James L. Cox, MD
Dr. Cox was trained and served on the faculty at Duke University, Durham, NC, but spent the majority of his career as the first Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery, Vice-Chairman of the Department of Surgery, and Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he recruited faculty that ultimately included 6 AATS Presidents, 2 STS Presidents, and the Director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He has trained many prominent surgeons in America, Europe, and Asia, including 34 Residents or Clinical Fellows who became full Professors of Surgery, 30 of whom became Chiefs of Cardiac and/or Thoracic Surgery at their respective institutions. Dr. Cox has served as the Visiting Professor, Featured Lecturer, or Guest Operating Surgeon over 700 times and in some 30 countries. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles and over 400 scientific abstracts and holds some 35 patents on medical devices.
Dr. Cox was the 81st President of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), Chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Thoracic Surgery, a Director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, a member of the Surgical Study Section at the National Institutes of Health, a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of CTSNet, Editor-in-Chief of two AATS journals, and a member of the Editorial Board of over 20 scientific journals. Dr. Cox is best known for his work in the field of cardiac arrhythmia surgery and the development of the Cox-Maze Procedure for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. He is the only surgeon ever to receive the Distinguished Scientist Awards from the AATS, the STS, and the HRS, and is the only American cardiac surgeon in the Russian Academy of Science. In 2000, Dr. Cox was designated by the University of Paris as the youngest of only 29 “Pioneers” in the first half-century of the specialty of Cardiothoracic Surgery (1950-2000). Dr. Cox is the 2020 recipient of the Jacobson Innovation Award from the 124-year-old, 82,000-member, American College of Surgeons, their highest scientific honor, which has been awarded to only two other cardiac surgeons.
Dr. Cox is currently Professor of Surgery and Surgical Director of the Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders at Northwestern University in Chicago, a Senior Consultant to four medical device companies, and a member of the Board of Directors of three companies.