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Faculty

Cardiothoracic Surgery
Diego Avella-Patino, M.D.

Diego Avella-Patino, M.D.

Associate Professor

Biography: Dr. Avella Patino is double board certified in general surgery and thoracic surgery. He specializes in the surgical management of benign and malignant diseases in the chest, including lungs, esophagus, pleura chest wall, diaphragm, and mediastinum. He is experienced in all techniques of lung and esophageal resection with expertise in robotic surgery.
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Joseph Lamelas

Joseph Lamelas, M.D.

Professor of Surgery
Clinical Profile
Biography: Dr. Joseph Lamelas, an internationally recognized expert in minimally invasive heart surgery, is Professor and Chief of Cardiac Surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Miami Health System, Miller School of Medicine.

Dr. Lamelas has been in practice since 1990 and has completed more than 17,000 cardiac surgical operations...
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Leonardo A Mulinari, M.D., Ph.D.

Leonardo A. Mulinari, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Clinical

Biography: Dr. Mulinari is a Professor of Clinical Surgery and Chief of the Section of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. He is also the Co-director of the Children's Heart Center at Holtz Children's Hospital.
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Mauricio Pipkin, M.D.

Mauricio Pipkin, M.D.

Associate Professor of Surgery, Pending Rank

Biography: Mauricio Pipkin, M.D., joined Miami Transplant Institute in March 2022 as the director of the ECMO program for the lung center and associate professor of surgery at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Prior to joining MTI, Dr. Pipkin was surgical director of University of Florida College of Medicine and assistant professor in the division of cardiovascular and...
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Juan Umana

Juan P. Umaña, M.D.

Professor of Surgery
Clinical Profile
Biography: Juan Pablo Umaña, M.D. is an internationally recognized leader in cardiovascular surgery, known for his pioneering contributions to aortic and mitral valve repair. He specializes in mitral valve repair, tricuspid valve repair, aortic valve repair, valve-sparing aortic root replacement, Ross procedure, minimally invasive aortic root replacement, minimally invasive...
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Nestor R. Villamizar, M.D.

Nestor R. Villamizar, M.D.

Associate Professor of Surgery
Clinical Profile
Biography: I obtained my M.D. degree at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia in 2001. I completed a research fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center where I also completed residency in General Surgery. Residency in cardiothoracic surgery was completed in 2014 at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. I have been faculty of clinical surgery...
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Medhi Wangpaichitr, Ph.D.

Medhi Wangpaichitr, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor

Biography: Dr. Wangpaichitr’s area of expertise is focused on tumor metabolism and mechanisms of drug resistance, as well as the development of new tumor models for clinical use. He is currently an Associate Professor of Research at the University of Miami, Department of Surgery/Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He also holds a full time appointment in the Research Service at the...
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