• IM/Cardiology

Raj Makkar, MD is a world-renowned leading expert in interventional cardiology and is one of the most widely cited researchers on the management of valvular heart disease. He has performed the greatest number of transcatheter valve implantation (TAVI) procedures in the world and has led the field in advancing the procedure to ensure the best outcomes for patients. In 2020, he performed the most transcatheter mitral valve repair procedures with the MitraClip system in the United States and is the national principal investigator for mitral valve replacement research studies. He has authored over 500 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters in peer-reviewed literature including practice-changing contributions in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. He has lectured extensively around the world and regularly performs live case transmissions for major international conferences to demonstrate cutting-edge interventional cardiology techniques to a world-wide audience. His research interests focus on novel transcatheter therapies to treat structural heart disease, with a focus on studies that directly demonstrate improvements in patient outcomes. Since 2010, he has been the Stephen R. Corday Chair in Interventional Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai and has led the clinical program and trained over 50 fellows both from within the United States and internationally.

• Medical School: Smt. NHL Municipal Medical College, 1987
• Internship: Wayne State University Hospital, 1990
• Residency: Harper University Hospital, 1992
• Residency: Harper University Hospital, 1993
• Fellowship: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 1996
• Fellowship: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 1997

• Smidt Heart Institute
• Heart Valve Program
• Boeing
• Department of Medicine
• Interventional Cardiology
• Preventive and Consultative Heart Center
• Valvular Heart Disease

• Judge, Young Investigators Award, American College of Cardiology Sessions, 2004 - 2005
• Chairman, Young Investigators Award, American College of Cardiology Sessions, 2006
• Stephen R. Corday Chair in Interventional Cardiology, 2010 – Current
• Elected by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America®, 2009 – Current

• Makkar RR, Thourani VH, Mack MJ, et al. Five-year outcomes of transcatheter or surgical aortic-valve replacement. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020; 383(6):595-596.
• Makkar RR, Blanke P, Leipsic J, et al. Subclinical Leaflet Thrombosis in Transcatheter and Surgical Bioprosthetic Valves: PARTNER 3 Cardiac Computed Tomography Substudy. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2020; 75(24):3003-3015.
• Makkar RR, Cheng W, Waksman R, et al. Self-expanding intra-annular versus commercially available transcatheter heart valves in high and extreme risk patients with severe aortic stenosis (PORTICO IDE): a randomised, controlled, non-inferiority trial. Lancet. 2020; 396(10252):669-683.