Cardiac Surgery welcomes new section lead

Clinician-researcher Dr. Bob Kiaii, MD, is the new section lead of Cardiac Surgery for the Calgary Zone.  

A Professor in the Dept. of Cardiac Sciences, Kiaii comes to Calgary from the University of California Davis in Sacramento, California, where he served as chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Kiaii, who formerly led the Minimally Invasive and Robotic Cardiac Surgery Program at the London Health Sciences Centre at Western University in Ontario, is a well-known expert and innovator in his field.

Raised in Vancouver, B.C., Kiaii earned his medical degree at Western University before completing his general surgical residency at the University of Calgary. 

He returned to Western University to complete his cardiac surgery residency and a fellowship in heart transplantation. Finally, Kiaii completed a robotic surgery fellowship in Leipzig, Germany. 

Following his training, Kiaii took on a faculty role at Western University – a position he held for 20 years before moving to UC Davis, where he developed the institute’s minimally invasive and robotics cardiac surgery program. 

He’s excited to be back in Canada where he hopes to further develop Calgary’s already nationally renowned minimally invasive cardiac surgery program. 

Family illness sparks passion for medicine

Kiaii first became interested in pursuing a career in medicine when his father was diagnosed with heart disease and needed bypass surgery while Kiaii was in Grade 12. 

“Being the eldest child in the family, the surgeons spoke with myself and my mother, letting us know there was a 15 per cent chance of my father not surviving the operation,” says Kiaii. “I became very interested in his condition and did a lot of research, which motivated me to pursue medicine and eventually cardiac surgery.” 

Kiaii entered med school knowing he wanted a career in surgery. It was his mentors, and the quickly advancing field of cardiac surgery that motivated him to choose his specialty. 

“I was fortunate to be involved in the evolution of less invasive surgery, and it was an exciting time,” says Kiaii. “My goal was to see if I could make cardiac surgery less invasive to improve patient outcomes.” 

That desire took Kiaii to Germany, where he pursued a fellowship in robotics surgery, which was then in its infancy. He was excited to take the cutting-edge techniques back home to Canada. 

At Western University (WU), Kiaii found himself part of a world-class team. 

“I was fortunate to be surrounded by individuals who believed in what we were doing,” he says. “It was an extremely supportive environment, and we were able to push the envelope, try new techniques and help patients recover more quickly.”

The WU team achieved several world firsts, including the first-ever robotic-assisted left atrial appendage ligation for atrial fibrillation and the first robotic-assisted aortic valve replacement for aortic valve stenosis.

Kiaii has always been driven by a desire to help his patients recover faster after surgery—a motivation that continues to guide his work today. 

Over the years, he has witnessed remarkable progress in this area. Traditionally, patients undergoing open-heart bypass surgery would spend five to seven days in the hospital recovering. Now, thanks to innovations in minimally invasive surgery such as robotic-assisted technique, Dr. Kiaii and his team were able to discharge many patients home two to three days after their heart surgery. 

“That is really rewarding,” says Kiaii. 

Kiaii is excited about the potential of bringing robotics to Calgary’s cardiac surgery group. 

“Computer assisted surgery is the future of surgery,” says Kiaii.  “Robotic surgical systems with high-definition endoscopic cameras and advanced sophisticated imaging systems provide the surgeon the tools that translate to better care and improved recovery.”

Dr. Bob Kiaii is a professor in the Dept. of Cardiac Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine. He is past president of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery and a founding member of Canadian Surgical Advanced Technology and Robotics (CSTAR) of the Lawson Health Research Institute.