Specialties
Education
- MD, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
- MPH, T. H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Residency, General Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Vicky and Joseph Safra Cardiac Surgery Fellowship, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Fellowship, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Advanced Fellowship, Michael J. Davidson Structural Heart and Transcatheter Therapies, Massachusetts General Brigham & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Advanced Fellowship, Aortic and Endovascular Surgery, Massachusetts General Brigham & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Clinical Specialties
Dr. Hirji is a board-certified adult cardiac surgeon whose primary clinical practice centers on aortic surgery, valvular and structural heart disease, and hybrid and transcatheter approaches to cardiac care. His aortic practice encompasses root replacement, aortic arch, and thoracoabdominal reconstruction, acute aortic syndromes including aortic dissection, thoracic aortic aneurysm, aortic re-operations, and aortic surgery for connective tissue disorders like Marfan and Loeys-Dietz syndromes. He is also fellowship trained in hybrid cardiac surgery and transcatheter therapies such as transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) including alternative access approaches (e.g. valve-in-valve TAVR), transcatheter mitral and tricuspid valve repair or replacement (e.g. mTEER, TMVR, tTEER), and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). He additionally has considerable experience in advanced surgical techniques for coronary artery disease like coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using multiple arterial conduits, a special interest in surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation and evolving techniques of alternate energy sources, as well as lesion sets, and management of patients with chronic relapsing or constrictive pericarditis, including preoperative hemodynamic optimization prior to surgical resection.
Research Interests
Dr. Hirji is a clinician-scientist who works at the intersection of surgery and clinical effectiveness research within the context of valvular and aortic disease, asking how the evidence we generate can actually change what happens at the bedside. That work has produced more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in leading academic journals and has received national recognition including the J. Maxwell Chamberlain, C. Walton Lillehei, Richard Clark, and Joseph Murray awards from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, and the American College of Cardiology. He has a growing interest in the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning for cardiac surgical risk prediction and surgical decision-making, and in perioperative quality improvement and patient safety. He was recently named to Cardiovascular Business’ 40 Under 40.
Recent Publications
Sampling frequency has architecture-dependent effects on electrocardiogram deep learning classification: Convolutional neural networks are robust, whereas transformers benefit modestly.
Freedman C, Hassan SZ, Alvarez M, Elhajj P, Kim P, Park SK, Park C, Hirji S, Grimm JC, Vallabhajosyula S, Nanna M, Okoh A, Unlu O, Pantlin P, Fenrich A, Hong M
Heart Rhythm 2026 Aug 04;
[PubMed ID: 42551688]Women with chronic coronary artery disease: long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention vs coronary artery bypass grafting.
An KR, Vervoort D, Qiu F, Tam DY, Rocha RV, Harik L, Hirji S, Sandner S, Fremes SE, Wijeysundera HC, Gaudino MFL
Eur Heart J 2026 May 21; 47(20): 2497-2508
[PubMed ID: 41288359]Long-Term Outcomes of Paroxysmal and Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Management Strategy During Nonemergent Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.
Hawkins RB, Kubi B, Strobel RJ, Paneitz DC, Chang SC, Atshan R, Teman NR, Heid C, Beller J, Hirji SA, Spencer PJ, Chen Q, Bishawi M, Bowdish ME, Ganapathi AM, Sundt TM, Habib RH, Mehaffey JH, Osho A
Ann Thorac Surg 2026 May 14;
[PubMed ID: 42134563]Cost-effectiveness of multiarterial versus single-arterial grafting in coronary artery bypass surgery.
Odewade NO, Bikdash R, Brooks ES, Otchere P, Kubi B, Sabatino M, Hirji S, Sundt TM, Osho AA, Sabe AA, Kreso A, Nguyen LL
JTCVS Open 2026 Aug; 32: 101834
[PubMed ID: 42604115]Surgical versus percutaneous revascularization in multivessel non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome: a meta-analysis of 77 989 patients.
Elbahloul MA, Elbataa A, Hajali M, Kasem AW, Alalalmeh SO, El-Moslemani M, Zanaty MA, Shawky A, Awad AK, Amabile A, Baudo M, Torregrossa G, Hirji S
Coron Artery Dis 2026 Sep 01; 37(6): 470-484
[PubMed ID: 42046451]