Introduction

I consider myself a physician-scientist who has dedicated his career to advancing the fields of cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation, but most importantly to serving patients. Like many young aspiring students, I began my journey inquisitive, ambitious, and competitive. I completed my medical degree at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, where my time as a student was transformative. I maintain strong ties to the academic institution that provided the foundation of my medical education and career.

After completing my internship at the University Clinical Center in Ljubljana, I served my native country by joining the Military Medical Hospital in Belgrade, where I trained and worked in the coronary care unit. It was there that my passion for cardiac science was solidified, and I realized that cardiac surgery was the only path I wished to pursue. I was not discouraged by the competitiveness of the field; rather, I viewed it as a challenge.

With limited opportunities in my immediate environment, I sought training in the United States. My perseverance and dedication were rewarded when I received a fellowship opportunity to train with three of the world’s premier cardiac surgeons—Drs. Denton A. Cooley, O. H. Frazier, and George Reul—at the Texas Heart Institute (THI).

I initially trained within the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Department at THI, while also collaborating with the extensive multidisciplinary network within the Texas Medical Center. Following my initial fellowship, I continued my training with a Vascular Surgery fellowship. In 1992, I matched into the General Surgery residency program at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School, under the leadership of Dr. John Potts and graduated in 1996.

After successfully completing my General Surgery residency, I returned to THI to complete an ACGME-accredited Cardiothoracic Surgery residency under my previous mentors. I graduated in 1998 and subsequently became board certified by the American Board of Surgery in 2000 and by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery in 2003.

This period represented a pivotal moment in my life. Years of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication culminated during that time. I was no longer simply a trainee; I had become a well-trained surgeon who was now responsible not only for applying the knowledge and skills I had gained but also for training others and helping ensure that the field continues to advance.

I was reminded of this learning and teaching responsibility in 2015, 2021, and 2025, when I successfully completed my re-certification process with the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. It is not enough to simply pass an examination; rather, we must continuously challenge ourselves throughout our careers to achieve excellence in order to best serve our patients, our colleagues, and our profession.

Over the course of 25 years, I advanced from staff surgeon to Chief of the Department. A significant portion of that time initially (2001–2012) was spent performing numerous cardiac surgeries, as well as heart transplants and mechanical support device implantations, in addition to serving as Associate Chief of the Cardiac Transplant Service under Dr. O. H. Frazier at the Texas Heart Institute.

Due to my expertise in the field of advanced heart failure therapies, I was recruited by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Memorial Hermann Hospital System in 2012 to establish the Center for Advanced Heart Failure at their institutions. Together with my esteemed colleague, we accepted this challenge and brought our clinical knowledge, scholarly experience, leadership, and dedication to the campus.

Today, the Center is recognized as a premier destination for the treatment of advanced heart failure and one of the leading programs in the country. In addition to its clinical excellence, the Center is dedicated to clinical and translational research, which has resulted in hundreds of scientific publications; but, more importantly, has improved the lives of countless patients suffering from advanced heart disease.

Like my mentors, I have always believed that it is not enough simply to strive to be the best. Instead, we must continually seek to improve the processes of care and continue pushing the boundaries of what defines excellence in medicine.

Clinical Activities

As a surgeon, I have performed more than 700 heart transplant procedures and have assisted with or supervised over 500 additional cardiac transplant cases. Similarly, I have served as the lead surgeon for more than 800 LVAD implantations and have assisted with or supervised over 600 additional LVAD insertion procedures. Our surgical group has also completed over 120 lung transplants and more than 3,000 successful transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures; making our program one of the most active centers in the country for the Edwards SAPIEN TAVR system.

My patients remain my highest priority, and my dedication to their care and treatment is reflected in the large clinical workload under my supervision. Since joining UTHealth and Memorial Hermann Hospital, the number of cardiac patients treated within our program has continued to grow, and I remain committed to ensuring that this growth continues while maintaining the highest standards of care.

My efforts focus not only on delivering outstanding clinical treatment but also on ensuring that clinical practices are continuously reviewed and refined so that patient care continues to evolve and improve. While our outcomes are highly regarded, I firmly believe that there is always room for further improvement. My current initiatives focus on reducing infection rates, shortening hospital length of stay, improving coordination of outpatient clinic visits, and continuously optimizing patient outcomes.

