Professor
Areas of Interest
Complex redo cardiac surgery, left ventricular aneurysm repair, mechanical circulatory support, heart transplantation, lung transplantation, donation after circulatory death donors, early management and hormonal replacement therapy in potential heart and lung donors
Biography
Dr. Roh Yanagida joined the faculty of the UAB Department of Surgery as a Professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2026.
Before coming to UAB, Dr. Yanagida was an associate professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he served as surgical director of the Heart Transplant Program and director of the ECMO Program. He joined Temple in 2019 after four years as surgical director of lung transplantation at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey. He began his faculty career in 2012 as an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Yanagida earned his medical degree from Asahikawa Medical University and his Ph.D. in cardiovascular surgery from Tokyo Women's Medical University in Japan, where he also trained in cardiovascular surgery. He moved to the United States for a research fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Brown Medical School, where he studied bioengineered heart valves, and went on to complete general surgery residency at Brown Medical School and Drexel University College of Medicine. He then completed fellowships in cardiothoracic surgery and in heart and lung transplantation and mechanical circulatory support at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
His research focuses on donor selection and donor-recipient size matching in heart transplantation, heart transplantation from donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation and outcomes of mechanical circulatory support. He has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and has presented his work at the annual meetings of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.
Dr. Yanagida is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization and The Transplantation Society. He serves as a reviewer for several journals, including ASAIO Journal, Transplant International and Artificial Organs.
Select Publications
Azuma M, Mokashi S, Kashem MA, O'Murchu B, Toyoda Y, Yanagida R. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiogenic shock in a Jehovah's Witness patient. Am J Cardiol. 2025 Jul 1;246:43-46.
Firoz A, Geier S, Yanagida R, Hamad E, Rakita V, Zhao H, Kashem M, Toyoda Y. Heart transplant human leukocyte antigen matching in the modern era. J Card Fail. 2024 Feb;30(2):362-372.
Yanagida R, Firoz A, Kashem M, Hamad E, Toyoda Y. Adequacy of size matching with predicted heart mass ratio in diverse types of cardiomyopathies. Am J Cardiol. 2023 Nov 1;206:295-302.
Tran T, Kashem MA, Firoz A, Yanagida R, Shigemura N, Toyoda Y. Lung transplant survival with past and concomitant cardiac revascularization. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2023 Oct;42(10):1334-1340.
Firoz A, Yanagida R, Kashem M, Toyoda Y. Size matching in combined heart-lung transplant: An undersized predicted heart mass is associated with increased mortality. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2022 Jul;41(7):961-970.
Yanagida R, Seethamraju H, Davenport DL, Tribble TA, Zwischenberger JB, Hoopes CW. Bridging to lung transplantation with double-lumen venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Int J Artif Organs. 2019 Nov;42(11):621-627.
Yanagida R, Rajagopalan N, Davenport DL, Tribble TA, Bradley MA, Hoopes CW. Delayed sternal closure does not reduce complications associated with coagulopathy and right ventricular failure after left ventricular assist device implantation. J Artif Organs. 2018 Mar;21(1):46-51.
Yanagida R, Czer LS, Reinsmoen NL, Cao K, Rafiei M, De Robertis MA, Mirocha J, Kass RM, Kobashigawa JA, Trento A. Impact of virtual cross match on waiting times for heart transplantation. Ann Thorac Surg. 2011 Dec;92(6):2104-10.
Yanagida R, Kass R, Czer L, Khoynezhad A. Endovascular repair of arterio-bronchial fistula of the outflow graft of HeartMate II left ventricular assist device. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2011 Sep;142(3):710-1.
Yanagida R, Sugawara M, Kawai A, Koyanagi H. Regional differences in myocardial work of the left ventricle in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: Implications for the surgical technique used for left ventriculoplasty. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2001 Sep;122(3):600-7.
Honors and Awards
Roddy Scholarship Foundation, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2001-2003
Japan Scholarship Foundation, 1996-2000
Education
Medical School
Asahikawa Medical University, Japan - M.D.
Post-Graduation
Tokyo Women’s Medical University
Ph.D.
Residency
General Surgery - Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cardiovascular Surgery - Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
Fellowship
Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
Heart and Lung Transplantation / Mechanical Circulatory Assist - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
Contact
Phone
Patient Appointments and Questions: 205-934-5486
Email
ryanagida@uabmc.edu