R. J. CUSIMANO 
M.D., F.R.C.S.C

Professor

R. J. CUSIMANO

Dr. Robert James “RJ” Cusimano is a Cardiac Surgeon at The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the Toronto General Hospital and a Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. A native of Toronto and the third of eight children, He earned his medical degree from the University of Calgary in 1983, interned in the Atlantic Canadian provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), before completing his Residency in General Surgery, and Cardiac Surgery at the University of Toronto. During his General Surgical residency, he obtained a Master of Science degree from the Institute of Medical Science, Surgical Scientist Programme of the University of Toronto.  His Thesis was in the area of myocardial protection during cardiac operations.  He became a staff surgeon at the Toronto General Hospital in 1993 – the first Canadian of Italian heritage to achieve this status.

In 2006, Dr. Cusimano was invited to teach cardiac surgery at Xingxiang Medical University in China --- becoming the first non-Chinese physician to do so. The surgical procedure was televised to 100 million people in China. Over the next few years, he taught and worked on educational and programme development in many Chinese centres and was awarded an honorary degree from Xingxiang University for his work.                             

Dr. Cusimano is the inaugural holder of the Cynamon Professorship in Cardiovascular Innovation and Education at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. In addition to his clinical duties, he has been deeply interested in education. He was the programme director of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Toronto and at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, helped in the development and implementation of the Competency based curriculum now in existence in Canada. He has taught both within the University, Canada and internationally, having either taught or helped in programme development in China, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Europe and the US. In 2016 he conceived and held the first Toronto Cardiac Tumour Conference, which brings the world's experts in the field of cardiac tumours on a yearly basis. The Toronto Cardiac Tumour Conference was created to share knowledge and best practices about the diagnosis, treatment and management of these little-known, benign or malignant tumours of the heart, an increasingly common heart condition, which can at times be fatal. Recently, he conceived and has been working on the INTERACT project (INTernational Registry to Assess Cardiac Tumours), a global initiative to capture all cardiac tumours in the world. This is a multi-national, multidisciplinary endeavor which will bring centres around the world together to try to improve care and outcome in these very rare tumours. Recently he was in Africa to help develop a plan to harmonize interaction on the continent. Eventually he would like to develop a subspecialty of cardiac surgery in the area of cardiac tumours.

Dr. Cusimano is the longest-serving member of Toronto General Hospital’s heart transplant team, a position he has held since 1993. As such, he has performed more heart transplants than any other adult surgeon in Toronto. He is a recognized specialist in insertion, modification and removal of cardiac rhythm management devices. He is also an active member of the Ventricular Assist Program at the Toronto General Hospital, focused on providing heart disease patients with cardiac-assist device, or mechanical heart technology, like the Left Ventricular Assist Device or LVAD.  He is a member of the Transcatheter Valve therapy team.

Dr. Cusimano is married with two children. His wife is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.  He is passionate about photography, technology, travel and history.

  • CLINICAL INTEREST

    Adult Cardiac Surgery, TAVI, Transplant and Surgery for heart failure, Cardiac rhythm device insertion and extraction, Surgery for Cardiac Tumours

  • RESEARCH INTEREST

    Cardiac Tumours

  • EDUCATION AND TRAINING

    University of Toronto BSc 1980

    University of Calgary MD 1983

    University of Toronto MSc 1990

    Fellow Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada-1992

    Fellow American College of Surgeons 1992

  • ACTIVITIES/HONOURS/AWARDS

    Cynamon Professorship in Surgical  Innovation and Education

    Toronto Cardiac Tumour Conference  ( https://www.cpd.utoronto.ca/cardiactumours/ ) :  Principal

    INTERACT (International Registry to Assess Cardiac Tumours) Registry  :  Principal

    • 2006 Honourary Degree, Xingxiang Medical College. (Distinction)
    • 2007 Ordine al Merito Award, National Congress of Italian Canadians. (Distinction)
    • 2021 Lynda L. Mickleborough Award for Excellence in Cardiac Surgery Teaching, Universty of Toronto (postgraduate MD)
    • 2016 Lynda L. Mickleborough Award for Excellence in Cardiac Surgery Teaching, University of Toronto (Postgraduate MD)
    • 2012 Wightman-Berris Teaching Award, University of Toronto. (Postgraduate MD, Core Program)
    • 2007 Wightman-Berris Teaching Award, University of Toronto. (Postgraduate MD)
    • 2003 Wightman Berris Teaching Award
    • 1996 W H Anderson Teaching Award
    • 1993 W H Anderson Teaching Award
    • 1992 W H Anderson Teaching Award
    • 1988 A W Harrison Teaching award
  • PUBLICATIONS

    • Yanagawa B, Mazine A, Chan EY, Barker CM, Gritti M, Reul RM, Ravi V, Ibarra S, Shapira OM, Cusimano RJ, Reardon MJ. Surgery for Tumors of the Heart. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2018 Winter;30(4):385-397. doi:
      10.1053/j.semtcvs.2018.09.001.
    • Rocha RV, Butany J, Cusimano RJ. Adipose tumors of the heart. J Card Surg. 2018 Aug;33(8):432-437. doi: 10.1111/jocs.13763. impact factor 1.4
    • Tam DY, Cusimano RJ. Cardiac paraganglioma. CMAJ. 2017 Jul 31;189(30):E996. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.170067. impact factor 6.8
    • Parry D, Rao V, Butany J, Catrip J, Wilson W, McDonald M, Billia PF, Horlick E, Cusimano RJ. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation and left ventricular assist device: a word of caution. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014 Feb;97(2):e41-2. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2013.09.071. Impact factor 3.8
    • Rocha RV, Yanagawa B, Hussain MA, Tu JV, Fang J, Ouzounian M, Cusimano RJ. Off-Pump versus On-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Renal Failure. J Thoracic Cardiovasc Surg. IN PRESS Impact factor 4.9
  • VIDEO/MEDIA LINKS

  • CONTACT

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    416 340 4928

Contact Us

  • Chair: Dr. Terrence Yau
  • Divisional Program Administraton: Emily Wu

Toronto General Hospital
200 Elizabeth St., 4NU-469
Toronto, On M5G 2C4
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Designed by: Nufuzion Design

Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto © 2020