Furthermore, I recognize that the best medical care does not occur in isolation or within a single department. For this reason, I have made it a priority to foster multidisciplinary collaboration across specialties in order to ensure that our program remains comprehensive, innovative, and well informed. This collaborative approach involves close and consistent communication among cardiology, transplant medicine, anesthesiology, cardiac surgery, and perfusion teams, ensuring that complex clinical problems are addressed collectively.

These collaborative efforts extend beyond traditional morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences. They also include regular Center for Advanced Heart Failure (CAHF) seminars and bi-weekly research and publication meetings, during which our teams review emerging clinical evidence and integrate the most relevant scientific findings into ongoing and future clinical studies.

Through these efforts, we continue to strengthen our program’s ability to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care for patients with advanced cardiovascular disease while contributing to the ongoing advancement of the field.

Research and Scholarly Activities

Through my research and clinical experience, I have authored or co-authored more than 450 peer-reviewed scientific publications, which have appeared in numerous well-respected peer-reviewed journals. In addition, I was the author of more than 300 scientific abstracts presented at national and international meetings. Furthermore, I have contributed 14 invited book chapters, and most recently, in March 2025, I served as the lead editor of a textbook on the Management of Severe Heart Failure Patients.

Initially, my research interests focused on robotics and minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Through this work, I gained valuable educational and clinical insights while contributing to several scientific publications and research initiatives in this emerging field.

During my time at the Texas Heart Institute (THI), my clinical work and research increasingly focused on heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support (MCS) systems, and my scholarly efforts gradually shifted in this direction. The majority of my academic contributions have been dedicated to improving the surgical treatment of patients suffering from end-stage heart failure, either through heart transplantation or through the implantation of mechanical circulatory support devices. My additional research interests include combined surgical and endovascular hybrid procedures, heart–lung transplantation, cardiac valve replacement, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), and surgical treatment of structural heart disease.

As early as 2000, I contributed to pioneering best practices for mechanical circulatory support devices, particularly left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). These devices are designed to either replace or assist the pumping function of the failing human heart. Working with Dr. O. H. Frazier, we implanted the first Jarvik  LVAD in 2000 and described how the device could be used as destination therapy for patients who were not eligible for heart transplantation. My dedication to this field has remained steadfast, particularly as the need for innovative therapies for advanced heart failure continues to grow and as the development of MCS technologies has progressed at an exponential pace.

This progress did not occur overnight. From 2000 till 2004, Dr. Frazier and I led investigations of the HeartMate I vented electric LVAD, focusing on optimizing surgical techniques for intraperitoneal implantation or intrathoracic via thoracotomy. During this period, we also implanted the first HeartMate II device in the United States in 2004. Thereafter, I further expanded my research by studying percutaneous tracheostomy following MCS implantation, an important clinical issue during a time when the optimal management of patients supported with these devices was still being defined.

My research efforts continued with studies involving the HeartMate XVE HeartMate II and Jarvik 2000 devices; and in 2008, our team described the use of percutaneous ventricular assist device support during off-pump surgical coronary revascularization. In 2014, I led a study demonstrating the use of new, sealed grafts in the HeartMate II LVAD inflow and outflow conduits, contributing to improvements in device implantation techniques.

Overall, I have participated in more than 65 FDA or industry sponsored device-related research studies as either Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. These studies involving HeartMate II (HMII), HeartMate 3 (HM3), Jarvik and HeartWare devices have contributed to the evolution of modern LVAD technology. Many of these devices have since received FDA approval and have saved thousands of lives worldwide.

My innovative and pioneering approach has also enabled the success of several rare and first-in-field procedures. I was the lead surgeon on a case of a post-transplant off-pump coronary artery bypass combined with laser myocardial revascularization in a Jehovah’s Witness patient, a complex procedure requiring meticulous planning due to the patient’s refusal of blood transfusions.

I was also part of the team that first utilized the TandemHeart percutaneous LVAD as a short-term bridge-to-transplant therapy. My work with the TandemHeart device continued as I led investigations evaluating its use as a rescue therapy for patients with critical aortic valve stenosis. Through these studies, our team was among the first to define the technical strategies, clinical indications, and potential complications associated with the use of this device during cardiac procedures.

