Ross M. Reul, M.D., Director of Surgical Innovations, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, a highly respected cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon is utilizing his technical expertise in the study of various surgical interventions and modalities for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Some of these innovations include:

• Robotic assisted cardiac surgery
• Minimally invasive valve surgery
• Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy
• Surgery for atrial fibrillation
• Surgical ventricular restoration
• Endovascular vein harvesting and pursuing less painful surgery
• Minimally invasive surgery for myasthenia gravis and thyoma
• Hybrid coronary artery revascularization

Dr. Reul holds medical and professional staff appointments at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and Texas Heart Institute in Houston. He is program coordinator of the Texas Heart Institute cardiovascular residency program. He received the Doctor of Medicine degree from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, Cum Laude in 1993 after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 from the University of Texas at Austin.

Upon completion of a General Surgery Residency at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School from 1993 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2000, he completed a Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Residency at the Texas Heart Institute in 2002.

He is certified by both the American Board of Surgery (2001) and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (2003) and licensed to practice medicine and surgery in both Texas and Massachusetts.

Dr. Reul is very involved in cardiovascular surgical research at the Texas Heart Institute and has authored and co-authored numerous publications during his career. Some of these published articles have focused on:

• Mitral valve repair
• Aortic and mitral valve replacement
• Surgery for acute myocardial ischemia
• Tissue glues in cardiac and thoracic surgery
• Transmyocardial laser revascularization
• Ischemia and reperfusion injury
• Minimally invasive aortomyoplasty

He has been the recipient of such awards as the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Harvard Medical Students (1997-1998), Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Transplant Physicians (1997) and the Baylor Medical Alumni Association Outstanding Student Award (1993). Dr. Reul is also an active member of numerous medical and scientific societies:

• Society of Thoracic Surgeons
• Alpha Omega Alpha
• American College of Cardiology
• American College of Surgeons
• American Medical Association
• Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society
• Cooley Hands Society
• Harris County Medical Society
• International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
• Texas Medical Association