Timothy J. Gardner, M.D., a nationally noted heart surgeon and leader in
cardiovascular medicine, is medical director of Christiana Care’s Center for
Heart & Vascular Health.
Dr. Gardner joined Christiana Care in 2005 to oversee final phases of
construction of the state-of-the-science Center for Heart & Vascular Health
in the Bank of America Pavilion on the Christiana Hospital campus. Under his
leadership, Christiana Care continues to be recognized as a regional center of
excellence in cardiovascular medicine where patients receive comprehensive, high
quality care. Dr. Gardner oversees a team of expert cardiologists, cardiac and
vascular surgeons and subspecialists who offer patient-centered care using the
most advanced treatment options and therapies available, including a new acute
stroke treatment program, providing advanced interventional treatment for stroke
victims.
Dr. Gardner is immediate past president of the American Heart Association
(AHA). As president during the 2008-09 fiscal year, Dr. Gardner served as the
AHA’s chief volunteer science and medical officer, responsible for medical,
scientific and public health matters. He is a member of the AHA’s Science
Advisory and Coordinating Committee and national board of directors. He served
as chair of the AHA’S Annual Scientific Sessions in 2004 and 2005. He has been
an AHA volunteer for more than 25 years.
From 1999-2002, he served as a councillor, vice president, then president of
the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He was a director of the American
Board of Thoracic Surgery for 10 years and served as the board’s chair and vice
chair from 2001-2005.
Dr. Gardner was chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery for the
University of Pennsylvania Health System from 1993-2003. He is a clinical
professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and a former
William M. Measey Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine. He was a cardiac surgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
from 1976-1993. He joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in
1976 and was appointed professor of surgery in 1986. Dr. Gardner mentored 26
surgery residents and research fellows between 1977 and 2003.
He has lectured extensively both nationally and abroad and he is the author
of nearly 200 scientific papers and has edited or contributed to many texts on
cardiac surgery. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Medical School and
received his postgraduate training in surgery at Johns Hopkins, with a final
period of training in cardiac surgery in Auckland, New Zealand. He was a major
in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, serving in the U.S. Army Hospital in Bangkok,
Thailand, from 1968 to 1970.