In 2009, these research contributions were recognized when I received the Burl Osborne Award for Best Abstract in Cardiovascular Research at the ASAIO-IFAO Annual Conference.

Further advancing the field of mechanical circulatory support, the PREVENT study was conducted at UTHealth and Memorial Hermann Hospital under my supervision and leadership, where I served as a Co-Investigator. This multicenter study evaluated management strategies for the HeartMate II LVAD in order to identify best clinical practices and improve patient outcomes. Our institution achieved the highest patient enrollment among participating sites, reflecting both the high clinical volume of our program and the dedication of our research team to patient recruitment and protocol implementation.

My research reputation has fostered international collaborations, resulting in multiple federal research grants and more than 30 industry-sponsored clinical trials. I also served as Principal Investigator on an NIH grant awarded to our institution, evaluating allogenic stem cell therapy in LVAD patients. Additionally, I have conducted research evaluating the clinical use and outcomes of the Total Artificial Heart (TAH) in a multicenter trial.

My research activities extend beyond clinical investigations. I have also led and participated in more than 40 preclinical animal studies, each approved by the appropriate institutional review boards and by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. The bovine model, which has long served as a cornerstone for cardiac animal research, was used in our work to demonstrate a successful minimally invasive approach to aortic valve implantation using Heartport cannulation.

From late 1990s till 2004, I collaborated with our research team in the preclinical assessment of a trileaflet mechanical valve in both the mitral and aortic positions using this model, contributing to the development and evaluation of prosthetic valve technologies, that resulted in multiple scientific publications.

Currently, I am involved in more than 40 active human research protocols, including prospective, retrospective, and interventional clinical studies. These investigations can be broadly categorized into several major areas of focus: LVAD use and optimization, Cardiac valve research, Advanced heart failure therapies, Cardiac pathology and biorepository research, Further details regarding these studies and their outcomes are outlined in my curriculum vitae.

Teaching Activities

Strong mentorship and educational opportunities were pivotal to my own professional development. For this reason, I have invested considerable time and effort in training and mentoring the next generation of medical professionals. In this role, I have consistently sought to guide and support those under my mentorship. My commitment to education is reflected in the development of competitive fellowships and training programs at UTHealth, for which I currently serve as Program Director. In addition, my experience and mentorship have led to invitations to serve on various committees within McGovern Medical School and the broader clinical community.

Previously, I served as Program Director of the Mechanical Circulatory Support/Heart Transplant Fellowship Program at the Texas Heart Institute (THI) from 2001 to 2012. During that decade, more than 20 fellows successfully completed the program. In total, since 1999, I have supervised and mentored more than 1,500 medical students and over 300 visiting physicians who have rotated through our service. Since joining the faculty at UTHealth, I established the first perfusion training program at UT Medical School, founding the Perfusion School in 2016. Since its inception, the program has successfully trained numerous highly qualified perfusionists who have gone on to secure positions at cardiac surgery centers across the United States. The Perfusion School is closely integrated with the ECMO program, Life Flight services at MemmorialHermann Hospital, cardiac surgery training programs, transplant services, and perfusion specialists; fostering strong collaboration with cardiology, cardiac surgery and other disciplines. This multidisciplinary environment has promoted both interdisciplinary research and clinical advancement.

My educational outreach extends beyond the Texas Medical Center. In 2008, I co-founded a non-profit Slovene student association whose motto is “Strive for perfection and reach for the stars.” This program continues today, and I serve as both mentor and Program Director for visiting Slovene students.

Through this initiative, students and alumni from the University of Ljubljana, the University of Belgrade, the University of Maribor, and other European universities participate in clinical rotations within our CAHF cardiology and cardiovascular surgery and other departments throughout the Texas Medical Center. Participants typically complete one or  two-month rotations, during which they are also exposed to the extensive academic networking opportunities, conferences, and lectures available within the Texas Medical Center. These experiences provide valuable exposure to cutting-edge medical practice and research, while encouraging young physicians to pursue careers in clinical investigation and academic medicine.

The program has fostered strong international collaborations and has greatly expanded educational exchange. Its success is reflected in the fact that some of these students and physicians have became the leaders in their respected fields, mainly in treatments of advanced heart failure, upon returning to their native countries.

In 2012, I established a Texas Medical Board–recognized Fellowship in Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at UTHealth/Memorial Hermann Hospital (MHH). This fellowship, developed through the Center for Advanced Heart Failure, has successfully trained more than 25 fellows to date.

In addition, through the UTHealth Office of Academic and Research Affairs, I sponsor and mentor clinical observers, professional trainees, visiting students, and visiting scientists, in addition to the PhD candidates; further strengthening the educational mission of our institution.

Service and Administrative Activities

My research activities represent a significant contribution to the scientific and healthcare literature and reflect strong engagement within the academic and medical communities. This engagement is further demonstrated by the numerous leadership roles I have held in professional societies, as well as my participation in national and international scientific conferences.

To date, I have presented at more than 300 scientific conferences, and I remain committed to continuing this work. I will continue to advocate for our research efforts and serve as an ambassador for the innovative work being conducted at our Center for Advanced Heart Failure at UTHealth.

As one of the recognized experts in mechanical circulatory support (MCS), I conducted training workshops from 2005 to 2012 at the Texas Heart Institute on multiple LVAD systems, including Abiomed, Jarvik 2000, Thoratec HeartMate II and XVE, HeartWare, Cardiokinetics, TandemHeart, Levitronix, and Syncardia Total Artificial Heart systems. I continue to lead and coordinate training programs in mechanical circulatory support, recognizing that expertise in these life-saving technologies will be increasingly important in the years ahead.

I am an active member of 18 professional societies and associations and have served on numerous professional committees. While working at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and the Texas Heart Institute, I served on the Transplant Peer Review Committee, LVAD Patient Criteria Committee, Operating Room Committee, Institutional Review Board, Interventional Cardiology Peer Review Board Committee, Cardiovascular Surgery Peer Review Board, and the Medical Executive Committee.

Since joining the faculty at UTHealth in 2012, I have served on the Operating Room Surgical Committee, the QUAPI (Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement) Committee for Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, the Medical Advisory Board, the Medical Review Board, and the Cardiovascular Surgery Credentials Subcommittee. I also serve on the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ Quality Improvement Committee and have served as an Advisor to the Slovenian Ministry of Health.

My international service and professional reputation also enabled the creation of one of my most meaningful projects—the International Brano Heart Failure Forum. I co-founded the Annual International Brano Heart Failure Forum to honor the life and work of Dr. Brano Radovancevic, a pioneer in transplantation and LVAD research, whose life of great promise ended too soon. .

As Program Director, I have organized and hosted this major international meeting on mechanical circulatory support annually. The conference features more than 100 expert faculty members—many of them world leaders in the field—and attendance continues to grow each year. Through extensive professional collaborations, I have successfully secured funding for the conference from our University, Memorial Hermann Hospital, and industry partners.

The primary goal of the Forum is to bring together clinical and research experts, healthcare stakeholders, and industry leaders to provide comprehensive updates on the treatment of advanced heart failure. In September 2025, the Forum celebrated its 17th annual meeting, hosting approximately 500 participants from multiple countries.

In addition to the Brano Heart Failure Forum, I have collaborated with colleagues to organize several other important scientific meetings. In partnership with the UTHealth School of Dentistry and the Slovene Dental Society, we have organized conferences addressing cardiac valve endocarditis and its multidisciplinary management. I have also contributed to the organization of the Adriatic Vascular Symposium and several satellite meetings for the International Congress of the European Society for Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery.

Finally, I am pleased to serve as Co-Chair of the Houston Shock Symposium meeting, which was founded by our department eight years ago and is hosted annually in Houston by UTHealth and our department.

Evidence of Peer Esteem

As previously mentioned and detailed in my CV, I have presented at nearly 300 conferences and professional meetings and have authored or been invited to contribute to 14 book chapters. In early 2025, we finalized the textbook Management of Acute and Chronic Severe Heart Failure, for which I served as the principal editor. The book was published by Elsevier in March 2025.

Since 2003, I have served as an editorial consultant for the Texas Heart Institute Journal, and as an editor for LVAD journal since 2015. I continue to provide peer review for numerous additional academic journals upon request. My active involvement in research, academic societies, and clinical leadership has resulted in numerous academic, clinical, and societal recognitions at the local, regional, national, and international levels. While these distinctions are enumerated in my CV, several merit particular mention here.

