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Biography
Dr. Imam grew up in Mumbai, India. At 17 years of age, he was admitted to medical school, finished first in the graduating class in surgery orals, and was also awarded a scholarship for surgery during his final year.
He came to the US in 1991 as a research fellow at the University of Colorado. His areas of research included Hepatitis C, Alzheimer’s disease and brain tumors.
He then went to New York for his general surgery training where he received the Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Achievements in Surgical Education. Thereafter he went to Boston for his cardiothoracic surgery training at Tufts Medical Center. Throughout his residency his examination scores were in the 99th percentile compared to all the trainees in the US.
In 1999 he joined one of the former faculty members from Boston in Tennessee where he practiced for 5 years. In 2006, he settled in Lexington, KY where he was Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Director of the Heart Valve Center at Baptist Health Lexington.
In 2016, he joined Northwell Health as the Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Executive Director of The Heart Institute at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. Under his leadership, SIUH was awarded the highest STS (Society of Thoracic Surgeons) 3-Star rating in just two years for Coronary Bypass and Mitral Valve Surgery. He and his team have maintained this prestigious rating since.
In 2022, he joined NYU Langone Health as the Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU Long Island School of Medicine.
His areas of expertise include coronary bypass grafting, minimally invasive valve surgery, TAVR (replacing valves from the groin), surgery for irregular rhythm, mitral valve repairs, minimally invasive aneurysm repair, lung cancer surgery, and complex high-risk heart surgery.
After upwards of 5,000 surgeries, his mortality and infection rates have consistently been one of the best in the country at under 0.1%. Only 1 case in the last 1,000 has resulted in mortality. He has received numerous awards including Vitals Favorite Physicians, Patients' Choice Award, Compassionate Doctor, Castle Connolly's Top Doctors, and New York Magazine's Top Doctors awards for several years in a row.
Dr. Imam was one of 10 cardiothoracic surgeons in the nation who were awarded the Alley-Sheridan Scholarship in 2016 for Health Policy and Leadership by the Thoracic Surgery Foundation.
In his most recent Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) report—the organization which represents all heart surgeons in the country—his outcomes rank him among the best surgeons in the United States.
Dr. Imam states, “I have always tried to be on the leading edge of medicine, but I vow never to compromise patient safety and comfort."
Dedicated to care.
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