Director of Research and Special Projects, William Novick Global Cardiac Alliance.

Dr. Michael S Firstenberg is a board-certified thoracic surgeon practicing adult cardiac surgery at The Medical Center of Aurora (Colorado, USA) where he serves as the Chief of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery. He currently holds Adjunct appointments in the Colleges of Medicine and Graduate Studies at Northeast Ohio Medical University and serves on the teaching faculty at the Rocky Vista University. He attended Case Western Reserve University Medical School, received his General Surgery training at University Hospitals in Cleveland, and completed a Fellowship in Thoracic Surgery at The Ohio State University. He also obtained advanced training in heart failure surgical therapies at The Cleveland Clinic. He is an active member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), American Association of Thoracic Surgeons (AATS), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), and the American College of Academic International Medicine (ACAIM – for which he is a Founding Fellow and the President-elect for 2021). He currently serves a Chair of the American College of Cardiology Credentialing and Member Services Committee as well as being active on several other national society committees. He is the author of well over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters. He has edited several textbooks on topics ranging from Medical Leadership, Patient Safety, Endocarditis, and Extra-corporeal Membrane Oxygenation – all of which include topics that he has lectured on world-wide.