Jake Jaquiss, MD $$

Robert Jaquiss, M.D., is Division Director of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiothoracic Surgery and Co-Director of The Heart Center at Children’s Health℠. He is also a Professor of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery in the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and Professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern. Dr. Jaquiss is a surgeon who specializes in neonatal heart surgery, surgery for mechanical circulatory support and heart transplantation.

I’m a parent, as are many of my colleagues on the team at The Heart Center, and that helps remind all of us that our work, however highly specialized and technical it may seem, is ultimately and essentially personal. We are a team of people trying to help other people, some of whom may be very young and small, through a difficult process.

Dr. Jaquiss received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN. He completed his cardiothoracic surgery residency and fellowship training at Washington University in St. Louis, and he completed a pediatric cardiac surgery fellowship at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Before joining the team at UT Southwestern and Children’s Health, Dr. Jaquiss was a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine.

It is those many years of training and experience that have allowed Dr. Jaquiss to be successful in operating on the tiniest of patients, as he brings skill, knowledge and compassion to his position as a surgeon who specializes in neonatal (newborn) heart surgery and surgery for children with heart failure.

As Co-Director of The Heart Center at Children’s Health, Dr. Jaquiss not only has the capability to lead one of the largest and most experienced children’s heart programs in the county but also the ability to connect with patient families during a difficult time in their lives.

“I’m a parent, as are many of my colleagues on the team at The Heart Center, and that helps remind all of us that our work, however highly specialized and technical it may seem, is ultimately and essentially personal. We are a team of people trying to help other people, some of whom may be very young and small, through a difficult process,” he says.

Dr. Jaquiss has extensive clinical research experience as an internationally recognized pediatric heart surgeon, having authored more than 100 research articles about pediatric heart surgery.

He is also a leader among numerous professional organizations, including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society. In addition, he serves on the editorial board of several scientific journals including The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs Journal. 

Dr. Jaquiss was included in the D Magazine Best Doctors list for 2018.