Presidential Plenary Session

Dr. Svensson is the Chairman of the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic and served on the Cleveland Clinic Health System Operations Council. Dr. Svensson is an internationally known cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon. His research has led to many innovative surgical treatments and techniques. He is a Professor of Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Svensson previously served on the AATS Council, has Chaired the AATS Guidelines Committee. He has chaired multispecialty guidelines writing committees for endovascular treatment with stents for the thoracic aorta, aortic valve surgery, and for the treatment of thoracic aortic disease.Dr. Svensson was born in Barberton, South Africa. He completed his undergraduate work at Treverton College in Mooi River, South Africa. He earned his medical degree and PhD in blood flow pathophysiology from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he received numerous fellowships and awards. He received his training in cardiology and general surgery at the Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa, and his training in cardiothoracic surgery at Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, for which he received a fellowship. He also completed a cardiovascular surgery fellowship and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. In 2005, Dr. Svensson was named King James IV Professor of Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His academic appointments have included Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, TX; Clinical Instructor in Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Clinical Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Tufts University, Boston; and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. 

Rosemary Kelly, MD currently serves as the Secretary of the AATS.  She is the C. Walton and Richard C. Lillehei Professor and Executive Vice-Chair of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Minnesota.  She completed medical school at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine and General surgery training at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center. She completed Thoracic surgery residency at the University of Minnesota and joined the faculty of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Division.  She is Program Director of the Thoracic Surgery Residency and Vice-Chair of Clinical Faculty Development for the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota. In addition, she is Chief of the Heart and Vascular Service Line for M Health Fairview.

Dr. Kelly is actively involved in basic and translational research. Her basic science work uses in vitro and in vivo models of chronically ischemic myocardium to study molecular and physiologic recovery following revascularization as well as in response to cell based reparative therapies. Clinically, she has been involved in numerous trials in coronary revascularization and lung transplantation. She participated in the CARP, RAVE, REGROUP, and VALOR trials, serving on the Executive Committees for RAVE and REGROUP. She also participated in ex vivo lung organ preservation INSPIRE and EXPAND trials. For the AATS, Dr. Kelly has served on the Membership Committee for 6 years and as Chair for two years. She is a current member of the AATS Foundation Board, the Leadership Academy Board, Publications Committee and Cardiothoracic Residents Committee. In these roles, she strives to improve educational experiences and professional opportunities for the next generations of cardiothoracic surgeons.