Dr. Tetsuro Sakai arrived at the University of Pittsburgh in 1999 as a Visiting Instructor within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Prior to joining the university faculty, Dr. Sakai received his M.D. from Kyoto University in Japan in 1989. After completing residencies in both the Department of General Internal Medicine and Surgery and the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, he was appointed as clinical instructor within the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Tenri Hospital in Nara, Japan. Following clinical and research fellowships within the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Toronto, Dr. Sakai joined the University of Pittsburgh as a Visiting Instructor.
In 1999, Dr. Sakai was a finalist for the C. Walton Lillehei Residents' Award from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. In 2001, he was awarded his Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Surgery from Kyoto University in Japan . Since joining the faculty, Dr. Sakai has also been honored with a Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award through the American Heart Association, Mid-Atlantic Research Consortium in 2001. In 2003, he was selected as a recipient of American Medical Association Foundation Seed Grant Research Program.
After spending two years as a visiting instructor at the university, Dr. Sakai served as an intern within the Department of Anesthesiology and a core faculty member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He remains active in both clinical and research aspects of the university and is a member of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery, Japanese Society for Cardiovascular Surgery, Japanese Heart Society and the Japanese Surgical Society. Additionally, through the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Sakai has pursued research within several areas of interest. In particular, he has been featured in several publications for his efforts regarding the implementation of stem cells/tissue engineering graft in the treatment of various cardiovascular disorders. Currently, Dr. Sakai is pursuing research in the following:
- Cell-seeded tissue engineering graft for cardiac defect / cardiomyopathy
- Cell therapy for congestive heart failure using skeletal muscle-derived stem cells
- Cell therapy for sternal wound healing after cardiac surgery
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. Tetsuro SakaiPhone: (412) 647-7243-#7427
Email: sakait@msx.upmc.edu