The WVU Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, along with the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, is expanding its team with the addition of four new surgeons.
Goya Raikar, M.D., has joined the Division of Cardiac Surgery at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital. Trained at the Mayo Clinic in 1997, Raikar specializes in minimally invasive and robotic techniques in complex adult cardiac surgery. Previously, he served as chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the DeBakey Heart Surgery Center of the Wisconsin Froedtert Hospital.
“We could not be more fortunate to have Dr. Raikar join us to provide an integral role in the continued growth of our nation-leading program,” Vinay Badhwar, M.D., chairman and executive chair of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, said. “I have known Dr. Raikar for several years, and his calm, gentlemanly demeanor matched by his technical ability serve to be an ideal fit for our multidisciplinary, multicenter team. Given our international role as one of the pre-eminent programs in robotic cardiac surgery, the addition of Dr. Raikar enhances our ability to not only provide expanded services to our patients, but to help the global community through continued innovation and peer-to-peer education.”
The Division of Thoracic Surgery will welcome three new surgeons.
Nick Baker, M.D., a native of McDowell County and West Virginia University graduate, joins from UPMC where he was the director of robotic thoracic surgery. Baker’s expertise includes thoracic oncology and robotic thoracic surgery, treating diseases of the lung, esophagus, mediastinum and pleura.
Nida S. Bham, M.D., completed her training at Vanderbilt University and a fellowship at Yale University. Bham specializes in diseases of the lung and esophagus and thoracic surgical education. She will join the division this fall.
Saiesh R. Voppuru, M.D., trained in Hyderabad, India, and completed a fellowship in Thoracic Surgical Oncology at the Mayo Clinic. Voppuru will join the Morgantown-based faculty this fall, working with teams at Ruby Memorial and the WVU Cancer Institute.
“We are thrilled to welcome these three outstanding additions to our growing and highly successful Thoracic Surgical faculty as we continue to provide consistent regional leadership and service that includes Dr. Jahnavi Kakuturu, Dr. Robert Herron, and Dr. Shalini Reddy,” Badhwar said.
Jason Lamb, M.D., will take on the role of chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery.
“Dr. Lamb has consistently provided outstanding technical and organizational leadership for many years,” Badhwar said. “He has worked very closely to help support the academic and system leadership of Drs. J.W. Awori Hayanga and Alper Toker.”
For more information on the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, visit WVUMedicine.org/Heart.
