2024 Distinguished Scientist Pedro J. del Nido, MD, FAHA

Pedro J. del Nido, MD, FAHA
Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston, MA

Dr. del Nido was born in Santiago, Chile and emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 10. He attended undergraduate and medical school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He completed a General Surgery internship and residency at Boston University and entered Cardio-Thoracic residency at the University of Toronto. Prior to starting his clinical training, he spent a year in the laboratory at the Banting Institute of the University of Toronto. It was there that Dr. del Nido began his initial work on myocardial preservation, a focus of research that he continued through his residency and early career in congenital cardiac surgery. Dr. del Nido spent an additional year as a clinical fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children-Toronto.

Dr. del Nido started his career at the University of Illinois-Chicago and then moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where the development of a solution to preserve the heart during prolonged heart surgery was completed. This solution, now known as “del Nido cardioplegia” is one of the most widely used cardioplegia formulations throughout the world. In 1994 Dr. del Nido joined the faculty at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He rose to the rank of Professor of Surgery and in 2004 was named William E. Ladd Professor of Child Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Dr. del Nido’s clinical focus has been on creating reconstructive techniques for complex congenital heart defects. Recently, recognizing the large unmet need, Dr. del Nido has worked to develop cardiac medical devices designed for the needs of growing children. This effort has led to a novel growth-accommodating heart valve that is now in clinical trials. He has received NIH funding throughout his career, has over 500 peer-reviewed publications, and over 50 awarded and pending patents.