Rate My Professor Thomas Gleason

Thomas G. Gleason, MD, MS, is a cardiothoracic surgeon whose academic career includes a tenure as Professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine from 2021 to 2022. He received a BA in Chemistry with high honors from Middlebury College in 1989, an MD with highest distinction from Rush Medical College in 1993, and an MS in Surgery and Immunology from the University of Virginia in 1997. His postgraduate training encompassed a general surgery residency and research fellowship in infectious disease and immunology at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center from 1993 to 2000, followed by cardiothoracic surgery residency and advanced fellowship in thoracic aortic surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2003.

Dr. Gleason held progressive academic appointments, including Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine from 2003 to 2006, Associate Professor of Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 2006 to 2014, and Ronald V. Pellegrini Endowed Professor and Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery there from 2014 to 2020, with joint appointments in bioengineering. He also served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School from 2020 to 2021. His research specializes in thoracic aortic disease, bicuspid aortic valve aortopathy, extracellular matrix remodeling, vasa vasorum dysfunction, oxidative stress in aortic media, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement outcomes. Notable publications include '5-Year Outcomes of Self-Expanding Transcatheter Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in High-Risk Patients' (Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2018), 'Surgical or Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Replacement in Intermediate-Risk Patients' (New England Journal of Medicine, 2017), and co-authorship of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery consensus guidelines on bicuspid aortic valve-related aortopathy (Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2018). Awards encompass Cardiac Surgical Faculty of the Year at the University of Pittsburgh (2010, 2015), Joseph Susman Memorial Awards (1997, 1999), Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society induction (1998), and listings on Pittsburgh Magazine's Best Doctors in Thoracic Surgery (2012-2019). Dr. Gleason has shaped the field through leadership in aortic surgery programs and contributions to major clinical trials and guidelines.