James J Gangemi, MD
Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
Additional Locations
Bio & Overview
James Gangemi, MD, is the surgical director of pediatric congenital heart surgery at UVA Health Children's, and medical director of the pediatric ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) program, which provides life support for children whose heart and lungs aren’t functioning normally.
Dr. Gangemi was born in Rochester, New York, and attended Johns Hopkins University, where he majored in biology and was an Academic All-American in basketball. He earned his medical degree from the University of Rochester and trained in surgery and thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at UVA. He completed his fellowship training in pediatric cardiac surgery at the University of Rochester and then joined the faculty there in the Department of Pediatrics.
In 2009, Dr. Gangemi moved back to central Virginia. For five years he served as an assistant professor of surgery and pediatrics and as surgical director of pediatric cardiac surgery at both UVA and Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2015, he was promoted to associate professor of surgery and pediatrics at UVA Health Children's.
Academic Information
- Department
- Surgery
- Academic Role
- Professor
- Division
- Cardiac Surgery
- Research Interests
- Single ventricle palliation using ventricular assist devices, Neuroprotection during circulatory arrest with regional cerebral perfusion
- Gender
- Male
- Languages
- English
- Age Groups Seen
- Infants (0-2)
Children (2-12)
Adolescents (12-21)
- Primary Education
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Residency
- University of Virginia School of Medicine
- Fellowships
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Certification
- American Board of Thoracic Surgery (Congenital Cardiac Surgery), American Board of Thoracic Surgery (Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery)
Highlights
Dr. James Gangemi video profile
- So I became a doctor mainly because of my dad. My dad was a was an internist. I loved going to the hospital with him when I was-- when he would round when I was younger. And then when I was a junior in high school, I was able to go in and observe open heart surgery. And at that point, I was convinced that I wanted to be a heart surgeon. And then my fourth year of medical school, I did a rotation with a congenital heart surgeon, who subsequently ended up training me. And I was hooked on congenital heart surgery. As you can imagine, we're doing extremely complicated operations, OK. And my goal is for everybody to be as relaxed as possible in the operating room. When the babies get in the operating room, it's the same team. And we do the same exact thing every single time, but we enjoy doing it. You would watch your child here, OK, because of the expertise that we can provide, because of the team that we have, how well we work together, because we're all going to take care of your child as if he or she is our own child.
Awards
- 2019-2020 Best Doctors in America® List
- 2015 Bedside Manner Award, Our Health Magazine; Second place