Michael E Ibrahim, MD
Cardiac Surgery
Bio & Overview
Michael Ibrahim, MD, PhD, is an adult cardiac surgeon and the director of robotic cardiac surgery. His clinical practice focuses on:
- Advanced mitral and tricuspid valve repair
- Complex valve disease
- Mechanical circulatory support
- Robotic and minimally invasive cardiac surgery
His focus includes building high-performance, patient-centered valve programs that combine technical excellence with thoughtful program design, including robotic mitral surgery, restorative valve repair, and multidisciplinary valve care.
Dr. Ibrahim’s research program sits at the interface of cardiac surgery, heart failure biology, and translational mechanobiology. His work focuses on the biomechanical regulation of cardiomyocyte microarchitecture in heart failure and recovery. He has a particular interest in researching:
- T-tubule and dyadic remodeling
- Mechanotransduction
- Myocardial unloading
- Myocardial recovery
His goal is to understand how myocardial structure and function respond to mechanical stress and recovery states and use those insights to improve therapies for patients with valve and heart failure disease. His research also includes work in robotic valve surgery, structural valve interventions, and device development. He holds multiple patents in the valve disease space.
He approaches patient care with a deep appreciation for the stress, uncertainty, and vulnerability that patients and families experience when facing heart surgery. His goal is for every patient and family to feel that they were cared for with exceptional skill, honesty, and commitment, and that no aspect of their treatment or advocacy was left wanting.
“I want patients to feel and know that I care deeply,” he says. “I believe surgery is a sacred thing.”
Dr. Ibrahim was born and raised in London. He studied at the University of Cambridge before completing medical training and a PhD at Imperial College London. He pursued cardiothoracic surgical training and academic development in the United States, including advanced fellowships in valve surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and robotic cardiac surgery at Plano Heart Hospital in Texas.
He has built a career as a clinical innovator and independent investigator in cardiac surgery, with expertise in robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. In addition to his robotic practice, he has extensive experience in conventional open valve surgery, complex multivalve disease, and the management of complex cardiac surgery patients.
Dr. Ibrahim has held major clinical leadership roles in academic cardiac surgery, including directing comprehensive valve and robotic cardiac surgery programs and contributing to the development of multidisciplinary care pathways for patients with structural and valve heart disease. He has also served as the reference surgeon for large mitral valve programs, achieving nationally recognized results.
Organizational Involvement/Memberships
- Advisory Panel on Science and Medicine to the UK Prime Minister
- American Heart Association, fellow
- British Medical Association
- Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Academic Information
Conditions & Treatments
- Anomalous pulmonary venous return
- Aortic root replacement
- Idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis
- Gender
- Male
- Languages
- English
- Age Groups Seen
- Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)
- Primary Education
- Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, Imperial College London School of Medicine (2014)
- Residency
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (2021)
- Fellowships
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2021), Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital Plano (2022)
Highlights
Meet Cardiologist Michael Ibrahim, MD
My name is Michael Ibrahim. I am the Director of Robotic Cardiac Surgery at UVA Health. Our focus is on robotic mitral valve repair, replacement, aortic valve repair and replacement, and all the associated procedures within cardiac surgery. Robotic heart surgery is special because it allows us to take care of patients not only who want rapid recovery and are healthy, but also to offer surgery to patients where we're concerned about their ability to recover from traditional forms of heart surgery. We are also involved in the development and pioneering of new procedures that have never been done before robotically. It's a privilege to meet new patients expecting heart surgery. Heart surgery is one of the biggest things that happens in a patient's life, and when we meet the patient, we go through what is wrong with them, what the options are to treat them, and how robotics can be one of the options that they may want to consider. After appropriate testing and imaging, we make a decision with the patient and decide upon the treatment plan. We believe in integrated and long-term care, which involves careful evaluation of our results in the long term. And so that relationship that starts at the preoperative visit, we hope extends throughout the patient's lifetime.