Sara J. Pereira, MD

Sara Pereira, MD joins the Division of Cardiothoracic surgery as a Professor of Surgery. She is a Northern California native and received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She completed medical school at University of California Irvine School of Medicine. Dr. Pereira completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She continued as an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Alabama, and subsequently practiced in Western Colorado at St. Mary’s Medical Center for ten years. Dr. Pereira returned to the UAB Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2017 and has been very active in resident education and structural heart disease. She further served as the Vice-Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Department of Surgery at UAB.

Dr. Pereira is passionate about student and resident education. She looks forward to directing the integrated thoracic surgery residency program at the University of Utah, as well as promoting the adult cardiac surgery section within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. She is certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. In her free time, Dr. Pereira enjoys mountain biking and camping with her husband and two daughters, ages 11 and 13.

Dr. Pereira’s clinical interests include:

• Adult cardiac surgery

• Complex re-operative surgery

• Aortic surgery

• Minimally invasive surgery

Dr. Pereira’s research interests include:

• Quality improvement and clinical outcomes in adult cardiac surgery, particularly valve in valve transcatheter

aortic valve replacement

• Perioperative optimization of high risk cardiac patients

• Infection prevention