Video and Podcast Library
Visiting Professorship Lecture Videos
Norman Edward Shumway, MD, PhD, (February 9, 1923 – February 10, 2006) was a pioneer of heart surgery at Stanford. Shumway, professor emeritus of cardiothoracic surgery at the Stanford School of Medicine, performed the first successful human heart transplant in the United States in 1968 at Stanford. The landmark operation created a burst of enthusiasm for heart transplantation.
Shumway joined the Stanford School of Medicine faculty in 1958 as an instructor in surgery. Shortly after his arrival, the medical school moved from San Francisco to Palo Alto, giving Shumway the opportunity to launch the cardiovascular surgery program at the new campus. He served as the interim Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery in 1959.
In 1968, Shumway worked with Edward Stinson to perform the first adult human heart transplant in the U.S. In 1981, Shumway and Bruce Reitz performed the world’s first successful combined heart-lung transplant. Shumway had a National Institutes of Health program grant for cardiac transplantation. Shumway later founded the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Stanford in 1974 and served as its first Chairman from 1974 to 1993.
A pioneer in the field of cardiothoracic surgery and "the father of heart transplant", Shumway is often referred to as the world's greatest first assistant and always insisted on the resident operating on the right side of the table. Shumway served as the 67th American Association for Thoracic Surgery President. Shumway died of lung cancer in Palo Alto in 2006, on the day after his 83rd birthday.
11. The First Case
Presented by Edward B. Stinson, MD
January 22, 2018
10. Mending Broken Hearts
Presented by John Wallwork, CBE, DL, FmedSci
June 19, 2017
9. Translational Research in Aortic Disease
Presented by John S. Ikonomidis, MD, PhD
July 29, 2016
8. Bruce Reitz and R. Scott Mitchell Celebration
Event program | Event flyer | Event summary
Event Videos: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
May 29, 2015
7. The Perfect Storm: The Affordable Care Act and Repeal of Sustainable Growth Rate Formula
Presented by Jeffrey B. Rich, MD
May 9, 2014
6. Neurologic Protection in Aortic Surgery: The Central Role of Hypothermia
Presented by Randall B. Griepp, MD
May 31, 2013
5. Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Cardiac Surgery: Bench to Bedside
Presented by William A. Baumgartner, MD
April 27, 2012
3. Cardiovascular Medicine: A Joint Mission
Presented by Michael J. Mack, MD, FACC
May 14, 2010
2. Surgery of the Mitral Valve: Conceptual and Technical Development
Presented by Lawrence H. Cohn, MD
June 19, 2009
Dr. Lawrence Cohn was a San Francisco born pioneering cardiac surgeon, researcher, and medical educator. He has performed more than 11,500 cardiac surgical operations and was a world-renowned expert in the field of valve repair and replacement surgery. At the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he pioneered the process of minimally invasive heart valve surgery along with many other innovations, including New England's first heart transplant, bioprosthetic porcine valve, and computer assisted robot surgery. Dr. Cohn's clinical and research interests spanned the entirety of adult cardiac surgery. He published more than 550 original scientific articles, 105 book chapters, and 12 books. Dr. Cohn trained more than 150 residents and fellows, seeding the country and the world with heart surgeons. An excellent public speaker, Dr. Cohn delivered more than 1,000 lectures worldwide.
Always striving to advance medical practices, Dr. Cohn and his wife Roberta, established a global health forum at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This forum gathers speakers to discuss important health issues worldwide. Larry and Roberta also endowed the Lawrence H. and Mrs. Roberta Cohn Lectureship in Cardiovascular Surgery at Stanford Medical School in October 2015.
7. Repairing Valves, Repairing Lives
Presented by Taweesak Chotivatanapong, MD
Event flyer | Event program | Event summary
October 1, 2024
6. Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery: The Surgeon’s Hand & The Journey From Leonardo da Vinci - The Polymath to daVinci - the Robot
Presented by W. Randolph Chitwood Jr., MD, FACS, FRCS
September 28, 2023
5. Adverse Events After Mitral Valve Repair for Leaflet Prolapse
Presented by Tirone E. David, MD
October 1, 2019
4. Stanford and Brigham, Shumway and Cohn: The Legacy
Presented by Frederick Y. Chen, MD, PhD
November 5, 2018
3. Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm: You Say Want a Revolution? From Open to Endovascular
Presented by Joseph S. Coselli, MD
September 29, 2017
2. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi: International Growth of the U.S. Hospital Care Industry
Presented by Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD
September 26, 2016
1. The Mitral Valve See
Presented by David H. Adams, MD
November 2, 2015
Dr. James B. D. Mark Family Lecture was so-named for the former head of Thoracic Surgery at Stanford, who supported and funded the annual event celebrating pioneering work in thoracic surgery.
