Vivek Rao is a Canadian cardiac surgeon and researcher. He was the youngest faculty member ever to join the University of Toronto cardiac surgery division, and, later, the second youngest chief of cardiac surgery ever appointed at the University Health Network Division of Cardiac Surgery. After attending Upper Canada College, Rao studied medicine at

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...

. He completed his medical and surgical training at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, including PhD training (’94-97), working under the supervision of

Richard D. Weisel Richard D. Weisel, is a Canadian-American cardiovascular surgeon and a professor of surgery at University of Toronto. He is the current editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery'' and the current director of the Cardi ...

in the Surgical Scientist Training Program. He completed a fellowship in cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Rao is the Munk Chair in Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital, and Senior Scientist in the Division of Experimental Therapeutics at the Toronto General Research Institute. Rao is credited with building Canada's largest Advanced Heat Failure Program. He was also the first cardiovascular surgeon in Canada to implant

HeartMate A ventricular assist device (VAD) is an electromechanical device for assisting cardiac circulation, which is used either to partially or to completely replace the function of a failing heart. The function of a VAD differs from that of an artifici ...

, a mechanical heart technology he imported from his experience under

Dr. Mehmet Oz Mehmet Cengiz Öz (; born June 11, 1960), known professionally as Dr. Oz (), is an Turkish American former professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University, television presenter, author and former political candidate. The son of Tur ...

of the "Dr. Oz Show" in New York. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Rao was named to Canada's Top 40 Under 40.

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External links

PubMed search for Vivek Rao
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Vivek Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian cardiologists Canadian surgeons Upper Canada College alumni University of Toronto alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada