Clinical Research in Cardiothoracic Surgery

Dr. Smith is the principal investigator for the Duke site in the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN), and in recent years has focused his research efforts in clinical research.

Duke is one of only ten Core Clinical sites in the United States that participate in the CTSN, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The CTSN is a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-sponsored network developed to promote clinical research in cardiothoracic surgery, and has been continuously funded since 2006.

Duke has also been funded as a Clinical Skills Education Core whose mission is to formally develop surgical clinical trials and promote clinical research capacity within this specialty. This funding supports mentorship and tuition in the pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Clinical Research, primarily through a linkage to the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and their Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP). To date, over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts have resulted from this work.

Visit the Clinical Research Training Program page for additional information on these programs. 

Degree recipients sponsored by this program include the following:

• Mark Berry, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center
• Matthew Hartwig, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Duke Department of Surgery
• Cyrus Parsa, MD, Harbin Clinic Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Betty Tong, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Duke Department of Surgery
• Judson Williams, MD, WakeMed Heart & Vascular – Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery
• Morgan Cox, MD, General Surgery Resident, Duke Department of Surgery
• Brian Englum, MD, General Surgery Resident, Duke Department of Surgery
• Brian Gulack, MD, General Surgery Resident, Duke Department of Surgery
• James Meza, MD, Fellow, Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society
• Alice Wang, MD, General Surgery Resident, Duke Department of Surgery
• Babatunde Yerokun, MD, General Surgery Resident, Duke Department of Surgery