Justin C. Chan, MD

My mother was a nurse, and I became familiar with medicine at a young age. I decided I wanted to use science to help people, so I went to medical school. The first time I saw heart surgery, I fell in love with the specialty. I was amazed to see cardiac surgeons open a person’s chest, stop the heart, perform a delicate operation, and then restart the heart. Lung transplants are also miraculous. It is exciting to place new lungs in a person’s body and watch them fill with air.

I chose to specialize in cardiothoracic and transplant surgery because while many patients are desperately ill, they can still make remarkable recoveries and live fulfilling lives.

I care for patients who have a variety of heart and lung conditions, including coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, and lung cancer. At NYU Langone’s CTEPH Program, I specialize in treating people who have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, a life-threatening condition that occurs when a blood clot creates scarring in the lungs, blocking the arteries. This leads to high blood pressure in the lungs and, eventually, heart failure.

To manage this condition, I perform pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, a specialized procedure that involves cooling the body, stopping blood flow, removing blood clots in the lungs, and repairing scarred blood vessels. I am one of the only surgeons in New York City who performs this procedure.

I also perform lung transplants for people who have conditions that include pulmonary fibrosis, which is scarring in the lungs, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, cystic fibrosis, and COVID-19.

When a patient needs a lung transplant but is too sick to wait at home, I can place them on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which replaces heart and lung function. I also use ECMO to help patients recover from a severe lung infection, such as pneumonia or COVID-19. At the height of the pandemic, my team and I placed up to five people with COVID-19 on ECMO per day.

My colleagues and I offer a multidisciplinary approach to lung transplantation. Our team includes surgeons, pulmonologists, intensive care specialists, physical therapists, social workers, pharmacists, and nurses. Our patients spend the shortest amount of time on the lung wait list compared with patients at other hospitals in New York State. We use the latest technology to help ensure the best possible outcomes.

Every person’s condition is unique, so I work with them and their family to determine if they are eligible for a lung transplant. Although some patients are desperately ill, others can wait. In some cases, their health needs to improve before they can have a transplant.

I enjoy watching patients get better quickly. When we give them a new lung, their health can turn around in a matter of days.

My research focuses on developing a technique to reduce discomfort after a lung transplant. I am also studying ways to speed recovery and improve safety and quality outcomes after heart and lung surgery.

I received the Margorie Hooper Scholarship from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, which allowed me to travel to Canada for fellowships in cardiothoracic surgery and lung transplant surgery. In addition, I received several research awards, including the Dr. Roneal Naidu Memorial Prize for Impactful Surgical Research at the University of Adelaide, in Australia.