Yves d'Udekem, M.D., Ph.D., joined Children's National Hospital as Division Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Co-Director of the Children's National Heart Institute in September 2020.
Dr. d'Udekem is Belgian-born with Canadian and Australian citizenship and received his early training in cardiac surgery in Belgium and Toronto. He worked as a cardiac surgeon in Belgium, operating on both adults and children with congenital heart disease. Dr. d'Udekem then worked with internationally-recognized heart surgeon Professor Marc de Laval and others in London to train in congenital heart surgery at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.
From there, he was recruited as a pediatric heart specialist to The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, an institution that has been a leader in advancing the field of congenital heart disease. In Melbourne, Dr. d'Udekem built an outstanding reputation for clinical excellence and an exceptional academic career. He has over 300 publications and is highly cited and respected for his work in pediatric cardiovascular surgery. Dr. d'Udekem obtained more than 7 million dollars in grant funding in the past five years as he created and became a recognized leader for the highly touted Fontan Registry. He was also named The Baier Family Distinguished Professor of Cardiac Surgery at Children’s National Hospital, which is a prestigious honor that will advance the field of pediatric cardiac surgery for kids with special hearts.
He is committed to working together with our multidisciplinary team. As well as providing excellent patient and family experience throughout a patient's course from outpatient visits to inpatient stay, to the operating room and back again. Dr. d'Udekem also serves as a professor at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences.