George Michael Deeb, MD

Dr. Michael Deeb joined the Department of Surgery 36 years ago. During this time, Dr. Deeb created the renaissance of the heart transplant program, initiated lung transplantation and made possible the heart/lung transplant program. As a part of the heart transplant program, the team he led implanted the first total artificial hearts. All these efforts made possible the evolution of the Center for Circulatory Support, the expanded heart transplant program, the LVAD program and the lung transplant program. Dr. Deeb is the epitome of the clinician-educator. He has taught a generation of cardiac surgeons the approaches to complex cardiac disease while advancing the U-M specialty in each one of these arenas. One colleague says, As is his nature, he exemplifies total commitment to patient care both inside and outside the operating rooms and sets the example for all our residents. his broad abilities and confidence allow him to advance residents' exposure in these challenging cases. In fact, throughout his career, Dr. Deeb has been an incredible role model to residents, other surgical faculty and nurses alike. With the growth of these programs, Dr. Deeb advanced U-M's operative approach to complex aortic disease involving the aortic valve and the aorta.

Dr. Deeb is an internationally known specialist in aortic surgery. Many academic medical centers attempt to emulate his model program for aortic surgery. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dr. Deeb almost single-handedly built the University of Michigan into a powerhouse for heart/lung transplantation. He directed a multidisciplinary effort to provide these transplants for the entire region and soon became widely recognized as a leader in this field. This is when he began to take on the area of aortic surgery and built an enormous referral base for patients with the most complex problems of the aortic valve and thoracic aorta. Physicians from around the country send their patients with complex aortic disease to Dr. Deeb. He has the largest practice treating aortic aneurysmal disease and aortic valve repair in the United States. The operative skills and perioperative care required to care for these patients are, without question, among the most demanding of any specialty. He has had one of the highest operative volumes in the Department of Surgery as well as exemplary outcomes. Dr. Deeb's patients revere him for his dedication to their well-being and his tireless efforts on their behalf. He is always available, regardless of the time or day, and never ceases to put his patients' interests ahead of his own. Dr. Deeb played a pivotal role in the initiation of the Structural Heart program at the University of Michigan. He began a collaborative with Dr. Stanley Chetcuti, head of Interventional Cardiology, to establish and build to national prominence the University of Michigan Transcatheter Aortic Valve program. He is an internationally known expert in the field of TAVR and is on the Executive Committee, Steering Committee, and head of the Screening Committee for all the international clinical trials for the evolving self expanding TAVR valves in the PIVOTAL, High Risk, SURTAVI, Low Risk, Continues Access, Expanded Usage, and Bicuspid Trials.

Clinical lead for the institutional cause analysis work group within the high reliability organization of the Michigan Medicine safety team. Dr. Deeb is also the physician lead for the clinical design and innovation initiative to build efficiant and effective patient care process to enable the highest level of quality patient care and clinical outcomes.

Despite these enormous responsibilities, Dr. Deeb continues to provide cutting-edge therapy for his patients and leads efforts to develop innovative methods to improve the care of patients with aortic disease. His research has been supported by the American Heart Association of Michigan, the National Institutes of health, Medtronic, W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., and Cook, Inc., among others. He is an editorial reviewer for Surgery, Annals of Internal Medicine, Annals of Vascular Surgery, and The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. His own work has appeared in 293 peer-reviewed journals and he has published 10 book chapters. In 1975, he received his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh where he went on to do residencies in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery. He joined the University of Michigan in 1986 as assistant professor of surgery, became associate professor of surgery in 1991 and professor of surgery in 1996. From 1986 until 1995, he was director of the heart/Lung Transplant and Artificial Devices Program and, from 1990-1999, was director of Adult Cardiac Surgery. Since 1996, he has been co-director of the heart Care Program. In 2004, Dr. Deeb was named Herbert Sloan Collegiate Professor of Cardiac Surgery.

Aortic valve disease, aortic aneurysms, aortic dissections: all aortic diseases, Marfan syndrome and all valvular disease. Adult cardiac surgery.

University of Michigan Health participates with most health insurance plans.

1. Aortic valve disease and aortic aneurysms and dissections.
2. Impact of non-pharmacologic interventions on the clinical and utilization of health care resources in Cardiac Surgery.
3. Impact of efficiency and effectiveness in patient care on clinical outcomes and financial implications within the bundled care project.
4. Root cause and analysis of patient safety events and the impact of resultant initiatives on the incident of future safety issues.
5. Principal investigator of interventional TAVR structural heart trails.