Peyman Benharash

Dr. Peyman Benharash is a faculty member at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. He directs the Extracorporeal Life Support (ECMO) Program at UCLA Health and specializes in treating adult acquired cardiac diseases through traditional, minimally invasive, and hybrid therapies. His clinical innovations include introducing minimally invasive arrhythmia surgery to UCLA, focusing on reducing patient trauma while maintaining efficacy in atrial fibrillation treatment.

• Education:
  • Undergraduate, graduate, and medical degrees from UCLA
  • General surgery training at Harbor-UCLA
  • Cardiothoracic surgery specialization at UCLA
  • Research experience in stem cell therapies at Stanford University

His research integrates health services research using national databases, cardiovascular outcomes analysis, and biomedical engineering through the development of noninvasive physiologic sensors and physics-based virtual surgery models. His work emphasizes cross-disciplinary innovation to improve patient care and address healthcare disparities.

Scientific contributions include extensive publications (over 400 manuscripts) and leadership in the nationally recognized CORELAB, which trains future academic surgery leaders. Dr. Benharash has secured major funding from the United States Department of Defense as a principal investigator and contributes to interdisciplinary heart disease projects.

• Professional Leadership:
  • President, California Society of Thoracic Surgeons
  • Member, Society of University Surgeons
  • Member, Society of Thoracic Surgeons