Mark J. Cunningham, MD

Mark Cunningham, MD, is chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Rhode Island Hospital.

Dr. Cunningham holds a medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. He completed his internship and residency in general surgery at Boston University, Boston Medical School, and a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Before becoming a cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Cunningham was an aeronautical engineer at NASA Langley Research Center, designing future space transportation systems like the space shuttle. He credits his engineering background as a factor in his decision to become a cardiologist and as an inspiration for his research on the human heart.

He previously served as the interim chief of cardiac surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as a faculty member in cardiac surgery at Harvard Medical School. Prior to Brigham and Women’s, he served as director of the Cardiac Surgery Heart Program, the surgical director of heart transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, structural heart disease, and minimally invasive and robotic surgery, and associate professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Southern California.  Among other roles, he also served as chief of staff for the Keck Medical Center of USC, and both committee chair for Quality and Safety and board director, Governing Board of Keck Medical Center of USC.

In addition to open heart surgery, Dr. Cunningham is an expert in mechanical circulatory support valve surgery, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and aortic surgery including transcatheter endovascular aortic repair. He has transplanted more than 500 hearts, and has led more than 60 clinical trials, mainly focused on developing mechanical assist devices that take over the pumping function of a weak or failing heart and advancing minimally invasive approaches, including robotic surgery and percutaneous procedures that result in shorter recovery times and fewer complications for patients compared to traditional open surgery. Dr. Cunningham is also investigating the influence of genetics on cardiovascular conditions.