John Brown, MD
Dr. Brown is a Professor Emeritus of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. His primary clinical interest is complex congenital heart disease and aortic valve disease. He served as Chief of IU cardiothoracic surgery for over 25 years and was the Harris B Shumacker Professor of Surgery until 2013. Dr. Brown has trained more than 80 cardiothoracic surgery residents who practice throughout the US and abroad. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. He is a former Chairman of the Thoracic Surgery Residency Review Committee and served as President of the Thoracic Surgery Director’s Association. He currently serves as President of the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society of North American. He is a member of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American Association of Thoracic Surgery, European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and American Surgical Association.
Education: Indiana University School of Medicine, MD, 1970. His completed his general surgery residency in 1976 and cardiothoracic surgery training in 1978 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He began as faculty in the cardiothoracic surgery division at IU in 1978.
James Gammie, MD; Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Gammie, an expert in mitral valve repair, is a Professor of Surgery and Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Maryland. He joined the University of Maryland Heart Center from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, where he was an assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery and surgical director of cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. He received his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Gammie completed his general surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he also completed a research fellowship in the Divisions of cellular therapeutics and cardiothoracic surgery. His clinical and research interests include mitral valve surgery, beating heart mitral valve repair, surgical treatment of infective endocarditis, and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.
Dr. Gammie performs over 200 mitral valve operations a year and is an author on more than 100 peer reviewed journal articles. He serves on the Access and Publications Committee for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Cardiac Database and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Gammie is also a co-founder of Correx, Inc and an inventor on 9 patents.
Michael "Mike" D’Ambra, MD
Michael (Mike) D’Ambra, MD: Dr. D’Ambra is a senior cardiac anesthesiologist at The Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the American Board of Echocardiography (Testamur-Intraoperative TEE). Dr. D’Ambra’s clinical expertise and interest lies in aortic and mitral valve reconstruction with expertise in 3D surgical and echocardiographic imaging. Education: B.S. Brown University 1969, M.D. University of Colorado Medical School at Denver 1973.
Scientific Advisory Board
William "Billy" Cohn, MD
Director of Cardiac Surgery, Texas Heart Institute. Director of the Center of Technology and Innovation, Associate Director for Laboratory Surgery Research, Co-Director of the Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratory. Dr. Cohn is a venture partner at Sante Ventures, Founder and member Board of Directors of TVA Medical, Co-Founder and member Board of Directors Houston Medical Robotics, Founder and member Board of Directors Apaxis Medical, Co-Founder and member Board of Directors SentreHeart, Inc. and Founder Viacor, Inc. Dr. Cohn serves on the editorial boards of Heart Surgery Forum, Innovations, The Journal of Cardiac Surgery, The Journal of Biomedical Research and CTSNet. Dr. Cohn is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, The International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and The American College of Chest Physicians. Education: B.S. Oberlin College 1982, M.D. Baylor College of Medicine 1993.
James "Jim" Cox, MD
Dr. Cox is Emeritus Evarts A. Graham Professor/Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Washington Univ. St Louis. He was previously an Associate Prof. of Surgery Duke University and Professor/Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Cox is best known for his development on the Maze procedure for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. He is also the inventor of the Medtronic 3f tissue heart valve. Dr. Cox was the 81st President of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Editor of the Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Founder and Editor of Operative Techniques in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and member ofthe Editorial Board for over 20 scientific medical journals. He is also a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of CTSNet, Founding Member of the Board of Directors of the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education, a pas Director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and a past Chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Cox is the only American cardiac surgeon who is a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
