5. Outcomes of Heart Transplantation Using Donation after Circulatory Death: Up-To-Date US Experience

Edward Soltesz, MD, MPH, is the Donna and Ken Lewis Endowed Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Surgical Director of the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure and Recovery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. He also is the Course Director for the American Austrian Foundation/Open Medical Institute Cardiac Surgery Medical Seminar held annually in Salzburg, Austria, and the Director of Cardiac Surgery Affiliate Programs at Cleveland Clinic where he  oversees quality and outcomes of more than 15 affiliated programs and 45 surgeons. 

A native of Cleveland, Dr. Soltesz graduated as valedictorian of St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland and received a full academic scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross. There, he obtained degrees in both Classics and Chemistry, was awarded the British Marshall Scholarship, and graduated summa cum laude as the class valedictorian. Dr. Soltesz then went on to receive his medical degree from Harvard Medical School where he was awarded the Harvard National Scholarship. Dr. Soltesz stayed at Harvard to complete his residences in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Soltesz also earned a Master of Public Health from Harvard University School of Public Health with a focus on clinical effectiveness. Dr. Soltesz then returned to Cleveland to complete an additional fellowship in complex aortic and endovascular surgery at Cleveland Clinic, where he was subsequently appointed to the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in 2008.

Dr. Soltesz’s research program focuses on large-scale assessment of cardiac surgical outcomes from a public health perspective, quality improvement and safety, clinical outcomes of valve surgery, and heart failure.  He has lectured and served as a visiting professor both nationally and internationally.

Hosam Ahmed is a Research Fellow in Cardiothoracic surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati, Ohio, US). He served as a Registrar & Lecturer in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Assiut University Hospitals and School of Medicine (Assiut, Egypt) and a research fellow at the University of Florida Heart Center (Gainesville, Florida, US). Hosam is fully registered with a license to practice as a Cardiothoracic registrar (SpR) in the UK. His research interests include clinical and translational research related to outcomes following Cardiothoracic Surgeries including Heart and Lung Transplantation. Hosam is the recipient of Every Heartbeat Matters Valve Fellowship in 2019 by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) to enhance heart valve disease treatment, knowledge and skill training for surgeons around the world who treat individuals with limited access to healthcare.