Faculty

Valluvan Jeevanandam, MD
Cynthia Chow Professor of Surgery
Chief, Section of Cardiac Surgery; Director, Heart and Vascular Center
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, IL

About the presenter

Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam specializes in the surgical management of heart failure and is an expert in high-risk cardiac surgery. He has performed more than 1,000 heart transplants — including the total artificial heart — and countless cardiac surgery procedures, including transmyocardial laser revascularization, complex valve reconstruction and minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Dr. Jeevanandam has a special interest in treating patients traditionally considered inoperable. He has repaired damaged hearts in several patients awaiting transplant, enabling those patients to forgo transplantation. He also has successfully performed transplants involving patients who do not fit the standard criteria for transplant. Additionally, Dr. Jeevanandam has received national attention for his skill in performing bloodless cardiac surgery, which requires the use of precise surgical techniques to minimize blood loss during the procedure — sparing the patient the need for a blood transfusion.

Dr. Jeevanandam is a pioneer in the field of mechanical circulatory-assist devices. In October 2000, he was the first surgeon in the world to successfully implant the CardioVad, a revolutionary, permanent circulator-assist device that boosts heart function in patients with severe heart failure who are not candidates for transplant. He continues to be a recognized leader in the field of advanced heart failure and currently serves on the FDA Device Panel. He is a world-renowned surgeon, having started high-risk and cardiac-assist programs in China, India, the Middle East, and South America. Dr. Jeevanandam was one of the physician leaders of the transplant care team that made history in December 2018 after performing two triple-organ transplants within 27 hours, replacing the failing hearts, livers and kidneys of 29-year-olds Sarah McPharlin and Daru Smith.

Planning Committee

Elizabeth Albert, MD
Clinical Activity Manager
OptumHealth Education
Eden Prairie, MN

Matthew Cooper, MD
President, UNOS Board of Directors;
Director, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation
Medstar Georgetown Transplant Institute;
Professor of Surgery
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Washington, DC

Rebecca Gleason, RN, CCM
Activity Manager
OptumHealth Education
Eden Prairie, MN

Alan N. Langnas, DO, FACS
Professor of Surgery
Director, Center of Transplantation
Chief, Section of Transplantation,
Department of Surgery
University of Nebraska Medical Center;
Director of Liver Transplantation
Nebraska Medicine
Omaha, NE

C. Fred LeMaistre, MD
Senior Vice President
Senior Vice President, Market Operations
Physician-in-Chief, Hematology
Sarah Cannon
Nashville, TN

Tina Rydland, PharmD
President
ArdentCare Solutions
Denver, CO

Disclosures of relevant financial relationships

In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, OptumHealth Education (OHE) requires all those in control of educational content to disclose their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. Ineligible companies are defined by the ACCME as companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients. Individuals must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies and regardless of their view of the relevance of the relationship to the education. OHE ensures that the content is independent of commercial bias.

Dr. Jeevanandam has indicated that he is a consultant and is on the advisory board for Abbott.

The activity planners have no financial relationships to disclose.