ABOUT Dr. Vivek Jawali
MS, DNB, MCh Chief Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon
Dr. Vivek Jawali is a pioneer in minimally invasive cardiac surgery in India. He is the founder of two premier heart institutions in Bangalore – the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology and the Wockhardt Hospital and Heart Institute. The establishment of these two institutes encouraged many more to follow suit, changing Bangalore into a preferred healthcare destination.
Dr. Jawali has performed over 16,000 surgeries and has been the president of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (IACTS). He is the founder member of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgeons (ISMICS) and is the only Indian on the editorial board of its journal – Innovations in Cardiac Surgery. He is also the council member of the Asian Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons. He has been the Vice President of the Indian College of Cardiology. He is on the editorial board of the journal of the Indian Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons (IACTS), journal of Cardiac Anaesthesia, CTSNet (a comprehensive global website of cardiac surgeons around the world). He is the founder and the web administrator of the facts.orgia (a website of the Indian Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons).
Professional qualifications
Dr. Jawali completed his MBBS from M R Medical College. Gulbarga, Karnataka, in 1974. He stood first in Karnataka University and also won the award for the ‘best all-round outgoing student’ for his participation in various extracurricular activities such as debating, writing, painting, and student leadership. He acquired his MS from JJMMC, Davangere, MCh in CVT Surgery from KEM Hospital and Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai.
Dr. Jawali has several papers, publications, and awards to his credit. He has 11 indexed publications and is the most experienced in the world on ‘awake’ open-heart surgery. He has presented more than 200 scientific papers and conducted demonstrations of new techniques in heart surgery at various hospitals in India and abroad. Dr. Jawali has given lectures in many institutions and universities in the USA and Europe and has been featured in prominent media like Time, Guardian, New York Times, Parismatch, Stern, etc. He is the recipient of the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, the Dr. B C Roy Award for Medical Excellence, the Kempegowda Award for Outstanding Citizen by the Bangalore City Corporation, and the Citizen Extraordinaire Award by the Giant’s International. He has also received the Harvard University Lifetime Achievement Award for medical excellence in India in 2006.
Expertise
In 1992, he pioneered the Off-Pump (beating heart) Coronary Bypass surgery (OPCAB) in India and his relentless campaign stimulated the growth of this practice in India. Today, India conducts the highest number of OPCABs in the world. He has also performed India’s first minimally invasive bypass surgery in September 1994 and has ever since been very actively involved in the growth of this form of surgery. Minimally invasive heart surgery is defined as surgery without the heart-lung machine, on a beating heart and/ or surgery through smaller incisions or keyholes.
In February 2000, he performed India’s first awake bypass surgery on a fully conscious patient without general anesthesia or ventilator, using the technique of continuous high thoracic epidural analgesia.
In July 2002, he performed the world’s first awake open heart surgery, which involved an aortic valve replacement with a triple bypass on a 74-year-old patient, with the heart completely stopped and the patient awake and without the ventilator.