Dr. Stavros George Drakos is a Professor of Cardiology and Physiology at the University of Utah Health & School of Medicine and holds the H. A. & Edna Benning Presidential Endowed Chair. He is the Medical Director of our institution's historic Cardiac Mechanical Support/Artificial Heart Program, Co-Director of the Heart Failure & Transplant section and Director of Research for the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Drakos is one of 27 cardiologists in the country being recognized by Forbes as an exemplary physician in the field of Cardiology.
Dr. Drakos and his team published clinical studies in heart failure together with original scientific work generated in the laboratory which led to the establishment of the award-winning Utah Cardiac Recovery Program (UCAR). He is the chairperson of the Clinical Integrative Cardiovascular and Hematological Sciences (CCHS) at the NIH and a visiting professor in academic medical centers nationally and internationally. He co-chairs the annual international Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (UCARS), the NIH Working Group on Myocardial Recovery and is an elected member of the ASCI (American Society of Clinical Investigation). Dr. Drakos has mentored over the years several individuals who are now independent faculty in academic medical centers in the US and overseas.
CLINICAL INFO
Dr. Drakos is one of 27 cardiologists across the country being recognized by Forbes as an exemplary physician in the field of Cardiology (for more info click here).
Earlier in his career he completed advanced heart failure and transplant training at the U of Utah (2001-2003) and after returning to the U of Athens in Greece he played a pivotal role in starting the first Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) program in the country (2003-2008) in collaboration with Sir Magdi Yacoub's team, Harefield/Imperial College London. Six years later (2008) he was recruited back at the U of Utah and since then he has been on faculty at the Division of Cardiology.
What kind of patients Dr. Drakos sees?
Dr. Drakos’ clinical specialties include Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies, Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS/VAD). He is licensed to practice medicine in the US and the EU. He currently receives patient referrals and consultations from several states. To schedule an appointment please call 801-585-5122. For 12 years in a row, University of Utah Health has been ranked in the top 10 for Health Care Quality among major university hospitals in the US: https://healthcare.utah.edu/quality/
ACADEMIC INFO
Dr. Drakos’ research interests are focused on cardiac recovery in the chronic heart failure (HF) setting and the acute setting (i. e. acute HF/cardiogenic shock). Dr Drakos' team is utilizing clinical and biological information derived from studies in humans and small or large animal HF models to understand and enhance myocardial recovery. Dr. Drakos' NIH-funded team is housed at the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute-CVRTI (Drakos Lab website). Original work generated by Dr. Drakos' team in the clinical arena and in his lab led to the establishment of the award-winning multidisciplinary Utah Cardiac Recovery Program-UCAR. To further advance the field of cardiac recovery Dr. Drakos is co-directing the annual international Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (UCARS) - for more info click here. Along the same lines Dr. Drakos is co-chairing the NIH/NHLBI Working Group on Myocardial Recovery - its executive summary and member list can be found at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/events/2016/nhlbi-working-group-advancing-science-myocardial-recovery-mechanical-circulatory - simultaneous publication at the official journals of the American College Cardiology, Heart Failure Society of America, American Association of Thoracic Surgery and the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs.
TRAINING:
1. Dr. Drakos started his medical training at the Univ. of Athens School of Medicine (most competitive academic institution in Greece: https://en.uoa.gr/ ) where he was admitted after scoring 3rd highest out of thousands pre-med students on the state boards. He received his Medical Degree (M. D. ) with Honors and went on to acquire a Ph. D under the mentorship of John N. Nanas, MD/PhD, a prior trainee of the U of Utah (Thesis entitled: 'Pulsatile vs. non-pulsatile mechanical circulatory support in a porcine model of heart failure', Award: 'Top PhD Thesis of the Year, U of Athens')
2. Internal Medicine and General Cardiology Training: U of Athens (Mentors: John N. Nanas, MD/PhD, and Maria Anastasiou-Nanas, MD/PhD).
3. Heart Failure/Transplant/MCS Fellowship: U of Utah, Intermountain Healthcare & Salt Lake VA Medical Center (Mentors: Dale G. Renlund, MD, and Elizabeth H. Hammond, MD).
4. Harefield-UK Athens-Greece Cardiac Recovery Program (H. A. R. P. ), (Mentor: Sir Magdi H. Yacoub, MD)
5. Cardiovascular Translational Research Fellowship: Molecular Medicine Program / Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, U of Utah (Mentor: Dean Y. Li, MD/PhD).
NOW HIRING - WHY IN THE ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT OF UTAH:
From a historical perspective Dr. Drakos’ mentors, John Nanas, MD/PhD and Alex Kralios, MD/PhD, also came from the U of Athens and excelled here at the U of Utah in the 70's, 80's and 90's while working with Drs. Kolff ('father of artificial organs') and Moulopoulos (inventor of Intraaortic Balloon Pump - IABP). Inspired by the concept of using technology to replace biology they led important discoveries/patents and played a significant role in advancing the Mechanical Circulatory Support field through the pioneering of IABP, Paraaortic Counterpulsation (PULVAD) and the first Total Artificial Heart (TAH).
In a similarly inspiring academic environment Dr. Drakos is guiding his lab and clinical teams focused on using technology to understand and manipulate biology with the goal being myocardial recovery. For clinical or research job opportunities please contact stavros.drakos@hsc.utah.edu (please include your CV and potential referees).
For info regarding life in scenic Salt Lake City and Utah please visit: https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/living-in-utah and https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/why-utah
RESEARCH SUPPORT/FUNDING:
Dr. Drakos and his mentees have received over the years extensive extramural research funding and competitive scientific medical awards in the US and Europe from the NIH, AHA, Department of Veterans Affairs, European Union/EU Marie Curie, ISHLT, Doris Duke Foundation, Intermountain Research Medical Foundation, Leventis and Bodossakis Foundations and others.
