Globally Renowned Congenital Heart Surgeon Dr. Emile A. Bacha Featured at the Dr. Bruce A. Reitz Visiting Professorship

by Lynn U. Nichols
August 18, 2025

The Stanford Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery proudly welcomed world-renowned congenital heart surgeon Emile A. Bacha, MD, as the Dr. Bruce A. Reitz Visiting Professor on June 2, 2025.

Dr. Bacha serves as the Chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery and Director of Congenital and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Respected worldwide for his expertise in pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery, prolific scientific research, and innovative medical inventions, Dr. Bacha has dedicated his distinguished career to expanding therapies and improving outcomes for aortic valve disease in children and young adults. He is the current 106th President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS).

“It is our privilege to welcome Dr. Bacha to Stanford—who, in many ways, embodies the spirit of Dr. Reitz through his exceptional leadership, surgical expertise, and commitment to advancing congenital heart surgery and transplantation,” said Joseph Woo, MD, Department Chair and Norman E. Shumway Professor, during his welcome remarks.

Some of Dr. Bacha’s notable clinical accolades include pioneering a hybrid stage 1 procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) by combining interventional transcatheter procedures with open heart surgery. He has also successfully implanted a total artificial heart in one of the youngest heart failure patients in the world to receive one. Throughout his career, he has treated some of the most complex congenital heart conditions, from hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) to multiple ventricular septal defects. He has performed approximately 8,000 cardiac surgeries in children thus far.

Dr. Bacha presented a talk on the “Surgical Management of Complex Aortic Valve Disease in Children and Young Adults,” drawing on his vast pediatric cardiac surgery experience. He reviewed options for aortic valve repair from simple to complex, and their outcomes, including the modified Ozaki procedure, the Ross procedure, and the more recent allogenic heart valve transplantation (partial heart transplant) for complex repairs. He summarized by stating that allogenic heart valve transplantation is not yet competitive with a well executed Ross for complex repairs, in consideration of the amount of resources needed for the allogenic heart valve transplantation and long term outcomes.

“Dr. Bacha is a titan in our field. His deep expertise in complex aortic surgery benefits our youngest and oldest patients, and his leadership at home and nationally broadly impacts generations of surgeon-scientist-leaders,” said Michael Ma, MD, Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

Dr. Bacha presented to a full house of more than 100 faculty, fellows, residents, and trainees. The event took place at the James H. Clark Center on the Stanford campus.

About Dr. Emile A. Bacha

Dr. Bacha is an internationally recognized leader in both pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery. Along with pioneering the hybrid stage 1 procedure for HLHS, Dr. Bacha is known for his contributions as the principal developer of a widely adopted technical competency metric for pediatric heart surgeons. His research mission is making pediatric cardiac surgery safer and less invasive, and he has received support from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the AATS Foundation, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

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.

From 2000 to2004, he was the Surgical Director of the Congenital Heart Center at the University of Chicago. he was Senior Associate in Cardiac Surgery at the Children's Hospital Boston and Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, as well as Cardiac Surgery Fellowship Program Director, and Director of the Pediatric Heart Valve Center. In January 2010, Dr. Bacha became the Director of the Congenital and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery program at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, leading to his role as Chief of Cardiac, Thoracic, & Vascular Surgery today.

About Dr. Bruce A. Reitz

Dr. Reitz, a pioneer in heart and heart-lung transplantation, is a world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon-scientist known for his groundbreaking clinical and translational research contributions to cardiothoracic surgery. Alongside Norman E. Shumway, MD, PhD, Dr. Reitz was pivotal in performing the first combined heart-lung transplantation in the United States in 1981. He was known for his pioneering research in lung and heart-lung transplantation, including the mechanism of allograft rejection and immunosuppressive protocols. He is also known for pioneering and performing the first Heartport procedure - a minimally invasive device for coronary bypass and valve operations.

Dr. Reitz was an undergraduate physiology major at Stanford before he went on to Yale University for his medical degree. He completed residencies and fellowships at Stanford and joined the cardiothoracic surgery faculty at Stanford. From 1982 to 1992, he served as chief of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins University before returning to chair the cardiothoracic surgery department at Stanford from 1992 to 2005. During his career at Stanford, he contributed significantly to building a leading cardiothoracic surgery program through advances in care, mentorship, and education.