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A leader in advancing new surgical treatments for congenital heart defects, Dr. Emile Bacha has joined the pediatric cardiac surgery team at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. He has been appointed as director of congenital and pediatric cardiac surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Previously, Dr. Bacha was associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a senior cardiac surgeon at Children's Hospital in Boston.

In his new role, Dr. Bacha will work closely with Dr. Jan Quaegebeur, former director of pediatric cardiac surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and an international and nationally recognized expert in the field, and with Dr. Jonathan Chen, site director of pediatric cardiovascular surgery at the Komansky Center for Children's Health at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Quaegebeur's academic title is the Morris & Rose Milstein Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Chen holds the academic title of associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and adjunct associate professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Bacha has developed sophisticated "hybrid" procedures that combine open surgery with minimally invasive techniques to correct complex congenital heart defects, and has pioneered methods of improving surgical safety. Congenital heart defects are the most common malformation at birth, occurring between two and three times out of 1,000 births.

"Our pediatric cardiac surgery team has long history of innovation, contributing significant advances, including the world's first heart transplant in a child and technology that extends life for babies whose heart and lungs are severely diseased or damaged," says Dr. Craig Smith, surgeon-in-chief and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and chairman of the Department of Surgery and the Calvin F. Barber Professor of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. "Dr. Bacha is a major addition to this team, and will help us continue to provide the very best care for children with heart problems, as well as adults born with congenital defects."

Among Dr. Bacha's notable innovations is the development of a less invasive surgical alternative for treating babies born with ineffective left ventricles — one of the most life-threatening birth defects. Using a stent to establish a stable connection between the pulmonary artery and the aorta and pulmonary artery bands, his approach reduces the time needed for surgery from six hours to 90 minutes and makes cardiopulmonary bypass unnecessary. In another surgical breakthrough, Dr. Bacha led a team that, in 2005, implanted a pacemaker in an infant weighing only 2 pounds — then the smallest baby to receive the device.

These innovations are reinforced by his interest in outcomes research. Dr. Bacha is funded through a grant from the American Heart Association to study operating-room procedures with the aim of maximizing safety and ensuring the best possible surgical results.

"We are committed to helping all children, even those with the most complex heart problems, live full, active lives," says Dr. Bacha. "I look forward to working with my colleagues as we develop new treatments to better achieve this goal."

After receiving his medical degree from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, Dr. Bacha went on to complete an internship and the first portion of his general surgery residency at the affiliated Klinikum Grosshadern University Hospital and German Heart Center. He completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston and Emory School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in Atlanta. He was a research fellow at Hospital Marie-Lannelongue in Paris, and completed his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School. In 2000, he joined faculty of the University of Chicago and helped establish their pediatric cardiac surgery program, including a minimally invasive surgery program. In 2005, he returned to Harvard and Children's Hospital in Boston, serving as associate professor of surgery and senior associate in the Department of Cardiac Surgery.

Dr. Bacha serves on the medical advisory board for the Children's Heart Foundation, the research committee for the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education (TSFRE), and the committee for the International Credentialing and/or Certification in Cardiothoracic Surgery (CTSNet), and chairs the Patient Safety Taskforce of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He is a founding member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and the Chicago Cardiothoracic Surgical Society, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Surgeons, and a member of numerous other professional organizations. He serves on the editorial boards for the journals Pediatric Cardiology and Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. In 2009, he received the TSFRE Education Award. He is the author of nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, located in New York City, offers the best available care in every area of pediatrics — including the most complex neonatal and critical care, and all areas of pediatric subspecialties — in a family-friendly and technologically advanced setting. Building a reputation for more than a century as one of the nation's premier children's hospitals, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and is Manhattan's only hospital dedicated solely to the care of children and one of the largest providers of children's health services in the tri-state area with a long-standing commitment to its community. It is also a major international referral center, meeting the special needs of children from infancy through adolescence worldwide. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area and is consistently ranked among the best academic medical institutions in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report.

Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The Medical Center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is now among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and state and one of the largest in the United States. For more information, please visit www.cumc.columbia.edu.