Director
Robert C. Robbins MD
Director, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Robert C. Robbins, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, has been a member of the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine since 1993. He serves as Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Director of the Heart, Heart/Lung, and Lung Transplant programs and is the Director of the Cardiothoracic Transplantation Laboratory.
![]() |
Dr. Robbins received his B.S. degree from Millsaps College in 1979 and M.D. degree from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1983. He completed his general surgical training at the University of MIssissippi Medical Center in 1989. Dr. Robbins completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at Stanford University in 1992.
Dr. Robbins was a Pediatric Fellow in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University, Atlanta, GA and Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He was a Clinical Associate, Surgery Branch NHLBI at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, from 1986-1988. In addition, Dr. Robbins is the Guest Editor for the Surgical Supplement of Circulation, and is a manuscript reviewer for a number of periodicals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Dr. Robbins is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He served on the Board of Directors for Cohesion Technologies, International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation from 2000-2003 and President of the that society 2007 -2008. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Cardica Inc., Cytograft Tissue Engineering, Inc., California Transplant Donor Network, and the Bay Area Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. Robbins serves on Scientific Advisory Boards for medical device companies.
His current research interests include: t he investigation of the immunobiology and factors associated with the in vivo survival of mouse and human embryonic stems used for the treatment of congestive heart failure; the study of genetic determinants of congestive heart failure;
Hemodynamic, MRI, Echocardiographic, and Molecular Imaging assessment of congestive heart failure and cell therapy in mice and rats; the investigation of Apelin in congestive heart failure; the study of the role of bcl-2 in cardiac allograft vasculopathy; the development of automated coronary anastomotic devices; and the assessment of tissue engineered blood vessels.

