DR PRAVEEN VARMA

Dr Praveen Varma is Professor and Head of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi, India. He has held this position since September 2014. Previously, he was Additional Professor at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Trivandrum, and completed clinical and fellowship training in cardiothoracic surgery at Boston Medical Center, Boston University, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, USA.

His professional interests include mitral valve repair, ischaemic mitral regurgitation, heart failure and transplantation, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, outcomes research, translational research, database development, and resident education.

At Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Varma has established clinical programmes focused on mitral valve repair, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, heart transplantation, aortic diseases and Marfan syndrome, and infective endocarditis.

Dr Varma serves as a reviewer for numerous cardiothoracic, cardiology and biomaterials journals and is an external expert reviewer for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India. He is also an Associate Editor of the Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Cardiothoracic Surgeon, and the Journal of Cardiac Surgery.

His research activities include leadership roles in national and international clinical trials, translational research projects, and cardiovascular device studies. He has contributed to the development of vascular grafts and haemostatic technologies and is named on multiple patents. Dr Varma has authored 143 publications, supervised doctoral research students, and organised 23 workshops and seminars.