News Line

Cardiothoracic Surgeon Abeel A. Mangi, MD, Joins Temple University Hospital

Abeel A. Mangi, MD, has joined the surgical faculty of Temple University School of Medicine and been appointed Surgical Director of the Lung Transplant Program and Associate Surgical Director of the Heart Transplant Program at Temple University Hospital (TUH). Mangi was also named Director of the Cardiothoracic Transplant Research Laboratory at Temple University. Previously, Mangi was on the professional staff in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

"I am delighted that Dr. Mangi has joined the cardiothoracic team," said Satoshi Furukawa, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Temple University Hospital, in announcing the appointment. "We look forward to the addition of his expertise and skills to our comprehensive surgical treatment options for patients with lung and heart disease."

"I am eager to expand Temple's clinical and research capabilities to further enhance the care of patients with end-stage lung and heart failure," said Dr. Mangi, who was also named Associate Director of TUH's Mechanical Circulatory Support Services. "Providing high-quality, comprehensive care requires a team approach - one involving scores of dedicated healthcare professionals - and I have been very impressed with the caliber and work ethic of the staff associated with both the Heart and Lung Transplant Programs at Temple."

Based on his extensive surgical experience and training, Dr. Mangi hopes to introduce several new devices and protocols to Temple as a means of expanding treatment options for patients. "I have had considerable success in developing programs that use short-term circulatory support strategies for patients with major heart attacks as well as patients with lung failure," he noted.

For example, Dr. Mangi was part of a team of surgeons at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center that saved the lives of five patients who sustained large heart attacks by using devices created for short-term circulatory support. "The patients had all suffered massive heart attacks, were in shock, and clinging to life," recalls Dr. Mangi. "With these devices, we were able to rest both sides of the heart to the point where the heart recovered function - so much so that, upon removal of the device, the patients recovered without the need for transplantation."

At the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Mangi and his surgical colleagues saved two young patients from dying of lung failure by implanting an artificial lung to keep them alive until suitable donor lungs for transplantation could be found.

"We are hoping to attract companies that make newer Left-Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) to Temple, and to participate in upcoming clinical trials so that our patients with heart failure continue to receive top-notch, cutting-edge medical and surgical care," said Dr. Mangi.

"I feel very strongly about the utility of advanced therapies - be they in the form of devices, cell-based therapies, new medical therapies, and transplantation for end-stage heart and lung disease; and that such therapies should be available to all appropriate candidates," continued Mangi. "From a societal standpoint, there's no doubt in my mind that patients once thought to be too sick to survive work hard to regain their positions as valuable and robust members of society once they have completed their convalescence."

After earning his medical degree in 1997 from Brown University School of Medicine, in Providence, RI, Dr. Mangi completed his training in General Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, MA. He spent two years performing research in gene and stem cell-based therapies for end-stage heart disease at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston. He then completed fellowships in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Percutaneous Coronary and Vascular Intervention at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, in New York.

Dr. Mangi then completed his residency in Cardiac Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, and obtained further training in heart and lung transplantation before being recruited to the Cleveland Clinic, where he specialized in complex, high-risk, and reoperative cardiac surgery, heart transplantation, and lung transplantation.

Dr. Mangi is board-certified in both Surgery and Thoracic Surgery, by the American Board of Surgery and American Board of Thoracic Surgery, respectively.

He is a member or candidate-member of many professional societies and organizations, including the American College of Surgeons, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American Society of Transplantation, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, and the American Society for Artificial and Internal Organs (ASAIO).

Dr. Mangi's research interests include stem-cell-based therapies for cardiac repair and regeneration, donor-specific variables influencing heart and lung transplantation, LVADs and platelet dysfunction, and right ventricular dysfunction after cardiac surgery.

During the past several decades, Dr. Mangi has earned numerous honors and awards for research advances - including, for three consecutive years, the "Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award" from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the "New Investigator Award" from the American Heart Association. He was also named a Finalist and Winner in the "Young Investigator Award Competition" sponsored by the American College of Cardiology.

He is the author of over 60 papers, book chapters, and review articles; and he has lectured extensively at national and international meetings of his professional peers.

To request an appointment with Dr. Mangi, click here or call 1-800-TEMPLE-MED.

Date Published: Monday, August 24, 2009

back  |  view all news