Dr. Mark has held positions as Associate Dean for Student Affairs (1970-1972), Associate Dean for Regional Medical Affairs (1973-1974), Acting Chair of the Department of Surgery (1974-1977) and Chief of Staff of Stanford University Hospital (1988- 1992). He was a Senior Fulbright-Hays Fellow and Visiting Professor of Surgery at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania during the 1972-1973 academic year. He is a member of a number of professional organizations and has been president of seven of them, including the Halsted Society (1984), the Western Thoracic Surgical Association (1992-1993) and the American College of Chest Physicians (1994-1995). He has been recognized for his contributions to medical education by the Santa Clara County Medical Association (1984) and the Stanford University School of Medicine (1987). He received the Gold Medal of the City of Milan, Italy in 1990, the Distinguished Alumnus Award of Vanderbil t University School of Medicine in 1996, and the Albion Walter Hewlett Award from the Department of Medicine in 2005. Dr. Mark is the author of almost 150 scientific publications and was on the editorial board of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (1987- 1994), the World Journal of Surgery (1995-2003) and The Pharos (2002-2010).
7. “Intent to Cure”…Keeping Our Promise
Presented by Yolonda Colson, MD, PhD
Event flyer and program | Event summary
October 22, 2024
6. The Challenge of Innovation
Presented by Thomas D’Amico, MD
November 17, 2023
5. Evolution of Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy
Presented by James D. Luketich, MD
February 24, 2020
4. Esophageal Cancer: Past, Present, Future.
Presented by Keith S. Naunheim, MD
February 25, 2019
3. Electronic Learning: Is It Useful for Thoracic Surgeons?
Presented by Mark S. Allen, MD
March 5, 2018
1. The Surgeon's Role in Targeted Therapy for Early Stage Lung Cancer
Presented by David R. Jones, MD
January 11, 2016
Bruce A. Reitz is best known for leading the first combined heart-lung transplantation in 1981 with pioneer heart transplant surgeon, Norman Shumway. He obtained an undergraduate degree at Stanford University (B.S. 1966) a medical degree at Yale Medical School (M.D. 1970) and completed an internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital (1971) and residencies and fellowships at Stanford University Hospital (1972 and 1978) and the National Institutes of Health (1974). He joined the surgical faculty at Stanford University (1978) then became chief of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins University (1982–92) and Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford (1992–2005). In 1995 he conducted another pioneering operation: the first Heartport procedure, using a device that allows minimally invasive coronary bypass and valve operations. Reitz also played a major role in the resident education program at Stanford, which he reorganized and maintained.
3. Getting to Clinical Xeno Heart Transplantation
Presented by Bartley P. Griffith, MD, FACS, FRCS
The Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor, University of Maryland
March 26, 2024
The department is honored to name the Translational Cardiothoracic Surgeon Scientist Visiting Professorship after Edward B. Stinson, MD.
Dr. Stinson, a pioneer in heart transplantation, is a world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon-scientist known for his groundbreaking clinical and translational research contributions to cardiac surgery. Alongside Norman E. Shumway, MD, PhD, he played a pivotal role in performing the first successful human heart transplant in the United States, and during his long career at Stanford, he contributed greatly to its position as a leading program in cardiothoracic surgery.
Dr. Stinson was born in 1938 in San Diego, Calif. He received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Stanford University. After graduating in 1965, he trained in cardiovascular surgery at Stanford and joined the faculty in 1969. Throughout his career, Dr. Stinson was dedicated to pursuing innovative work at the intersection of surgery and cardiac research, and transforming discoveries into surgical interventions and treatments to improve patient outcomes.
Dr. Stinson, together with Randall Griepp, MD, led Stanford's heart transplant team during the early 1970s, the formative years of heart transplantation. Dr. Stinson performed almost exclusively cardiac surgery, with occasional assignments to general surgery. Noted for his skill and speed at surgery, he was known as "Fast Eddie" in the operating room.
