Gary Wayne Raff, M.D.
Co-Chair, Children's Hospital Multidisciplinary Continuous Quality Assurance Committee
Surgical Director, Pediatric Heart Center
Chief, Division of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
Professor of Clinical Surgery
To see if Gary Wayne Raff is accepting new patients, or for assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Department
Locations and Contact
Phone: 916-734-3456
Additional Numbers
Clinic Phone
Clinic Phone
Clinic Fax
Physician Referrals
Philosophy of Care
I provide the type of care for my patients that I expect to have for my own children. My goal is to treat patients in a safe and cost effective way that allows them to grow and thrive.
Clinical Interests
Dr. Raff is a senior pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon with over 20 years of experience. He has had special interest in treating patients with complex congenital heart disease, especially those with complex newborn lesions. Dr. Raff has also been active in developing self sustaining congenital heart surgery programs in other countries including in Russia and Mexico. Dr. Raff also has special expertise in chest wall anomalies and their treatments, both surgical and non-surgical.
Research/Academic Interests
Dr. Raff has had an interest in factors that lead to pulmonary hypertension and the mechanisms of pulmonary hypertension in children with and without congenital heart disease. He has been actively involved in research in this area for almost 20 years. He has a special interest in unusual congenital heart condition and long term neurologic outcomes in patients after congenital heart surgery. Dr. Raff also is keenly interested in using strategies to reduce pain and limit narcotic use. He is a national expert on the use of cryoanalgesia therapy in the thorax.
Division
Cardiac Surgery
Fetal Care and Treatment Center
Pediatric Surgery
Center/Program Affiliation
Cardiovascular Services
Pediatric Heart Center
UC Davis Children's Hospital
Undergraduate School
B.S., State University of New York, Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY 1985
Medical School
M.D., Hahnemann University School of Medicine, Philadelphia PA 1990
Other School
Leadership Development for Physician in Academic Health, Harvard University, New York NY 2018
Other School
Mid-Career Leadership Program, UC Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento CA 2010
Internship
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ 1990-1996
Residency
Thoracic Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ 1996-1998
Residency
Administrative Chief Resident in Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ 1992-1993
Residency
Administrative Chief Resident in Thoracic Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ 1997-1998
Fellowship
Pediatric Cardiac Surgery (Clinical and Research), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA 1998-2000
Fellowship
Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ 1995-1996
Fellowship
Research Fellow in Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ 1992-1993
Faculty Excellence in Medical Student Education, UC Davis Medical Center, 2020
Deans Excellence Award, UC Davis Medical Center, 2010
Winner 1994 Resident's Trauma Paper Competition (New Jersey Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons), 1994
Letter of Recognition, Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps., 1985
Service Citation, Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps., 1985
Dean's List - State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
Zhu T, Chiacchia S, Kameny RJ, Garcia De Herreros A, Gong W, Raff GW, Boehme JB, Maltepe E, Lasheras JC, Black SM, Datar SA, Fineman JR. Mechanical Forces Alter endothelin-1 Signaling: Comparative Ovine Models of Congenital Heart Disease. Pulm Circ. 2020 May 14;10(2):2045894020922118. doi:10.1177/2045894020922118. eCollection 2020 Apr-Jun. PMID:32489641.
Guenther TM, Sherazee EA, Wisneski AD, Gustafson JD, Wozniak CJ, Raff GW. Anomalous Origin of the Right Coronary Artery From the Pulmonary Artery: A Systematic Review. Ann Thorac Surg. 2020 Mar 7:S0003-4975(20)30352-0. doi:0.1016/j.athoracsur.2020.01.082. Online ahead of print. PMID:32156586.
Guenther T, Godoy L, Chen S, Yeh J, Raff G. Left Ventricle to Right Atrial Shunt Associated with Ventricular-Atrial Malalignment, Double Outlet Right Atrium, and Subaortic Membrane. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020 Spring;32(1):140-142. doi:10.1053/j.semtcvs.2019.09.004. Epub 2019 Sep 11. PMID:31520731.
Johnson Kameny R, Datar SA, Boehme JB, Morris C, Zhu T, Goudy BD, Johnson EG, Galambos C, Raff GW, Sun X, Wang T, Chiacchia SR, Lu Q, Black SM, Maltepe E, Fineman JR. Ovine Models of Congenital Heart Disease and the Consequences of Hemodynamic Alterations for Pulmonary Artery Remodeling. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2019 May;60(5):503-514. doi:10.1165/rcmb.2018-0305MA. PMID:30620615.
Morris CJ, Kamney RJ, Boehme J, Gong W, He Y, Zhu T, Maltepe E, Raff GW, Fineman JR, Datar SA. KFL2-mediated Disruption of PPARγ Signaling in Lymphatic Endothelial Cells Exposed to Chronically Increased Pulmonary Lymph Flow. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2018 Jul 1;315(1):H173-H181. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00635.2017. Epub 2018 Apr 6. PMID:29631374.
Kameny RJ, He Y, Zhu T, Gong W, Raff GW, Chapin CJ, Datar SA, Boehme J, Hata A, Fineman JR. Analysis of the microRNA signature driving adaptive right ventricular hypertrophy in an ovine model of congenital heart disease. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2018 Jun 15. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00057.2018. Epub ahead of print. PMID:29906222.
Kabagambe SK, Goodman LF, Chen YJ, Keller BA, Becker JC, Raff GW, Stark RA, Stephenson JT, Rahm A, Farmer DL, Hirose S. Subcutaneous local anesthetic infusion could eliminate use of epidural analgesia after the Nuss procedure. Pain Manag. 2018 Jan;8(1):9-13. doi:10.2217/pmt-2017-0042. Epub 2017 Dec 6. PMID:29210330.
Graves CE, Hirose S, Raff GW, Iqbal CW, Imamura-Ching J, Christensen D, Fechter R, Kwiat D, Harrison MR. Magnetic Mini-Mover Procedure for pectus excavatum IV: FDA sponsored multicenter trial. J Pediatr Surg. 2017 Jun;52(6):913-919. doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2017.03.009. Epub 2017 Mar 15. PMID:28342579.
Perry P, David E, Atkins B, Raff G. Novel application of a percutaneous left ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplant in a paediatric patient with severe heart failure due to viral myocarditis. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2017 Mar 1;24(3):474-476. doi:10.1093/icvts/ivw387.
Keller BA, Kabagambe SK, Becker JC, Chen YJ, Goodman LF, Clark-Wronski JM, Furukawa K, Stark RA, Rahm AL, Hirose S, Raff GW. Intercostal nerve cryoablation versus thoracic epidural catheters for postoperative analgesia following pectus excavatum repair: Preliminary outcomes in twenty-six cryoablation patients. J Pediatr Surg. 2016 Dec;51(12):2033-2038. doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2016.09.034. Epub 2016 Sep 28. PMID:27745867.