News and updates from the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital
Over the past year, the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has continued to build on our proud history of clinical and academic achievement. This report highlights just some of the many examples of our ongoing commitment to excellence in clinical care, research and surgical education.
To view or download the report, click here.
Please join us in welcoming Akinobu Itoh, MD, PhD, as a new faculty member in the Department of Surgery.
Akinobu Itoh, MD, PhD
Associate Surgeon, Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery
Surgical Director, Heart Transplantation and Mechanical and Circulatory Support
Dr. Itoh received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the Tohoku University School of Medicine in Sendai, Japan. He completed resident training in general surgery and cardiovascular surgery at the NTT Medical Center in Tokyo and a fellowship in cardiovascular surgery at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan. Subsequently, he completed a fellowship in cardiovascular surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada and a fellowship in transplant/heart failure at Toronto General Hospital. In 2013, he joined Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital as a faculty member. Dr. Itoh also holds a PhD in cardiac valve physiology and pathology from Tohoku University.
Before coming to the Brigham, Dr. Itoh was an associate professor of surgery, surgical director of the Heart Transplant and Ventricular Assist Device Program and director of the Surgical Heart Failure Fellowship Program at the Washington University School of Medicine, as well as co-director of the Barnes-Jewish ECMO Program. At the Brigham, Dr. Itoh will also be serving as surgical director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical and Circulatory Support for the Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery.
Dr. Itoh’s main clinical focus is on orthotopic heart transplant and mechanical assist device surgery. He also takes care of high-risk, complex aortic and mitral valve surgeries, as well as aortic dissection and aneurysm. Low ejection fraction coronary artery revascularization surgery, with mechanical circulatory assist is another area of his clinical interest. His clinical and translational research concerns are heart failure and the clinical impact of valvular surgery concomitant with mechanical assist device implantation and reverse remodeling in mechanically unloaded condition. He’s also interested in the clinical outcomes of acute circulatory support, with extracorporeal oxygen membrane circulatory support and other mechanical circulatory support devices, such as the intra-aortic balloon pump and the Impella device. Based upon his previous research experience in valvular/ventricular physiology and transesophageal echocardiography, he would like to contribute to the development of the clinical and translational research in the heart failure field.
Matthew J. Carty, MD
Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Distinguished Chair in Surgery
Director, Lower Extremity Reconstruction Program
Co-Director, Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction Program
Director of Innovation and Strategy, Stepping Strong Center
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Carty is an associate surgeon in the Department of Surgery Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a research scientist in the Center for Extreme Bionics at the MIT Media Lab. Dr. Carty is co-director of the Brigham Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction Program, director of the Brigham Lower Extremity Reconstruction Program, and director of Innovation and Strategy for the Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation. His research interests are focused primarily on limb restoration, both through transplantation and complex reconstruction. His research endeavors are currently funded by multiple grants, including those from intramural sources such as Stepping Strong, as well as extramural sources including DARPA and the Department of Defense.