Christian Pizarro, MD, Renowned Pediatric Heart Surgeon, Joins Mount Sinai Health System as Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery and Director of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery
Christian Pizarro, MD, an internationally recognized leader in congenital heart surgery and pediatric cardiac care, has joined Mount Sinai Health System as Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery and Director of Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery. He will also serve as Director of Pediatric Heart Transplantation and Co-Director of the Mount Sinai Children’s Heart Center.
In these roles, Dr. Pizarro will expand upon and lead Mount Sinai’s pediatric heart surgery program by providing collaborative and comprehensive care for infants and children with congenital and acquired heart disease. Dr. Pizarro aims to achieve excellent outcomes with a special focus on neonatal surgery, heart transplantation, and complex cardiac repairs, positioning the program to be a competitive and self-sustaining leader within Mount Sinai Health System.
“I am very pleased to join Mount Sinai and I look forward to working with the team to build a comprehensive pediatric cardiac unit, which will include offering new services like valvular and airway reconstruction,” said Dr. Pizarro. “Together with our talented multidisciplinary team, we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in congenital heart surgery, delivering world-leading compassionate care to babies and children across the region and beyond.”
Dr. Pizarro will also serve as Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Pediatrics, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Surgical Director of the Pediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.
Dr. Pizarro brings more than two decades of experience in complex congenital heart surgery and pediatric cardiac care to Mount Sinai. He previously served as Chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery and Cardiac Transplantation at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Delaware, where he achieved excellent clinical outcomes, particularly in neonatal surgery, over two decades.
Dr. Pizarro earned his medical degree from the University of Chile in his native country. He completed his general and cardiothoracic surgery training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, followed by a fellowship in congenital heart surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street in London.
Board certified in both surgery and thoracic surgery, Dr. Pizarro is internationally recognized for his expertise in neonatal cardiac surgery, single-ventricle palliation, complex biventricular repairs, and pediatric heart transplantation. He is a prominent leader and member of multiple professional societies where he has served on various committees, including the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery, and World Society of Pediatric Cardiology and Heart Surgery.
Dr. Pizarro has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and is a widely respected innovator in the surgical treatment of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, Ebstein anomaly, aortic aneurysms following congenital heart surgery, and other complex congenital heart conditions. He is also actively involved in global health, leading surgical missions with Hearts with Hope and serving on the board of Surgeons of Hope.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Pizarro to Mount Sinai,” said Lisa M. Satlin, MD, Chair of the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “He is a highly accomplished surgeon whose depth of experience in congenital heart surgery will be transformative to the care we provide to children and families across our Health System.”
“Dr. Pizarro is a world-leading congenital heart surgeon with a reputation for clinical excellence,” said David H. Adams, MD, Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief of the Mount Sinai Health System and Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Professor and System Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine. “His arrival signals our unwavering commitment to building one of the finest pediatric and congenital heart surgery programs in the nation that will complement the incredible multidisciplinary expertise already here in congenital imaging, intensive care, anesthesia, and intervention.”
Mount Sinai Children’s Heart Center, in partnership with Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, provides advanced, state-of-the-art cardiac care to pediatric patients for all conditions, from the most common disorders to the rarest cases. The team collaborates with colleagues throughout The Mount Sinai Hospital who are ranked No. 2 nationally for Cardiology, Heart, and Vascular Surgery by U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Pizarro began this new role within Mount Sinai Health System on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 10 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2025-2026.
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