George Arnaoutakis, M.D.

George J. Arnaoutakis, M.D., is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon and Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. He is also the director of Thoracic Aortic Surgery, Cardiovascular Surgery Quality and Outcomes and the Transcatheter Valve Program for the Institute for Cardiovascular Health, a clinical partnership between Ascension Seton and UT Health Austin. He specializes in adult cardiothoracic surgery. Additionally, Dr. Arnaoutakis is an associate professor in the Dell Medical School Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Arnaoutakis earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and his medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. He completed both a residency in general surgery and a postdoctoral research fellowship in cardiac surgery at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he served as administrative chief resident. He also completed both a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery and a fellowship in advanced aortic procedures at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

His clinical interests include aortic arch disease, aortic dissection, aortic valve repair, bicuspid aortic valve syndrome, coronary artery bypass graft, thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm, valve-sparing root replacement, valvular heart disease and the Ross procedure. His research interests include aortic aneurysm and dissection, bicuspid aortic valve repair, cardiac surgery-related acute kidney injury, cerebral protection in aortic arch reconstruction and national databases in cardiothoracic surgery. He has held leadership positions in numerous novel device trials, advancing the care of patients with aortic disease, and has presented invited lectures both nationally and internationally. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than two dozen book chapters, including editor of a textbook dedicated to aortic disease. He also serves on several editorial boards and national committees for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons and an inducted fellow of the American Heart Association. Dr. Arnaoutakis is a cardiothoracic surgeon with UT Health Austin.