New Heart Surgeon to Join Cincinnati Children’s

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Alistair Phillips, MD, has been named surgical director of the Adolescent and Adult Congenital Heart Disease (AACHD) Program and the Heart Transplant Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, effective June 20.

Dr. Phillips comes to the Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

In addition to surgery for newborns, children, adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease, Dr. Phillips’ clinical interests include heart transplantation, mechanical circulatory support for patients of all ages, and life-saving surgeries necessary for thousands whose hearts are too weak to pump blood effectively.

As a surgeon, Dr. Phillips is interested in developing novel approaches to treating congenital heart disease, mainly through hybrid approaches that involve the collaborative efforts of heart surgeons and cardiologists who fix complex, structural heart diseases with catheters.

Cincinnati Children’s was one of the first children’s hospitals in the United States to develop an adult congenital heart disease program, caring for these patients under the leadership of Richard Meyer, MD, from 1990 until his retirement in 2010. In 2009, the Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute was established, and in 2010 it hired Gary Webb, MD, an international leader in adult congenital heart disease, to create the Adolescent and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program.

“The recruitment of Dr. Phillips, an experienced expert in the surgical care of these patients, allows the Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute to care for all aspects of congenital heart disease at all ages,” says Jeffrey Towbin, MD, co-director of the Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute.

Dr. Phillips earned an MD at Columbia University. He did residencies and fellowships in surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, thoracic surgery, pacemaker/defibrillator surgery and pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

About Cincinnati Children’s

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center ranks third in the nation among all Honor Roll hospitals in U.S. News and World Report’s 2011 Best Children’s Hospitals ranking. It is ranked #1 for gastroenterology and in the top 10 for all pediatric specialties – a distinction shared by only two other pediatric hospitals in the United States. Cincinnati Children’s is one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health. It is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through fully integrated, globally recognized research, education and innovation. Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org.