Faculty Profile
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John D. Puskas, MD
– Professor of Surgery and Associate Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine
– Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Emory University Hospital Midtown
– Surgical Director, Emory Carlyle Fraser Center for Atrial Fibrillation
– Director, Clinical Research Unit, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Telephone: 404.686.2513
E-mail: jpuskas@emory.edu
Certification: American Board of Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery
Year Joined Emory as a Faculty Member: 1996
Dr. Puskas specializes in adult cardiac surgery and lung transplantation. He began performing coronary bypass operations on beating hearts without using a heart-lung machine in 1996 and performed the world's first triple off-pump bypass surgery using minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft instrumentation in 1997. He has conducted various high profile studies investigating the medical benefit of off-pump cardiac surgery, such as the 2000-2004 SMART study that established the efficacy of off-pump coronary bypass in providing complete revascularization and restored blood flow rates equivalent to conventional coronary artery bypass graft surgery as well as a decreased hospital morbidity. In 2010, he presented long-term follow-up data of the study that confirming his original conclusions at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' 46th Annual Meeting. Dr. Puskas also directs the Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinical Research Unit, which is devoted to developing and investigating new techniques and technologies in cardiothoracic surgery through rigorous clinical trials and the translation of advances in basic science and device innovation to clinical cardiothoracic practice.
Affiliations
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Emory University Hospital Midtown
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Emory University Hospital
Medical School
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MD received 1986, Harvard Medical School
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MSc in Surgical Science received 1991, University of Toronto Institute of Medical Science
Postgraduate Training
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General Surgery Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital, 1986-1993
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Research Fellowship in Thoracic Surgery, University of Toronto, 1989-1991
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Residency and Fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory, 1993-1996
Honors and Awards
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J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Award (best paper in adult cardiac surgery), Society of Thoracic Surgeons Annual Meeting, January 2009, San Francisco, CA
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J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Award (best paper in adult cardiac surgery), Society of Thoracic Surgeons Annual Meeting, January 2007, San Diego, CA
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Best Oral Presentation, International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, Annual Meeting, London, UK, June, 2004
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Educational Award from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons to attend the Howard School of Public Health/J. F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Course in "Skills For The New World Of Health Care," 4/26-5/4/2003
Current Organizational Memberships
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American College of Surgeons, Fellow
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American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Education Committee
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American College of Chest Physicians
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International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, President
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Society of Thoracic Surgeons
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Society of University Surgeons
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U.S. Surgical Endosurgery, Executive Committee
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MGH Surgical Alumni Society
Clinical Interests
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Bypass surgery
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Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery
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Arterial grafting in coronary artery bypass surgery
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Tracheal resection and reconstruction
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Valve repair/replacement
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Surgical management of arterial revascularization therapies
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Minimally invasive surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation
Research Interests
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The application of evidence-based medicine to cardiothoracic surgical practice, especially in the development of new techniques and technologies for innovative procedures
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Translating advances in basic science and device innovation to clinical cardiothoracic practice
