[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E711-E712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO DR. JOANNA CHIKWE--30TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT WOMAN OF THE 
                                  YEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2023

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we pay special tribute to 
the contributions and sacrifices made by our nation's women during 
Women's History Month. It is an honor to pay homage to outstanding 
women who are making a difference in my Congressional District. I would 
like to recognize a remarkable woman, Dr. Joanna Chikwe of the 
Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
  After studying art for two years in Italy, Dr. Chikwe studied 
medicine at Oxford University and completed her cardiac surgery 
residency in the United Kingdom, where she was awarded Fellowship of 
the Royal College of Surgeons. She was the recipient of the 2006 
Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Cardiac Scholarship, to assume 
a fellowship in mitral and aortic surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in 
New York, where she then joined the faculty until 2019.
  Just prior to the pandemic, Dr. Chikwe moved west, and is currently 
the Irina and George Schaeffer Distinguished Chair in Cardiac Surgery 
and Chairman of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Cedars-Sinai 
Medical Center. Dr. Chikwe is also Professor of Clinical Surgery at the 
Department of Surgery for the David Geffen School of Medicine at 
University of California, Los Angeles. She is Editorin-Chief of The 
Annals of Thoracic Surgery, editor of Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short 
Reports, co-Chair of the American Heart Association Scientific 
Sessions, and an editorial board member of Journals of the American 
College of Cardiology and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular 
Surgery.
  Dr. Chikwe's clinical focus is robotic mitral repair. She leads a 
cardiac surgery program that is rated among the top three on a national 
scale by U.S. News and World Report, and she also directs three 
affiliate cardiac surgery programs within the Cedars-Sinai Health 
System. The robotic cardiac surgery program, the heart and lung 
transplant programs, and the structural heart program are among the 
largest in the country. In terms of research, Dr. Chikwe concentrates 
on therapies for valvular heart disease, with more than 250 peer 
reviewed publications including contributions in the Journal of the 
American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine.

[[Page E712]]

  I ask all Members to join me in honoring this exceptional, well-
respected woman of California's 30th Congressional District, Dr. Joanna 
Chikwe.

                          ____________________