Expert for Media Profile
Surgery
Robert E. Michler, MD
- Surgeon-in-Chief, Montefiore Health System
- Chairman, Surgery
- Chairman, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery
- Professor, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
- Professor, Department of Surgery
- Professor, Department of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery
- Professor, Department of Surgery
- Chair, Department of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery
- Samuel Belkin Professorial Chair (YU)
- Co-Director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care
- Chair, Department of Surgery
Areas of Expertise
Expert Summary
Dr. Michler is a heart surgeon who specializes in complex aortic and mitral valve repair surgery. He is an NIH-funded investigator whose interest in repairing the injured heart has led to clinical trials in cardiac stem cell transplantation. Dr. Michler and his teams have advanced minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery procedures and surgical robotics. This work led to FDA approval for selective cardiac robotic procedures including mitral valve repair and coronary bypass surgery.
Dr. Michler has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a frequent editor on cardiac surgery topics and lectures extensively, both nationally and abroad. Dr. Michler is the chairman and founder of a not-for-profit foundation, Heart Care International, which performs pediatric heart surgery in underserved regions of the world. To date, Heart Care International has helped over 1,000 children with heart disease and performed heart surgery on over 600 children. He has received numerous honors including “Person of the Week” by ABC’s World News Tonight and the Order of Christopher Columbus.