Personal History
Dr Kendra Grubb is the surgical director of the structural heart and valve center at Emory Healthcare. She is also an associate professor of surgery at Emory University School of Medicine.
Kendra is a champion for women's heart disease and is dedicated to improving the lives of all patients through innovation, collaboration and a patient-centered approach to the treatment of cardiovascular disease.
Academic History
After obtaining her BS in Biology from the University of Southern California (1999), Kendra attended the University of Southern California, where she received her a master’s in health administration from the Sol Price School of Public Policy (2001), followed by an MD degree at the Keck School of Medicine (2005).
She pursued a general surgery residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago between 2005 and 2010, a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville between 2010 and 2012, then a fellowship in interventional cardiology and transcatheter therapies at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center from 2012 to 2013.
Her clinical interests include valve repair or replacement, coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and hybrid coronary revascularization.
Career Overview
Kendra is currently the surgical director of the Emory Structural Heart and Valve Center. Prior to joining Emory, she was the director of minimally invasive cardiac surgery and the surgical director of the heart valve program at the University of Louisville.
Kendra’s research interests are innovative cardiac surgery technologies. She has led and participated in multiple clinical trials of innovative cardiac surgery technologies, including studies of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), MitraClip percutaneous therapy and the GORE® conformable TAG® thoracic endoprosthesis for the primary treatment of aneurysms of the descending thoracic aorta.
Career Timeline
- 2018 - Present: Surgical Director, Structural Heart and Valve Center, Emory Healthcare
- 2018 - Present: Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine
- Previous: University of Louisville
- Director, Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
- Assistant Professor, Cardiac Surgery
Areas of Speciality
- Adult Cardiovascular Surgery
- Hybrid Revascularization
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)
- Valvular heart disease
Recognitions
- 2016: Louisville Business First, Forty Under 40
- 2016: Teacher of the Year, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, University of Louisville
- 2015: Healthcare Innovations Award, Kentucky Life Sciences Council, MediStar Awards
- 2015: Olga Jonasson Honored Alumnus, University of Illinois
- 2014: Leadership Academy, American Association for Thoracic Surgery
- 2011: Case Presentation Finalist, Mechanical Circulatory Support in Advanced Heart Failure, Thoratec
- 2010: Thoracic Surgery Directors Association, TSDA Boot Camp Certificate of Achievement
- 2010: Surgery Resident Teacher Award, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago
