Emile Bacha, MD, Appointed Chair of Surgery

Cardiac surgeon Emile Bacha, MD, has been appointed the next chair of the Department of Surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Surgeon-in-Chief of NewYork-Presbyterian, effective January 1, 2026.

Dr. Bacha, the Roth Salzhauer Family Professor of Surgery at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, will take over for Craig Smith, MD, who announced earlier this year he’d be stepping down from the role after an exceptional 15-year tenure as chair.

Since 2010, Dr. Bacha has served as Chief of the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, & Vascular Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Director of Congenital and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the NewYork-Presbyterian Congenital Heart Center. He is also an adjunct professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.

An internationally recognized leader in both pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgery, Dr. Bacha has dedicated his distinguished career to expanding therapies and improving outcomes for some of the most complex cardiac conditions. He has performed over 8,000 congenital heart surgeries, including those to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and multiple ventricular septal defects, also known as “Swiss cheese heart.” Dr Bacha has trained generations of surgeons, and many of his mentees have become chiefs of congenital heart surgery nationwide and internationally. Dr. Bacha’s notable clinical accomplishments include pioneering a hybrid stage 1 procedure for HLHS by combining interventional transcatheter procedures with open heart surgery. He also successfully implanted a total artificial heart in one of the youngest heart failure patients in the world to receive one. His surgical achievements have earned him international renown, awards, and honors, and a practice that spans the globe.

In addition to his innovative medical inventions, Dr. Bacha has been prolific in scientific research, authoring more than 350 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His research mission is to make pediatric cardiac surgery safer and less invasive, and he has received support from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Foundation, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Bacha is the current and 106th president of the AATS. He is a past associate editor of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and received the Education Award from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology, the American Surgical Association, and a founding member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

Before joining Columbia in 2010, he served as senior associate in cardiac surgery at Boston Children's Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, as well as program director of the cardiac surgery fellowship, and director of the pediatric heart valve center. Prior to his role at Harvard, he was the surgical director of the Congenital Heart Center at the University of Chicago.

Born in Beirut, Dr. Bacha earned his MD from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. He completed surgical residency at Emory University, a research fellowship at Hôpital Marie-Lannelongue of Paris-Sud University, and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital.

“Please join us in giving Dr. Bacha a hearty congratulations on his new role,” said Katrina Armstrong, MD, Dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Steve Corwin, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of NewYork-Presbyterian, in a joint statement. They added, “We are grateful that Dr. Smith will continue as faculty in the Department and look forward to opportunities to recognize and celebrate his legendary leadership and accomplishments over the months ahead.”