Bob Kiaii, B.Sc., M.D., F.R.C.S.C., F.A.C.S.
Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Professor, Department of Surgery
To see if Bob Kiaii is accepting new patients, or for assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Specialties
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Robotic Surgery
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Surgery - Robotic
Heart Transplantation
Department
Locations and Contact
2315 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817
2221 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Additional Numbers
Clinic Phone
Clinic Phone
Clinic Fax
Physician Referrals
Philosophy of Care
Innovations in minimally invasive and robotic surgery allow us to treat patients who are considered high risk for traditional surgery, in a less invasive way. These are wonderful advancements, and in my practice I marry them with a commitment to strong communication, listening, empathy and compassion for my patients.
Clinical Interests
Dr. Kiaii (pronounced KEY-eye) is an internationally acclaimed clinician and researcher in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, known for several surgical firsts and for advancing minimally invasive techniques.
He has performed a number of pioneering procedures, including:
- The first North American simultaneous integrated coronary artery revascularization procedure.
- The world’s first aortic valve bypass using the Correx apical conduit.
- The world’s first repair of a perforation of the right atrium using the da Vinci® robotic system, and
- The world's first robotic-assisted left atrial appendage ligation for atrial fibrillation.
Research/Academic Interests
Dr. Kiaii's primary interests are minimally invasive cardiac surgical procedures, including surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation; mitral and aortic valve procedures; coronary artery revascularization; and heart transplantation.
He has served on numerous scientific advisory boards, and is a regular reviewer of grant submissions and journal articles as an expert in the field of minimally invasive surgery. His bibliography includes two book chapters, more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, 70 published abstracts and more than 160 guest lectures.
Dr. Kiaii previously served as chair of cardiac surgery at the Schulich School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, and as chief of cardiac surgery at the London Health Sciences Centre and director of its minimally invasive robotic cardiac surgery program. He was one of the founding members of Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) of the Lawson Health Research Institute.
Division
Cardiac Surgery
Center/Program Affiliation
Undergraduate School
B.S., University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada 1988
Medical School
M.D., Western University - Medicine and Dentistry, Ontario Canada 1992
Internship
General Surgery, University of Western Ontario, Calgary, Alberta CA 1992-1993
Residency
Residency
General Surgery, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CA 1993-1998
Residency
Cardiac Surgery, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, CA 1999-2002
Fellowship
Robotics and Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, University of Leipzig, Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany 2002-2003
Fellowship
Cardiac Transplantation, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario CA 2002
Surgery Clerkship Teaching Award, Level: Undergraduate, In recognition of being voted the most outstanding faculty teacher in the Division of Cardiac Surgery by the clinical clerks, Scope: Faculty, Western University, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiac Surgery, London, Ontario, Canada, 2017
International Society of Computer Aided Surgery (ISCAS) Best Poster Award, A.L. Trejos, I. Ross, S. Fox, R.V. Patel and B. Kiaii, “Preoperative evaluation of CT scans for robot-assisted minimally invasive coronary bypass surgery,” International Journal of CARS, vol. 3, supp 1, pp. S244-S245, 2008. 22nd International Congress and Exhibition on Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS’08), June 25-28, 2008. Type: Research award, Senior Author, International, Barcelona, Spain, 2008
Department of Surgery Clinician Scientist Award, University of Western Ontario, Local, London, Ontario, Canada 2008-2010,
Department of Surgery Clinician Scientist Award, University of Western Ontario, Local, Ontario, Canada 2005-2008,
Niv Ad, Jessica GY Luc, Tom C Nguyen, Rakesh C Arora, Husam H Balkhy, Edward M Bender, Daniel M Bethencourt, Gianluigi Bisleri, Douglas Boyd, Michael WA Chu, I Kim, Abe DeAnda Jr, Daniel T Engelman, Emily A Farkas, Lynn M Fedoruk, Michael Fiocco, Jessica Forcillo, Guy Fradet, Stephen E Fremes, James S Gammie, Arnar Geirsson, Marc W Gerdisch, Leonard N Girardi, Clayton A Kaiser, Tsuyoshi Kaneko, William DT Kent, Kamal R Khabbaz, Ali Khoynezhad, Bob Kiaii, Richard Lee, Jean-Francois Legare, Eric J Lehr, Roderick GG MacArthur, Patrick M McCarthy, John R Mehall, Walter H Merrill, Marc R Moon, Maral Ouzounian, Matthias Peltz, Louis P Perrault, Ourania Preventza, Mahesh Ramchandani, Basel Ramlawi, Rawn Salenger, Michael E Sekela, Frank W Sellke, John M Stulak, Francis P Sutter, Tomasz A Timek, Glenn Whitman, Judson B Williams, Daniel R Wong, Bobby Yanagawa, Jian Ye, Sanford M Zeigler. Cardiac surgery in North America and COVID-19: regional variability in burden and impact, The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.[published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 2]. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020;S0022-5223(20)31983-8.
Sabin J Bozso, Jeevan Nagendran, Michael WA Chu, Bob Kiaii, Ismail El-Hamamsy, Maral Ouzounian, Jörg Kempfert, Christoph Starck, Michael C Moon. Midterm Outcomes of the Dissected Aorta Repair Through Stent Implantation Trial. [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 13]. Ann Thorac Surg. 2020;S0003-4975(20)31134-6.
Rabbani M, Hafiz A, Algadheeb M, Thain A, Kiaii BB. A Case of Systolic Anterior Motion After Mitral Valve Repair Causing Hemolytic Anemia: Mechanism and Treatment. [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 17]. Can J Cardiol. 2020;S0828-282X(20)30601-2.
Christidis NK, Fox SA, Swinamer SA, Bagur R, Sridhar K, Lavi S, Iglesias I, Bainbridge D, Jones PM, Harle CC, Chu MWA, Teefy P, Kiaii BB. Reason and Timing for Conversion to Sternotomy in Robotic-Assisted Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting and Patient Outcomes. Innovations (Phila). [Epub ahead of print], 2018 Dec 5, Senior Responsible Author.
Hong M, Jones PM, Martin J, Kiaii B, Arellano R, Cheng D, John-Baptiste AA. Clinical impact of disinvestment in hydroxyethyl starch for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery: a retrospective observational study. Can J Anaesth [Epub ahead of print], 2018 Nov 8, Coauthor.
Bozso SJ, Nagendran J, MacArthur RGG, Chu MWA, Kiaii B, El-Hamamsy I, Cartier R, Shahriari A, Moon MC. Dissected Aorta Repair Through Stent Implantation trial: Canadian results. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg [Epub ahead of print], 2018 Oct 26, Coauthor.