The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute Congratulates Five Faculty Members on Their Induction to the AATS

The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute is proud to announce that five of our faculty members were inducted into The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) this year. The AATS is an organization dedicated to the advancement of the field of cardiothoracic surgery. Inducted members are physicians who have made significant contributions to the care and treatment of cardiothoracic disease worldwide.

We congratulate Francis D. Ferdinand, MD; Johannes Bonatti, MD; Rajeev Dhupar, MD; Luciana Da Fonseca Da Silva, MD; and Ryan Levy, MD, on their induction.

About the Physicians

Francis D. Ferdinand, MD, FACS, FACC, received his medical degree from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. He then completed a residency in general surgery at the Medical College of Pennsylvania followed by a residency in thoracic surgery and research fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Ferdinand joined UPMC in 2018 as the Director of Cardiac Surgery at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute at UPMC Hamot and is a professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery. His clinical practice includes all aspects of cardiac surgery, with a special interest in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), beating heart (off pump) surgical revascularization, and minimally invasive valve surgery.

Johannes Bonatti, MD, received his medical at Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck, Austria. Following this, he completed a residency in general surgery at Innsbruck University Hospital and a cardiac surgery residency at Innsbruck Medical University.

Dr. Bonatti is internationally recognized for his expertise in robotic-assisted cardiac surgery, performing the world’s first successful robotic totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting procedure. Dr. Bonatti’s clinical interests include minimally invasive cardiac surgery, robotic cardiac surgery, and vascular biology of coronary artery bypass grafts.

Rajeev Dhupar, MD, MBA, FACS, earned his medical degree at UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. He then completed a general surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh followed by cardiothoracic surgery training at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and a Minimally Invasive Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.

Since joining UPMC in 2014, Dr. Dhupar has served as Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the Veteran’s Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System and is currently the Assistant Vice President for Research and Education. His research interests include the immune environment of malignant pleural effusions as well as toxic respiratory exposures and lung cancer susceptibility.

His clinical interests include all aspects of thoracic oncology and general thoracic surgery with a focus on robotic surgical systems and robotic bronchoscopy. In addition to the AATS, he is also a member of SUS, AVAS, STS, and ACS.

Luciana Da Fonseca Da Silva, MD, received her medical degree at Federal University of Juiz de Fora in Brazil. She then pursued specialized training in cardiothoracic surgery and congenital heart surgery at Beneficencia Portuguesa Hospital of Sao Paolo in Brazil before joining the Heart Institute team at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Dr. Da Fonseca Da Silva’s clinical interests include minimally invasive congenital heart surgery and Ebstein’s anomaly surgical repair.

Dr. Da Fonseca Da Silva is an internationally recognized expert in performing the Cone procedure for Ebstein’s anomaly in both children and adults, with many publications on this subject. She also specializes in minimally invasive procedures and notably developed the horizontal right axillary thoracotomy approach to repair congenital heart defects.

Dr. Da Fonseca Da Silva, alongside her surgical partner and co-faculty member Dr. José Da Silva, direct the world’s premier center for treatment of Ebstein’s anomaly, the Da Silva Center for Ebstein’s Anomaly at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Patients travel across the world to receive care at the center in Pittsburgh.

Ryan Levy, MD, earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He then completed residencies in both general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at UPMC. Dr. Levy also completed a fellowship in minimally invasive thoracic surgery at UPMC.

Dr. Levy’s clinical interests include minimally invasive esophageal surgery, minimally invasive lung surgery, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and paraesophageal and diaphragm hernias. In 2023, Dr. Levy was appointed Chief of the Division of Thoracic and Foregut Surgery in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UPMC.