Lifestyle Medicine Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD

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Get to know Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Yoshifumi Naka, who serves patients in New York City, New York.

Dr. Naka is an internationally known cardiothoracic surgeon and a pioneer in mechanical assist therapy for heart failure. He is the Director of the Cardiac Transplantation Program and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, New York. Under his leadership, Columbia University Medical Center’s Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support Programs have earned international recognition for their contributions in developing and testing new cardiac devices and in training cardiothoracic surgeons around the world. Columbia’s heart transplant program is the largest U.S. heart transplant program by volume.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, affiliated with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world. Providing emergency, primary, and specialty care in virtually every field of medicine, the 738-bed Medical Center offers a number of distinguished programs. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia is internationally renowned for its cardiac programs – offering the latest interventional therapies and pioneering cardiac surgery expertise, including heart transplant. Dr. Naka is also an Associate Professor of Surgery at Columbia University.

Dr. Naka’s clinical specialties include adult cardiac surgery for coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, heart transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support device implantation. His research has focused on cardiac and pulmonary transplantation, organ preservation, surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation, vein graft disease after bypass surgery, and outcomes of clinical mechanical circulatory support device surgery and heart transplantation. He has also been a lead investigator in several clinical trials, paving the way in the research and innovation of new approaches to mechanical circulatory assistance, including the use of these devices as destination therapy for patients with advanced heart failure.

Dr. Naka earned his medical and post-doctoral degrees at the Osaka University Medical School in Japan. Upon his arrival at Columbia University in 1993, he began his specialization in cardiac and pulmonary transplantation in research efforts. He finished his training in 1998, having completed a research fellowship in cardiac and pulmonary transplantation and a visiting clinical fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery. Thereafter, he joined the cardiac surgery faculty of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.  

Dr. Naka remains at the top of his field through his membership with the Society of University Surgeons, the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, the New York Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the American Heart Association. Dr. Naka believes that he has been successful due to the supportive environment at Columbia University, his incredible mentors, and his commitment to remaining consistent and focused. Dr. Naka has received several awards and honors throughout his career, including New York Magazine’s Top Doctors from 2005 to present and the Socrates Award in 2016, to name a few.

Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thorax —generally treatment of conditions of the heart and lungs. A cardiothoracic surgeon, like Dr. Naka, is trained to perform surgery on the heart, lungs, esophagus, blood vessels, and other organs in the thoracic cavity. These medical professionals conduct tests on patients to determine whether they have any conditions within the heart or vessels that need treatment.

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