Oct 11, 2019
Joseph Woo, MD, a highly recognized heart surgeon and leading researcher in innovative approaches to cardiovascular care, is the recipient of Chinese Hospital’s 45th Annual Award. The award was presented to him at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae on Friday, October 11th.
Dr. Joseph Woo serves as the Norman E. Shumway Professor and the Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Additionally, he holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Bioengineering. Dr. Woo received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. This university is also where he conducted his postgraduate surgical training in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery, as well as a postdoctoral research fellowship developing novel molecular strategies for attenuating myocardial ischemic injury.
Dr. Woo has an active clinical practice focusing on complex cardiac valve repair, aortic surgery, cardiopulmonary transplantation, and minimally-invasive surgery. He has advanced these fields by developing several innovative operations. Dr. Woo currently runs a basic science research lab which is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Project Grant for studying stem cells, angiogenesis, tissue engineering, and biomechanics. The lab has held continuous NIH funding since 2004. Furthermore, Dr. Woo has also served as principal investigator for several clinical device trials, translational scientific clinical trials entailing administration of stem cells during coronary artery bypass grafting, and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. He has co-authored over 280 peer-reviewed publications.
Nationally, Dr. Woo has chaired several committees, including the American Heart Association, Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia Council, and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Scientific Affairs and Government Relations Committee. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery who has served as a Guest Editor for Circulation. During the past five years, under his leadership, overall cardiovascular surgical clinical volume, extramural research funding, scholarly publications, and residency education programs in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine have doubled or tripled, and continue to grow significantly.
About Chinese Hospital Annual Award
Since 1973, and every year thereafter, the Board of Trustees, Medical Staff and Continuing Medical Education of Chinese Hospital have sponsored a full-day event to honor an individual for outstanding contributions to healthcare in the Asian American community. The award also serves to raise awareness of important achievements in medical sciences, health education, and community leadership. Past award recipients include: Baruch Blumberg, MD (Nobel Prize recipient for the HepB antigen); David Ho, MD (Man of the Year from Time-Magazine for his research on AIDS); and Professor Lap-Chee TSUI OC, PhD, FRS, FRSC, GBM, GBS, JP (Founding President of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong).
