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Director, Adult Cardiac Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery

Clinical Interests

Director, Adult Cardiac Surgery; Medical Director, UNC Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) program. Adult cardiac and thoracic surgery including heart and lung transplantation and ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation. Special interest in aortic surgery including the ascending, arch pathology, thoracic aorta and aortic root, transcatheter aortic valve surgery, mitral and aortic valvular surgery, minimally invasive approaches to cardiac surgery; video assisted thoracic surgery.

Research Interests

Surgical treatment of the aorta, transcatheter valvular surgery, hybrid coronary revascularization and valvular surgery; therapeutic uses of synthetic cardiac stem cells.

Education and Training

  • Surgical Fellow, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  • Chief Resident in Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
  • Resident, Surgery, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
  • Resident, Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • MD, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV
  • BA, Summa Cum Laude (Major in Biology and Philosophy, Minor in English), West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Board Certification

American Board of Thoracic Surgery

Recent Publications

View Dr. Caranasos’ recent research publications on PubMed.

PATIENT STORIES

A Cough Leads to the Discovery of a Thoracic Aneurysm  | September 4, 2020

In July 2013, 60-year-old Cynthia Stingone, had a persistent cold and cough. Doctors performed testing and what they found would send Cindy on a medical journey spanning hundreds of miles and involving multiple surgeries to repair her extensive Aortic Aneurysm. Read more about Cynthia’s story.

Love Creates a Miracle | February 6, 2019

Hours after landing in Taipei, Taiwan, Qing Zhang, Associate Professor at UNC got a call no one ever wants to get. His wife was in the hospital; she had gone into cardiac arrest. Read Qing’s first-person account of his race across the world to get to his wife’s side and how their love created a miracle. Read more about Qing’s story.