Affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

I have been a cardiovascular surgeon for 18 years and have performed approximately 1,400 surgeries as a first operator and over 2,200 surgeries as an assistant. My specialties are open heart surgery and endovascular therapy for all adult cardiac and aortic diseases. The diseases I have treated include aortic aneurysms, aortic dissection, heart valve disease, ischemic heart disease, and cardiomyopathy. In addition to my clinical work, I have been involved in the writing of 30 publications. In particular, while working as a chief research fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, I supervised students and residents, and together we authored many papers. At my current hospital, I continue to focus on clinical care, research, and education, and I have also been elected to serve on the hospital’s medical safety management committee, where I am responsible for these activities.