Fontana becomes chair of cardiothoracic surgery at Lenox Hill

Gregory P. Fontana, MD, was appointed by Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City as chairman of the department of cardiothoracic surgery. He previously served as the vice chairman of surgery for strategic program development and attending cardiac surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Heart Institute in Los Angeles and as clinical professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He has been a principal investigator for several approaches in cardiac surgery involving transcatheter valve therapies and minimally invasive surgical procedures for congenital and acquired heart disease.

Fontana's contributions to medical literature include more than 100 academic citations, including articles, book chapters and reviews. He has been a principal investigator for the PARTNER trial of transcatheter aortic valve implantation and the CoreValve U.S. Pivotal trial and has been named national principal investigator for the St. Jude Transcatheter Portico Valve trial.

He is a founding member of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American College of Surgeons. Fontana is a member of a number of professional organizations including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the David C. Sabiston Jr. Surgical Society, the Society of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, the American Heart Association, the 21st Century Cardiac Surgical Society, the International Academy of Cardiology and the Western Thoracic Surgical Association.

Fontana earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Riverside and his medical degree from UCLA. He completed an internship and residency in surgery and cardiovascular surgery at Duke University Medical Center and fellowships in pediatric cardiac surgery at UCLA and at Children's Hospital in Boston.


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