Cardiothoracic Surgery Research

Castigliano Bhamidipati, D.O., Ph.D., M.Sc.

Casti Bhamidipati, D.O., Ph.D., M.Sc.

Title: Associate Professor of Surgery

Research Focus: I am interested in examining clinical outcomes, expansion, applicability and value add to patients with Adult Congenital Heart Diseases and Aortic pathologies. My work is primarily centered around working with larger datasets by linking them to ask and answer important clinical questions. Collaborating is an important discipline and answering relevant patient centric questions is an important strategy for my work.

Current projects:

  • Clinical Outcomes Research in Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Aortic Diseases

Select publications:

  1. Nelson JS, Bhamidipati CM, Yarboro LT, Jacobs JP, Subramanyan RK, McDonald D, Krohn C, Mayer JE, Jones LA, Scholl FG.  Assessment of Current STS Data Elements for Adults with Congenital Heart Disease.  Ann Thorac Surg 2021 Dec 11;S0003-4975(21)02045-2.
  2. Pontious ME, Muralidaran A, McGrath LB, Broberg C, Shen I, Bhamidipati CM.  Management of Total Left Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return.  Cardiol Cardiovasc Med 2021; 5 (4): 311-316.
  3. Bhamidipati, C.M., Garcia, I.C., Kim, B. et al. Racial Disparity: The Adult Congenital Heart Disease Surgery Perspective. Pediatr Cardiol (2022). 

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Julie Doberne, M.D., Ph.D.

Julie Doberne, M.D., Ph.D.

Title: Assistant Professor of Surgery

Research Focus: My overarching goal is to help foster the growing field of surgery informatics. As a cardiac surgeon, I am passionate about delivering the best clinical results for my patients. As a formally trained informatician, I see the potential that technology has to transform the practice of surgery. My role is to serve as a bridge between the two worlds to bring salient, game-changing principles to the practice of surgery.

My doctoral work focused on identifying physicians' information needs and information-gathering habits in the electronic health record (EHR) using infrared eye-tracking, screen-tracking, survey and qualitative methods to drive EHR optimization. As a faculty member of the SDDSL, I intend to delve deeper into surgeons’ information needs in the EHR and PACS systems, and how to characterize surgical mastery.

Current projects:

  • Surgical Informatics

Select publications:

  1. Venkatraman V, Ponder M, Gellad Z, Lad S, Christy E, Plichta R, Harrison JK, Hughes GC, Doberne JW. Feasibility study of a novel digital health platform for patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). J Card Surg 2022;37:2017-22. 
  2. Doberne J, Redd T, Lattin D, Yackel TR, Eriksson CO, Mohan V, Gold JA, Ash JS, Chiang MF. Perspectives and uses of the electronic health record among US pediatricians: A national survey. Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, 31 Dec 2016, 40(1):59-68.
  3. Doberne JW, He Z, Mohan V, Gold JA, Marquard J, Chiang MF. Using high-fidelity simulation and eye tracking to characterize EHR workflow patterns among hospital physicians. AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings. 2015 Nov; 2053. 
  4. Doberne JW, Kakaday R, Redd T, Lattin D, Yackel TR, Eriksson CO, Mohan V, Gold JA, Ash JS, Chiang MF. Barriers to Information Access in Electronic Health Records during Initial Patient Visits: A Qualitative Study. Proceedings of the HFES 2015 International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care: Improving the Outcomes. 2015;4(1)143-9.
  5. Digital Health for Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review. Wu KA, Kunte S, Rajkumar S, Venkatraman V, Kim G, Kaplan S, Anwar-Hashmi SO, Doberne J, Nguyen TC, Lad SP. Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Aug 28;11(17):2411.

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Ashok Muralidaran, M.D.

Dr. Ashok Muralidaran

Title: Associate Professor of Surgery; Section Chief, Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Research Focus: Clinical outcomes research in pediatric and congenital cardiac surgery.

Current projects:

  • Outcomes after the Reinforced Ross procedure
  • Vocal Fold dysfunction following pediatric cardiac surgery
  • Pulmonary Function in neonates with critical congenital heart disease
  • Outcomes of hand-crafted, valved ePTFE right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduits

Select publications:

Leeds H, Ashfaq A, McGrath L, Dewey EN, Ungerleider RM, Shen I, Muralidaran A. Short- and Mid-Term Autograft Outcomes Following the Reinforced Ross Operation. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2022 Jan;13(1):38-45.

Barr JM, Bowman K, Deshpande M, Dewey EN, Milczuk HA, Vo J, Shen I, Muralidaran A. Incidence and Recovery of Vocal Fold Immobility Following Pediatric Cardiac Operations. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2021 Jul;12(4):535-541.

Harris WM, Treggiari MM, LeBlanc A, Giacomuzzi C, You JJ, Muralidaran A, Shen I. Randomized Pilot Trial of Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2020 Jul;11(4):452-458. 

Ootaki Y, Welch AS, Walsh MJ, Quartermain MD, Williams DA, Ungerleider RM. Medium-Term Outcomes After Implantation of Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene Valved Conduit. Ann Thorac Surg. 2018 Mar;105(3):843-850. 

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Yoshio Otaki, M.D., Ph.D.

Yoshio Otaki, M.D.

Title: Professor of Surgery

Research Focus: I am interested in innovation in the field of pediatric cardiac surgery. I also interested in outcome research after various type of procedures for congenital heart defects.

Current projects:

  • Outcome research of innovative tri-leaflet expanded polytetrafluoroethylene valved conduit for pulmonary valve replacement
  • Outcome research of patients, who had surgical pulmonary valve replacement
  • Outcome research of patients, who had arterial switch operation
  • Outcome research of patients, who had vascular ring repair, e) Animal research using Fontan model

Select publications:

  1. Ootaki Y, Welch AS, Walsh MJ, Quartermain MD, Williams DA, Ungerleider RM. Medium-term outcomes after implantation of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene valved conduits. Ann Thorac Surg 2018;105:843-50.
  2. Ungerleider RM, Pasquali SK, Welke KF, Wallace AS, Ootaki Y, Quartermain MD, Williams D, Jacobs JP. Contemporary patterns of surgery and outcomes for aortic coarctation: an analysis of the society of thoracic surgeons congenital heart surgery database. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2013;145:150-8.
  3. Ungerleider RM, Ootaki Y, Shen I, Welke KF. Modified Ross Procedure to Prevent Autograft Dilatation. Ann Thorac Surg 2010;90:1035-1037.
  4. Rengifo LM, Hazle MA, Kincaid EH, Ootaki Y. Thoracoscopic resection of left atrial appendage aneurysm in a 16-year-old boy. Ann Thorac Surg 2021;112:e451-3. 
  5. Hays BS, Northrop MS, Shetty AK, Petty JK, Ootaki Y. Critical COVID-19 complicating surgical repair of congenital heart disease. Ann Thorac Surg 2022;113:e119-21.

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Ruchi Thanawala, M.D., M.S.

RT

Title: Assistant Professor of Surgery

Research Focus: I am interested in the role of informatics, AI, ontology science, and data science and surgical education, clinical practice and thoracic surgery, with the use and creation of large data to identify patterns. I have a unique skill set as a health informaticist, thoracic surgeon and the surgical education researcher. My research integrates these domains along with my experience in building out large data systems and platforms that are integrated with hospital systems such as electronic health records and national databases to create national level data sets for large-scale research.

Current projects:

  • Role of comprehensive medical education platform and the improvement in understanding of resident training and skill assessment
  • Oncology creation for relatedness of operation
  • Natural language processing to stratify skill level based on operative note dictations by trainees
  • Feasibility of telehealth as a primary modality of preoperative assessment in patients undergoing lung resection for lung cancer

Select publications:

  1. Thanawala R, Jesneck J, Shelton J, Rhee R, Seymour NE. Overcoming Systems Factors in Case Logging with Artificial Intelligence Tools. J Surg Educ. 2022 Jul-Aug;79(4):1024-1030.
  2. Meholick AL, Jesneck JL, Thanawala RM, Seymour NE. Use of a Secure Web-Based Data Management Platform to Track Resident Operative Performance and Program Educational Quality Over Time. J Surg Educ. 2020 Nov-Dec;77(6):e187-e195.
  3. Thanawala RM, Jesneck JL, Seymour NE. Education Management Platform Enables Delivery and Comparison of Multiple Evaluation Types. J Surg Educ. 2019 Nov-Dec;76(6):e209-e216.
  4. Thanawala R, Jesneck J, Seymour NE. Novel Educational Information Management Platform Improves the Surgical Skill Evaluation Process of Surgical Residents. J Surg Educ. 2018 Nov;75(6):e204-e211.

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