Dr. Jason W. Smith Named the New Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery & Lung Transplantation

We are excited to announce that Dr. Jason Smith has been appointed Division Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Lung Transplantation, effective June 1, 2025. 

Dr. Smith completed his medical training at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, followed by a General Surgery Residency and research in the Burn Shock Trauma Labs focused on sepsis and immune function. He remained at Loyola for his Cardiac Surgery Fellowship before completing an advanced fellowship in Heart and Lung Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Stanford University.

Dr. Smith began his faculty career at the University of Washington, where he advanced heart transplant care through innovations like ex-vivo organ perfusion and expanded donor criteria, serving as the Primary Investigator for the EXPAND Heart Trial. His efforts helped UW become the largest 5-star heart transplant program in the country. He also pioneered minimally invasive techniques for implanting Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs), improving patient outcomes and recovery times. He later joined the University of Wisconsin as Surgical Director of Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support, where he led groundbreaking work on donation after cardiopulmonary death (DCD) using advanced perfusion techniques. In 2022, Dr. Smith returned to San Francisco to join UCSF as Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation and MCS. At UCSF, he has significantly grown the transplant program, improved national rankings, expanded the use of ECMO, launched a Total Artificial Heart Program, and developed a pathway for adult patients with complex congenital heart disease to receive transplants.

A passionate educator, Dr. Smith received the Cardiothoracic Surgery Annual Teaching Award in 2023 and launched an advanced fellowship to train future leaders in transplant and mechanical support. He serves as a Section Editor and peer reviewer for leading journals and is active in national transplant policy through roles with UNOS. 

We would like to recognize and thank Dr. Michael Conte for serving as the Interim Chief of the Division of CT Surgery. We also would like to thank Dr. Conte and the search committee for their service in partnership with Spencer Stuart. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Smith on his new leadership role!