The Mount Sinai Health System today announced the launch of the Adams Valve Institute, a new global center dedicated to advancing comprehensive care and surgical techniques for patients with heart valve disease.
The Adams Valve Institute builds on more than two decades of pioneering work by David H. Adams, MD, the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Professor and Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief of the Mount Sinai Health System. Under his leadership, The Mount Sinai Hospital performs the highest volume of mitral and tricuspid valve repairs and advanced aortic root operations in New York State and has consistently achieved the highest quality distinctions from the New York State Department of Health. This Institute will build upon these achievements and unite a multidisciplinary team of experts to promote innovation in advanced imaging, reconstructive surgical techniques, peer-to-peer education, health policy reform, and breakthrough research across the full spectrum of valvular heart disease.
Heart valve disease impacts between 8 and 11 million people in the United States and accounts for nearly 30,000 deaths a year. Heart valves are critical to survival-they open and close to regulate the blood flowing in and out of the heart. When heart valves become diseased, the heart can't effectively pump blood throughout the body, which can lead to heart failure and sudden cardiac arrest. Heart valve disease is underdiagnosed and undertreated, especially in African American, Hispanic, and Asian populations. Additionally, women are more likely than men to not be diagnosed and can experience worse outcomes.
"Our new Institute will expand our efforts across the full spectrum of valvular heart disease," Dr. Adams says. "Collaboration has been the foundation of our success, bringing together cardiologists, imaging specialists, anesthesiologists, critical care teams, and scientists with a shared mission to advance best practices in heart valve disease care."
Ismail El-Hamamsy, MD, PhD, Director of Aortic Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System, will serve as the inaugural Director of the Adams Valve Institute.
Dr. Adams is internationally recognized for revolutionizing reconstructive strategies that restore a patient's own valve. The Adams Valve Institute will build on this legacy to set a global standard for techniques, education, research, and equitable access in reconstructive valve surgery for all valves and for patients of all ages, from infancy through advanced adulthood."
Dr. El-Hamamsy, the Mount Sinai Randall B. Griepp, MD Professor in Cardiovascular Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. El-Hamamsy currently oversees the largest Ross procedure program in the United States and will expand this work at the Institute. The Ross procedure replaces a diseased aortic valve with the patient's own pulmonary valve, avoiding the long-term limitations of artificial valve replacement. It is the only aortic valve replacement surgery that has been proven to consistently restore patients' life expectancy to that of the general population and eliminates the need for patients to take blood thinners. The procedure is also highly beneficial for younger patients.
The Institute will create specialized Centers of Excellence focused on the most complex and underserved areas of valvular heart disease. Mount Sinai's Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center is already a world leader in mitral valve management, outcomes research, and reconstructive standards of care. New centers will apply similar principle-based management approaches and focus on aortic valve disease and the Ross procedure, Marfan syndrome and other connective tissue disorders, arrhythmic mitral valve prolapse, radiation-induced heart disease, adult congenital heart disease, and complex reoperative valve surgery.
"The Centers of Excellence within the Adams Valve Institute will offer hope to patients with rare or highly complex conditions that require specialized expertise not available at most centers," said Dr. Adams. In parallel with clinical innovation, the Institute will support transformative multidisciplinary research through targeted investments in infrastructure and dedicated faculty support.
The Adams Valve Institute will also work to systematically reduce barriers to high-quality surgical care by collaborating with nonprofit organizations to advocate for policy reform at both federal and state levels. Key initiatives include standardizing physician licensing, improving payer policies, expanding transparency in outcomes reporting and peer-recognized centers of excellence, and increasing access for underserved populations, including veterans. Additionally, the Institute will serve as a global educational hub through expanded live surgery courses, international mission programs, and the creation of the world's largest digital library of valve reconstructive technique videos, which will be freely accessible to surgeons worldwide.
"Creating the Adams Valve Institute recognizes Mount Sinai's longstanding leadership in the surgical treatment of heart valve disease as well as the transformative improvements in clinical care spearheaded by Drs. Adams and El-Hamamsy," said Evan L. Flatow, MD, Dean for Clinical Affairs of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System.
"The Adams Valve Institute, operating in close collaboration with the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, will ensure continued state-of-the-art and life-changing treatments for our patients locally, nationally, and globally," adds Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System.
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