Pioneer heart surgeon Vinay Badhwar elected STS president
Vinay Badhwar, MD, executive chair of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, is the new president of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).
Badhwar is a pioneer cardiac surgeon who also chairs the WVU School of Medicine’s department of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. He officially stepped into this new role on Saturday, Jan. 31, at STS 2026 in New Orleans.
During his one-year term as STS president, Badhwar plans on advancing a three-part framework that focuses on excellence, evidence and impact.
“These are not abstract ideals; they define who we are as cardiothoracic surgeons and the enduring identity of the STS,” Badhwar said in a statement. “Excellence begins with our commitment to perform the very best operation for every patient every time. Evidence challenges us to evolve with data and ground our decisions in science. Impact is measured not only in survival rates, but in lives restored, families preserved, and trust earned.”
Badhwar spent six years at the University of Pittsburgh before moving to WVU in 2016. He now oversees approximately 1,500 employees and an annual health system operations budget of approximately $2 billion.
In recent years, Badhwar has emerged as a leading voice in the field of robotic-assisted cardiac surgery. For example, he led the development of a robotic aortic valve replacement (RAVR) technique that is now being used by heart teams all over the world.
“We have been honored to embrace and support the adoption of RAVR across multiple institutions and multiple countries,” he told Cardiovascular Business in 2025. “However, whether RAVR is performed in Morgantown, Miami or Milan, we have suggested that the technique should be similar. The premise of our early papers and the multi-institutional experience on RAVR was that we would always stay consistent with our techniques. This has enabled consistency and quality reporting as it has expanded across institutions.”
Badhwar and his team now host an international symposium focused on educating cardiac surgeons, cardiologists and other stakeholders about this advanced technique.
Vinay Badhwar, MD, and his team perform a robotic TAVR explant and aortic valve replacement. Image courtesy of WVU Medicine.
New educational video series examines robotic heart surgery
Badhwar and his team at WVU Medicine recently launched a new educational video series all about robotic heart surgery. The 40-part series, Advancing in Robotic Heart Surgery, is available on YouTube. It explores specific surgical techniques, guides clinicians through difficult treatment decisions and much more.
“Robotic cardiac surgery is entering a new era of expansion,” Badhwar said in a WVU statement about the new educational series. “On behalf of our tremendous WVU team, I am humbled to deliver this series to support global shared learning and collaboration as we advance the field together.”
“This series of superb robotic training videos is comprehensive and insightful,” added Martin Leon, MD, an interventional cardiologist with Columbia University and founder of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation. “As we obtain more comparative clinical data and integrate these growing options to treat valvular heart disease, it will help heart teams to thoughtfully examine transcatheter versus robotic valve innovations.”
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.