The Researchers

Robert D. Dowling, MD

Dr. Robert Dowling, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, is co-principal investigator for the Jewish Hospital/University of Louisville AbioCor research team.

Dr. Dowling received his Bachelor of Sciences degree in Chemistry from Allegheny College where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He completed his M.D., general surgery residency and cardiothoracic residency at the University of Pittsburgh. During his surgical training, Dr. Dowling was twice awarded First Prize in Resident Essay competitions: one from the Pennsylvania Trauma Society and one from the Pennsylvania Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

After joining the faculty and staff at the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital in 1994, Dr. Dowling immediately began to demonstrate his clinical excellence and dedication to remaining at the forefront of surgical treatment options. In 1995, Dr. Dowling performed the first double-lung transplant in Kentucky; he then performed the first ventricular remodeling in Kentucky the following year.

Dr. Dowling is widely recognized as an expert in ventricular remodeling (the "Batista" procedure), transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) and mechanical heart devices. His work on these topics has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Annals of Thoracic

Laman A. Gray, Jr., M.D. (Right) and Robert D.
Dowling, M.D. (Left)

Surgery, the Journal for Cardiothoracic Surgery and the ASAIO Journal. He has also presented related lectures to his peers at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs, the Heart Failure Society of America, the International Conference on Circulatory Support Devices for Severe Cardiac Failure and the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

Dr. Dowling is currently Director of the Heart Transplant and Cardiac Assist Devices Program for The Transplant Center at Jewish Hospital. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Barbara and three children Nicolas, Sean and Tia.