Dr. Ikenna Okereke

Dr. Gorav Ailawadi joined the University of Michigan as the Chair of Cardiac Surgery in September of 2020. Previously, he served as the Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Co-Director of the Cardiac Valve Center, and Director of the Medical Device Innovation Center at the University of Virginia.Dr. Ailawadi was raised in Maryland and New Jersey. He attended an accelerated honors program in medical education at Northwestern University where he received the awards for best overall student and top surgical student. Additionally, he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. While completing a surgery residency at the University of Michigan, Dr. Ailawadi spent two research years investigating and understanding the development of aortic aneurysms. His work was recognized by the NIH/Lifeline Association and was chosen as the top research project in 2003. While at Michigan, he received the Top Resident and Young Investigator Awards. He then completed his training and joined the faculty at the University of Virginia in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery.Dr. Ailawadi has internationally-recognized expertise in mitral and aortic valve disease with vast experience in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and percutaneous/transcatheter valve therapies having performed over 600 minimally invasive procedures and roughly 3000 heart operations. He has been invited to national and international conferences to share his expertise with novel minimally invasive approaches, valve disease, reoperative and AF surgery.At Virginia, Dr. Ailawadi was the first surgeon in the U.S. to perform hybrid AF ablation, the first U.S. Surgeon to perform the MitraClip procedure, and the world’s first transcaval TEVAR procedure. He has been the principal investigator for a novel left atrial appendage clip to prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation. Dr. Ailawadi served one of five core principal investigators leading the CTSN linked research consortium (NIH) developing new trials in cardiac surgery. Currently, Dr. Ailawadi is on the executive steering committee for numerous transcatheter and surgical trials in valvular disease. Dr. Ailawadi is the surgical national principal investigator for the Summit Trial investigating TENDYNE, a transcatheter mitral valve replacement without stopping the heart. In 2019, Dr. Ailawadi completed his MBA from the Darden School of Business.Dr. Ailawadi has been funded by the NIH, AHA, among other grants. His research lab studies novel mechanisms and new treatments for aortic aneurysms. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts in journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, and JACC. Dr. Ailawadi is member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, and the Cardiac Surgery Biology Club. In his leisure time, Dr. Ailawadi enjoys exercise, sports, and spending time with his wife, Aarti, and their three children. Dr. Ailawadi is highly rated in 27 conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Mitral Valve Regurgitation, Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm, Tricuspid Regurgitation, Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG), and Heart Bypass Surgery. Dr. Ailawadi is board certified in Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery and Surgery.

Rakesh Suri is a Thoracic Surgeon practicing medicine in Royal Oak, Michigan. He has been practicing medicine for over 31 years. Dr. Suri is highly rated in 12 conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Mitral Valve Regurgitation, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Aortic Valve Stenosis, Aortic Valve Replacement, and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Dr. Suri is board certified in American Board Of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Suri is currently accepting new patients.

Dr. Fukuhara earned his medical degree from Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan (2006), where he also received training in surgery (2009) and cardiovascular surgery (2010) with intense endovascular experience. After moving to the United States, he completed his general surgery residency at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY (2014), cardiothoracic surgery residency at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY (2016), aortic surgery fellowship at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (2017), and aortic and endovascular fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH (2018). He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the Japan Surgical Society. Dr. Fukuhara is highly rated in 19 conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Aortic Dissection, Aortic Valve Stenosis, Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), and Aortic Valve Replacement. Dr. Fukuhara is board certified in Surgery and Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery.