open heart surgeries to repair and replace valves or create coronary artery bypasses, and more than 10,400 surgeries for diseases of the lungs, esophagus, and chest wall. Dr. Starnes also serves as the Division Head of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Heart Institute. When he was recruited in 1992, the program was performing 125 surgeries a year. Under his leadership, the Institute has now grown to more than 1,000 cases a year. Dr. Starnes has an ongoing interest in congenital heart disease and minimally invasive repair and replacement of the valves of the heart. He is actively involved in research on stem-cell therapy for congenital heart defects and in clinical trials investigation of new valve technology, including percutaneous heart valve replacement. He has authored and co-authored over 200 publications.  Dr. Starnes other major areas of research include adult acquired heart disease, tissue engineering, and heart, heart-lung, and lung transplantation. Dr. Starnes served as President of the Western Thoracic Surgical Association in 2003 and on the Examination Committee and Examination Consultation Committee of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Starnes was honored to serve as the 100^th President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.