M.D., F.R.C.S.C
Dr. Vivek Rao is currently Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery and the Surgical Director of Mechanical Circulatory Assistance at the Toronto General Hospital and holds the Munk Chair in Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Rao completed his medical and surgical training at the University of Toronto prior to completing a Fellowship in Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at New York’s Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.
In 2010, Dr. Rao was promoted to Full Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Rao has a clinical interest in the surgical treatment of end-stage heart disease. Dr. Rao’s research lab is currently investigating novel techniques of myocardial protection for cardiac transplantation and new therapeutic strategies to prevent transplant coronary artery disease. The heart transplant/LVAD research group at the Toronto General Hospital is part of the largest heart failure program in the country and is actively involved in several international trials in heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support.