Titles

Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor of Transplant Surgery

Director, Cardiac and Lung Transplant Programs

Clinical Director, Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program

Vice Chair for Innovation

School Affiliation

School of Medicine

Specialties

• Cardiac and Lung Transplant
• Xenotransplantation

About

410-328-5842 bgriffith@som.umaryland.edu

Dr. Griffith is a distinguished Professor of Transplant Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He specializes in adult cardiac care, coronary revascularization, pulmonary thromboendarterectomy surgery (PTE) and heart reconstruction surgery. His clinical work focuses on coronary artery surgery, mitral and aortic valve replacement and aneurysmal disease of the thoracic aorta. In August 2003, Dr. Griffith reconstructed the top two chambers of a woman's heart with animal and human donor tissue, a first-of-its-kind surgery that was performed to remove a potentially deadly and recurring tumor called a myxoma. In September 2002, he led a team of cardiac surgeons in the implantation of a revolutionary rotary heart pump called the Jarvik 2000 to save the life of a man with heart failure. In January 2022, he became the first surgeon in the world to implant a genetically modified pig heart into a living patient in partnership with Muhammad Mohiuddin, MD, Professor of Surgery at UMSOM. The 57-year-old patient lived for two months, and the surgery was hailed as a breakthrough. A second patient received a pig heart in October 2023 and lived for several weeks. Prior to his arrival at UMSOM, he served as vice chair in the department of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was also chief of cardiothoracic surgery and the Henry T. Bahnson Professor of Surgery. He also served as the founding director for the internationally recognized McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development. Dr. Griffith's research interests include heart and lung transplantation, cell transplantation and the advancement of artificial organ use. He has directed more than 1,200 heart transplants and 600 lung transplants. He is an innovator in the use of immunosuppression after transplant and mechanical blood pumps prior to transplant.

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This information was last updated December 17, 2024.