Albany Medical Center Welcomes Two Cardiothoracic Surgeons
Chikashi Nakai, MD, and Saeed Tarabichi, MD, have joined the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Albany Medical Center, a member of the Albany Med Health System, and have been appointed assistant professors at Albany Medical College.
Both doctors specialize in coronary revascularization (bypass surgery), surgical options to treat valvular diseases of the heart (including TAVR, mitral repair/replacement, and surgical aortic valve replacement), diseases of the thoracic aorta, and surgical options for heart failure.
Dr. Nakai completed an aortic surgery fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a cardiac mechanical support and transplant fellowship at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., and an advanced cardiac surgery fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He completed a clinical fellowship and residency in cardiovascular surgery and postgraduate training at Japanese Red Cross Kobe Hospital in Hyogo, Japan. He received his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine Wakayama Medical University in Wakayama, Japan.
He has authored or coauthored several articles and abstracts that have been published in such prestigious journals as the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Dr. Tarabichi completed a cardiothoracic surgery residency at Rutgers Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, N.J., and a general surgery residency at Rutgers University – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he was chief resident. He also served as a thoracic oncology surgical investigator at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. He received his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
A member of the American College of Surgeons and Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Dr. Tarabichi has published several articles in peer reviewed publications such as the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Journal of Surgical Education. He has a special interest in minimally invasive and robotic heart surgery.
Both surgeons will see patients at Albany Medical Center’s Surgeons Pavilion, 50 New Scotland Ave., Albany. For more information, call 518-262-9777.
Albany Medical Center’s cardiac surgeons perform a wide range of cardiac procedures on patients of all ages. They have led the way in heart care for decades and have performed many of the region's first heart procedures, including the first open heart surgery on an infant.
Albany Medical Center cares for more cardiology patients, performs more cardiovascular and vascular surgeries, and has the largest coronary care unit in the Capital Region.