Chief, ECMO Services

I am a cardiac surgeon at Memorial Healthcare System. I work primarily with patients with end-stage heart diseases, which may be the result of other cardiac problems such as coronary artery disease, valvular disease, autoimmune process, infections and other conditions.

Some of my adult patients have serious heart failure that is the result of congenital heart diseases. Others have already had a prior heart transplant and now need a second heart. I also perform cardiac procedures to implant artificial heart pumps to help patients recover from their heart failure and get them to a heart transplant.

When I meet a patient for the first time, they are often quite ill. I spend all the time necessary with them to hear about their challenges and answer all of their questions.

My favorite part of my work is witnessing patients who were once gravely ill get better. It's truly magical to see their recovery and help them to be able to resume the lives they once had.

Sometimes, because of the severity of an illness, patients may not recover as we would hope. Even in these cases, I believe we provide comfort to the families, who know that every measure was tried and every option considered. Patient and family happiness is easy when everything is successful. Achieving this satisfaction when the outcomes are not as planned is a completely different, and yet, a true measure of the success of our care.

In addition to providing patient care, I also write, publish and lecture about cardiac surgery and transplantation. I serve on the editorial board for Annals of Translational Medicine, and am a reviewer for Annals of Thoracic Surgery and Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Innovations, and the International Journal of Artificial Organs.

Hospital Affiliations

• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
• Memorial Hospital Miramar
• Memorial Hospital Pembroke
• Memorial Hospital West
• Memorial Regional Hospital

Gender

• Male

Languages

• Chinese

Education

Case Western Reserve School Of Medicine, 1997

Internships

University Of Pittsburgh, 1998, Surgery

Residency

University Of Pittsburgh, 2004, Surgery

Fellowships

University of Michigan Health System, 2006, Thoracic Surgery
Washington University School Of Medicine, 2007, Thoracic Surgery

Certifications

American Board of Thoracic Surgery-Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Publications

Please view Dr. I-wen Wang’s publications on PubMed. 

Research

Clinical research helps us to continually improve the care we can deliver to our patients. My current research interests span the range of clinical trials of new ventricular assist devices, anticoagulation protocols, to new donor heart preservation methods. 

Prior to joining Memorial, I had a translational science lab looking at the roles of stem cells in heart transplant and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).

Recent research projects include:

• Principal Investigator, Indiana University Health, Cardiothoracic Transplant Translational Research Laboratory. 2016 – 2019.
• Co-Investigator, Indiana University Health, In-Vascular analysis of optimal left ventricular assist device outflow graft placement. 2017 – 2019.
• Study Steering Committee, Clinical Events Committee, Co-Investigator, Indiana University Health, Phase 2 Study of Macitentan in Pulmonary Hypertension Post Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation (SOPRANO). 2015 – now.
• Principal Investigator, Indiana University Health, Syncardia 50cc TAH-t for Bridge to Transplant. 2015 – now.
• Co-Investigator, Indiana University Health, Gilead Protocol GS-US-218-1797. A phase 2B, randomized, controlled trial evaluating GS-5806 in lung transplant recipients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. 2015 – now.
• Principal Investigator, Indiana University Health, HeartMate-III Investigational Device Exemption Clinical Study. 2015 – now
• Co-Investigator, Indiana University Health, HW-006 HeartWare HVAD Lateral Study.
• Principal Investigator, Indiana University Health, International Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of the Portable Organ Care System (OCS) Heart for Preserving and Assessing Expanded Criteria Donor Hearts for Transplantation. (PROCEED EXPAND Heart Trial).
• Co-Investigator, Indiana University Health, Bivalrudin Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) funding.
• Principal Investigator, Indiana University Health, Prospective, International, Multi-Center, Randomized Clinical Investigation of TransMedics Organ Care System (OCS LUNG) for Lung Preservation and Transplantation.

Professional Organizations

• Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society
• American Society for Artificial Internal Organs
• American College of Surgeons
• The John Alexander Society
• Heart Failure Society of America
• American Heart Association
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons
• American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Presentations

• Advances in Left Ventricular Assist Devices. Department of Cardiac Surgery Grand Rounds. Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. 16 November 2018.  Shanghai, China
• Refractory cardiogenic shock - do we still need a surgeon. 29th Annual ELSO Conference. 14-16 September 2018.  Scottsdale, AZ.
• Ambulatory VV- and VA-ECMO. 5th Wuhan International Conference of Cardiovascular Disease. 23-24 June 2018. Wuhan, China.
• Cardiac transplantation for ischemic cardiomyopathy. Forum of Internventional & Surgical Therapy for Coronary Artery Disease and Aortic Disease. Nanjing First Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University. Nanjing Heart Hospital. Nanjing, China. 16 June 2018.
• Bivalirudin as the primary anticoagulant: a reasonable option. 33rd Annual Children’s National Symposium: ECMO & the Advanced Therapies for Respiratory Failure. 26 February – 2 March 2017. Keystone, Colorado.
• Precision guided management of advance heart failure with devices and biomarkers. Grand Rounds. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. Huaxi Hospital of Szechuan University. 25 October 2016. Chengdu, China.
• Identifying and fulfilling patient needs: International scholar training program. 2016 Zhejiang International Health Industry Expo. 20-22 October 2016. Hangzhou, China.
• Current state and future promise in heart transplantation. 2016 6 Provinces and 1 City Cardiovascular Conference. 23-25 September 2016. Nanjing, China.
• ECMO as bridge to left ventricular assist device and heart transplantation. 27th Annual ELSO Conference. 15 - 18 September 2016. San Diego, CA.
• Progressive evolution of pump efficiency from pulsatile to continuous flow left ventricular assist devices. 2016 Annual Conference of the Asia-Pacific Society for Artificial Organs. 27 August 2016. Tianjin, China.

Awards

• Ella Weiss Foundation Academic Scholarship (1982 – 1986)
• Macromolecular Science & Engineering Departmental Scholarship, Case Western Reserve University School of Engineering (1982 – 1986)
• Society for Biomaterials Best Student Research Award – Doctoral Candidate Category (1993)
• American Society for Artificial Internal Organs Travel Fellowship (1995)
• Harry Resnick Memorial Fund Award - Medical Student with Unusual Achievements (1997)
• 1st Place, American College of Surgeons Southwestern PA Chapter Residents Papers (2002)