In 2009, I was awarded the Hipokratova priznanje (Hippocratic Oath Award) by the Medical Chamber of Slovenia. This prestigious honor is the highest annual award granted for exceptional contributions to the medical profession in Slovenia. Additional recognitions include my induction as an Honorary Member of the Slovene Medical Association in 2015, my designation as an Ambassador of Science by the University of Ljubljana in 2017, and the Ambassador of Science title conferred by the Republic of Slovenia in the same year. In 2017, I also received the “VTIS leta 2017” (“Distinguished” person of the Year) award from the Association of Slovenians Educated Abroad.

I have further been honored with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Nova Gorica, where I worked in the Department of General Surgery early in my career. Most recently, I was appointed Honorary Professor at my Alma-mater institution, the University of Ljubljana Medical School, in recognition of my contributions to Slovene medicine.

Due to my presentations on safety and quality at European scientific meetings, as well as my international expertise in organizing cardiovascular surgical programs, I was invited by the Slovenian Medical Chamber to conduct an international audit of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Program (PCSP) at the University Clinical Center (UCC) in Ljubljana. I accepted this responsibility and served as President of the audit committee. The review was initiated after discrepancies with international clinical guidelines had been identified. I led the investigation and the writing of a comprehensive 150-page report submitted to the Slovenian Government and the Ministry of Health.

The report documented multiple structural and clinical concerns within the PCSP at UCC Ljubljana. Following its submission, I was invited to continue working with the Ministry of Health, UCC leadership, and international experts to design and establish an independent national institution dedicated to the treatment of pediatric congenital heart disease. The proposed plan and institutional design were, unfortunately, not  approved by the newly elected Slovenian government in 2018.

In addition to these initiatives, I am the founder CEO, and president of Medartis, an outpatient clinic in Slovenia established in 2010 to facilitate access to specialized medical care for local patients. Throughout my career, I have remained committed to using my expertise and professional network to improve healthcare systems and expand access to high-quality medical care wherever possible.

Locally, I have been recognized as a Top Doctor by both H Texas Magazine and Houstonia Magazine, and I received the 2015 Appreciation Award from the Houston Independent School District. Nationally, I was named one of the Best Doctors in America in 2010 and 2011. In 2014, the American Heart Association honored me as its 2014 Medical Honoree, a national recognition awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to cardiovascular research and clinical advancement. Additionally I received the 2023 President’s Recognition of Excellence Award for my profound contributions to heart failure and transplant medicine.

Summary Statement of Progress at Current Rank

Since 2012, I have served as Chief and Program Director of the Cardiopulmonary Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program within the Center for Advanced Heart Failure at UTHealth and the Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute. I also hold the position of Tenured Professor of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School.

Over the past ten years, our program has significantly expanded its clinical capacity. Currently, more than 1,500 surgical procedures are performed annually, including approximately 40–50 heart transplantations, 25 lung transplants, 60–70 left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantations, and more than 500 transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. This consistently high clinical volume places our Center among the leading institutions in the United States for the treatment of severe, end-stage heart failure and among the largest TAVR-implanting centers in the nation.

The Center for Advanced Heart Failure has also expanded its clinical presence throughout the greater Houston region and beyond. Our program now serves multiple locations, including Memorial Hermann Greater Heights, Memorial City, Southeast, The Woodlands, Katy, Bay Area Regional, and the DeTar Health System in Victoria, Texas. This growth has allowed us to extend specialized cardiovascular care to a broader patient population.

Academically, our program remains strongly committed to both research and education. Medical students, residents, and fellows rotating on our service are exposed not only to advanced surgical and interventional techniques but are also actively involved in clinical research initiatives. Our strong publication output reflects this collaborative academic environment. With support from both federal and industry funding sources, we continue to expand our research portfolio while strengthening our academic reputation within the medical and scientific communities.

The success of the Center for Advanced Heart Failure is the result of a highly dedicated multidisciplinary team that includes physicians, nurses, perfusionists, researchers, and administrative staff. I am proud to work alongside such an exceptional group of professionals, whose expertise and commitment make our achievements possible. Moving forward, I will continue to recruit outstanding talent and ensure that our team has the resources necessary to advance clinical care, expand research innovation, strengthen the reputation of UTHealth, and most importantly, improve the lives of our patients.

Igor Gregoric, M.D. FACC, FACS, MBA