Dr. Tom C. Nguyen is a native Houstonian and graduate of Rice University. He later earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his general surgery residency at Stanford University where he spent three years in Dr. Craig Miller’s animal laboratory. He completed his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian and an advanced structural heart fellowship at Emory University. He now returns back to the medical center and is glad to call Houston home. Dr. Nguyen is passionate about performing complex operations through the least invasive approach. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and has volunteered as a surgeon in Africa. Dr. Nguyen is the Director of Minimally Invasive Valve surgery and Associate Program Director for the cardiothoracic surgery training program. His research interests encompass TAVR, valvular heart disease, and surgical simulation/education with prior grants from the NIH, TSFRE, and AHA. Dr. Nguyen regularly presents at national/international meetings and has received numerous research and teaching awards. He was the past President of the TSRA, resident editor of CTSNet, and member of the ACGME/RRC. Additionally, he is the editor several surgical textbooks. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and volunteered as a surgeon in Africa (Asmara, Eritrea) for six weeks. Recently, he was a recipient of the Houston Business Journal’s top 40 under 40 award.