Afshin Ehsan, MD, is a cardiothoracic surgeon, director of minimally invasive cardiac surgery and co-director of quality at the Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute. He is an associate professor of surgery at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He has an academic background in cardiovascular gene and cell based therapies. Specifically, Dr. Ehsan has examined the use of decoy oligonucleotides in vein grafts as a means of prolonging graft patency. He has also examined the role of nuclear hormone receptors and their role in vein graft pathobiology. Additionally, Dr. Ehsan participates in clinical outcomes research related to the effect of blood transfusions on patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures. He also has an interest in examining disparities in access to care for patients receiving cardiac surgical therapies. These efforts have resulted in numerous peer reviewed publications.

Dr. Ehsan earned his medical degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, and completed his residency and post doctoral training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He previously served as surgical director of the heart failure and transplant program and director of the cardiothoracic surgery intensive care unit at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, Society of University Surgeons, Association for Academic Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and the America Heart Association.