From 1970 to 1972, Dr. Stinson served as a staff associate at the National Heart and Lung Institute Clinic of Surgery. There, he was responsible for clinical activity in cardiac surgery and intramural research programs addressing cardiac physiology and heart transplantation. Dr. Stinson returned to Stanford and became the director of the heart transplantation program. In 1973, he also became the principal investigator of a prestigious grant from the National Institutes of Health for further work on heart and lung transplantation, a project that would span nearly 25 years.
In 1979, Dr. Stinson became the first holder of the Thelma and Henry Doelger Professorship of Cardiovascular Surgery at Stanford Medicine. In 1981, he was a founding member of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) and chaired its first international program.
Naming announcement of Professorship to Edward B. Stinson, MD
6. New Valve-Sparing Aortic Root Replacement
Presented by Dr. Joon Bum Kim
Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea
Event flyer | Event brochure | Event summary
February 9, 2024
5.
Presented by Dr. Song Wan
Professor and Honorary Advisor in Cardiothoracic Surgery
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong
May 31, 2019
4. The Future of Angiogenesis for the Treatment of Coronary Disease: A Historical Perspective
Presented by Frank W. Sellke, MD
December 5, 2017
3. The Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Mitral Valve Disease
Presented by Ralph J. Damiano, MD
Evarts A. Graham Professor, Surgery Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Washington University School of Medicine
December 16, 2016
2. Cardiac Cellular Reprogramming: Doing the Unthinkable
Presented by Todd K. Rosengart, MD, FACS
March 1, 2016
1. Unpalliation of Fontan Palliation: What Lies Ahead…
Presented by Dr. Mark D. Rodefeld
February 3, 2016
Philip Oyer, MD, PhD, is a world-renowned surgeon known for his technical expertise in clinical cardiovascular surgery. His accomplishments include developing an artificial heart assist device, conducting research on heart and heart-lung transplants, and developing innovative approaches to complex surgeries.
Dr. Oyer has led a successful career in the operating room, helping patients receive specialized treatments for aortic diseases, heart valve conditions, and thoracic aortic aneurysms. He was named the first Roy B. Cohn -Theodore A. Falasco Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2011.
After receiving his medical degree in 1969 and a doctorate in biochemistry in 1970 from the University of Chicago, Dr. Oyer came to Stanford and completed his residencies in cardiovascular surgery and general surgery. He joined the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery faculty in 1976.
In the 1970s, Dr. Oyer, in partnership with Peer Portner, PhD, began researching mechanical pumps that would successfully support failing hearts. Dr. Oyer would eventually make history in 1984 by co-developing and implanting the first mechanical ventricular assist device to successfully serve as a bridge to heart transplantation. In the same year, Dr. Oyer, with Dr. Norman E. Shumway’s surgery team, successfully performed breakthrough pediatric heart transplants.
Over his career, Dr. Oyer produced over 260 articles in peer-reviewed publications, including research on implantable heart assist devices, heart and heart-lung transplantation, and valve replacement studies. He also served as associate chair for the department in 2003 and as acting interim department chair from 2012 to 2013. After years of distinguished legacy and service at Stanford Medicine, Dr. Oyer retired in 2021.
Dr. Miller has built his reputable career as a cardiothoracic surgeon, developing his expertise in aortic disease, heart valve disease, mitral valve prolapses, Marfan Syndrome, and vascular diseases to name a few. During his years at Stanford, he improved surgical approaches for patients with acute aortic dissections, pioneering the use of thoracic aortic endovascular stent-grafts, and refining valve-sparing aortic root replacement techniques. He is a recipient of several NIH-funded RO1 research grants and has produced more than 650 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Miller was elected the 88th president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgeons in 2007 and provided valuable contributions to broadening the impact of the cardiothoracic surgery field. He (re)convened the Joint Council on Thoracic Surgery Education, further advancing education and training in cardiothoracic surgery and supporting the next generation of surgeon scientists.
Dr. Miller is a long-time esteemed member of the Stanford community. After receiving his undergraduate and medical degrees in 1972 from Stanford, he continued his residency programs in cardiovascular surgery and general surgery at Stanford. Dr. Miller was appointed faculty member of the department in 1978 and named the Thelma and Henry Doelger Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery in 1989.
1.
Presented by Lars Svensson, MD, PhD
August 11, 2025