Speakers
Ross Bremner, MD, PhD
Ross Bremner, MD, PhD is the Executive Director of the Norton Thoracic Institute and the William Pilcher Chair for Thoracic Disease and Transplantation at Norton Thoracic Institute, Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. He holds full professorships with Creighton Medical School – Phoenix Regional Campus and the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix. The Norton Thoracic Institute has become one of the busiest lung transplant programs in the USA.
Dr. Bremner’s expertise includes benign and malignant esophageal disease, lung cancer and lung transplantation. He is a member of the International Society of Heart/Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), the Western Thoracic Surgical Association (WTSA), the General Thoracic Surgical Club (GTSC), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS).
Dr. Bremner received his medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He completed his residency in general surgery and his fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Southern California (USC).
Dr. Bremner’s research interests include lung and esophageal cancer, chronic rejection in lung transplantation, and he leads a number of initiatives in physician well-being. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters and can sometimes be found hiking and biking in the mountains of Phoenix.
Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy
Ismail El-Hamamsy is the Randall B. Griepp Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and System Director of Aortic Surgery at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. He completed his medical education and cardiac surgery training at the University of Montreal. This was followed by a 4-year fellowship in London under the mentorship of Sir Magdi Yacoub at Harefield Hospital. During this period, he completed a PhD on the pathophysiology of aortic valve disease at Imperial College London.
Dr. El-Hamamsy has a special interest in aortic valve and wall pathologies. His main surgical expertise focuses on complex aortic root reconstructive surgery, including aortic valve-sparing procedures, aortic valve repair and the Ross procedure. Since 2010, he has performed over 650 Ross procedures and 350 valve-sparing operations, and has helped multiple surgeons and centers in establishing successful Ross programs.
Dr. El-Hamamsy has authored >220 peer-reviewed papers and has given >150 guest lectures and professorships around the world. He is on the editorial board of several journals and is President-Elect of the Heart Valve Society.
Professor Theo Kofidis
Professor Theo Kofidis is Head of Department of CTVS at the National University Hospital of Singapore, Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, an expert minimally invasive surgeon and avid research/innovator. He is also Group Chief for Cardiothoracic Surgery at the NUHS Cluster of Hospital.
He is a renowned Cardiac Surgeon and strongly sought-for proctor and surgical teacher around the world, bringing Minimally Invasive knowhow to doctors and patients alike. One of only few AATS members in SE Asia, he is also an Ambassador/Steering Committee of the World Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery for the same region. He also serves as the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Asian Society for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.
He has trained in some of the world’s leading institution (Rochester, NY/Texas Heart, Houston/Hannover Germany, Stanford, CA, USA). He has lectured for the American Medical Association, the FDA, the Bill Gates Research Institute and more.
Dr Bradley Taylor
Brad Taylor serves as the Joseph S. and Irene P. Mclaughlin Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at University of Maryland School of Medicine and Medical Center and has been a leader in innovative approaches to cardiac surgery and health care delivery. Dr. Taylor received his medical degree and a degree in health administration from The Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. After completing his General Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency, he stayed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He completed a minimally invasive cardiac surgery fellowship in Aalst, Belgium, in 2006. Since joining University of Maryland in 2012, he has led the transformation of the Division’s growth in research and clinical excellence. His teams have performed many innovative and groundbreaking procedures including but not limited to the world’s first xeno-heart transplantation and the first transfemoral endo-Bental repair of an acute type A aortic dissection.
Dr. Taylor is a leader in team development and in refining techniques in complex aortic surgery. As the Director of Aortic Surgery, Coronary Re-vascularization and Quality within the Division of Cardiac Surgery his responsibilities are to ensure superior quality of patient care services, further clinical excellence, promote clinical and basic science research, foster the professional and academic growth of the program and its members, develop the physicians of the future through resident and fellowship training, and to create an environment of patient safety. Dr. Taylor performs robotic-assisted coronary artery bypass grafting and hybrid revascularization of multi-vessel coronary artery disease. His clinical and research interest include robotic cardiac surgery, valvular heart disease, and endovascular and open repair of aortic pathology. He is a skilled endovascular surgeon with experience in complex ascending and arch branched endografts.
Dr. Taylor has co-authored over 100 peer reviewed articles and is an active member of the American Association of Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the Southern Thoracic Surgery Association (STSA) and the Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) and as an examiner for the American Board of Thoracic Surgeons (ABTS).