Dr. Bridges is Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital. His clinical interests include all aspects of adult cardiac surgery with particular interest in total arterial, minimally invasive and beating heart coronary artery bypass surgery, minimally invasive valve procedures, mitral valve repair, complex aortic surgery including aortic root surgery, ascending and aortic arch aneurysms and the treatment of end-stage heart disease. He is internationally recognized for his work in “transfusion-free” or “bloodless” cardiac surgery, performing complex cardiac surgical procedures without the transfusion of blood or blood products. As the Chairman of the Workforce on Evidence Based Surgery for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, he directs efforts nationally to develop clinical practice guidelines for adult cardiac and general thoracic surgery. His research interests include the development of theoretical and mathematical models of cardiac function, magnetic resonance imaging of the heart for the definition of cardiac mechanics and measurement of regional myocardial blood flow. The recipient of a 3 million dollar R01 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, his research group has developed a platform technology, called “molecular cardiac surgery with recirculating delivery” (MCARDTM), the most efficient experimental methodology available for vector mediated gene delivery to the hearts of large animals. The MCARDTM technique has been applied successfully in ovine experimental of models of heart failure and may ultimately lead to new minimally invasive surgical treatments for heart failure in patients.