Wilson Y. Szeto, MD, has been appointed Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Penn Medicine.
Dr. Szeto graduated from the Medical College of Virginia and came to Penn Medicine in 1996 as a general surgery resident. He continued his post-doctoral education at Penn, completing a cardiothoracic surgery residency and an endovascular/aortic surgery fellowship. In 2006 he joined the faculty of the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery as an Assistant Professor.
Throughout his career as an academic surgeon, Dr. Szeto has excelled in surgery, research, and medical education. He was named Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in 2015 and achieved the rank of full Professor a year later. In 2022, he became the Julian Johnson II Endowed Professor in Surgery. Since 2017, he has served as Vice Chief of Clinical Operations and Quality in the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery and the Surgical Director of Transcatheter Cardio-Aortic Therapies
Cardiac Surgery
Dr. Szeto has performed approximately 5,000 cardiac surgeries, of which 2,500 involved heart valve procedures. His specialities and clinical interests center upon the surgical treatment of thoracic aortic disease and valvular heart disease, and include valve-sparing aortic root replacement, minimally invasive complex aortic valve repair (including bicuspid aortic valve and mitral valve repair), and transcatheter aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valve repair and replacement.
Clinical Research
With more than 300 peer-reviewed publications to date, Dr Szeto is actively involved in research in catheter-based and endovascular therapies for mitral and tricuspid disease. He was a national Principal Investigator (PI), site PI, and Co-PI for each of the PARTNER trials for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
In clinical trials of endovascular aortic stent graft technology, Dr. Szeto is currently the PI for the PERSEVERE trial of the Ascyrus Medical Dissection Stent (AMDS), a novel, partially uncovered aortic arch hybrid graft for the treatment of acute DeBakey type I aortic dissection. He is, as well, the National PI on the Thoraflex Hybrid and Relay Extension Post-Approval Study (EXTEND) trial for the treatment of aortic disease affecting the aortic arch and descending aorta with or without involvement of the ascending aorta.
Recently, Dr. Szeto deployed the first Duett vascular graft system to connect the native left common carotid artery to the surgical graft as the PI of the Duett Study.
Education
Dr. Szeto’s commitment to training has been rewarded several times over the course of his career. During his general surgery residency, he received the Leonard Perloff Chief Resident Teaching Award, and as recently as 2021, he was presented the Socrates Award by the Thoracic Surgery Residents Association (TSRA). The award celebrates a faculty member in cardiothoracic surgery who has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to resident education and mentorship.
Professionally, Dr. Szeto has presented at more than 50 invited lectures in just the last five years. Nationally, Dr. Szeto is extensively involved with professional societies in the field of cardiovascular disease. He is currently the Secretary of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and a member of the American Surgical Association. He continues to serve as the Deputy Editor of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.