Michael L. Dewar, MD

Michael Dewar, MD, is a cardiac surgeon who specializes in aortic valve surgery, minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery and mitral valve repair surgery.

He is director of international cardiac surgical outreach at the Yale New Haven Hospital Heart & Vascular Center; and president of the Almazov Foundation of North America. In these roles, he helps coordinate and participates in an exchange program aimed at training cardiac specialists in northwest Russia. Under the program, about five Russian doctors come to Yale New Haven Hospital each year for training fellowships. Then cardiologists from the United States travel to Russia to work with the same physicians in their hospitals, performing complex surgeries.

The goal on both continents is to educate Russian specialists so that they can provide much needed services that people in their country might not have access to otherwise. Northwest Russia, with a population of 14 million, has the same number of cardiac surgeons as New Haven County, which has a population of about 800,000.

Dr. Dewar, who is an assistant professor of surgery (cardiac surgery) has been involved in such missions since 1995.