Faculty Expert Profile

Robert Higgins is the surgeon-in-chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is a leading authority in heart and lung transplantation, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and mechanical circulatory support. His scientific interests are broad and far-ranging, including the mechanisms of cell injury in failing hearts, health economics and policy, racial disparities in post-transplant outcomes, access to care and improving outcomes among heart failure, and cardiac surgery patients.

Higgins served as a senior registrar in transplantation at the renowned Papworth Hospital, the United Kingdom's largest cardiothoracic surgical program and its main heart-lung transplant center. He also served as a major in the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps.

Higgins has held leadership positions at various organizations, including president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, president of the United Network for Organ Sharing, president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and president and founding member of the Association of Black Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons. He has also been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation by the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He has authored more than 140 scientific articles and 13 book chapters.