Alistair B. M. Phillips MD, FACC, FACS

Dr. Alistair Phillips, MD, is Co-Director of Cedars-Sinai’s Congenital Heart Program and the Chief of the Division of Congenital Heart Surgery within the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. He is board-certified in surgery, thoracic surgery and congenital heart surgery.

Prior to joining Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Phillips was surgical director of Pediatric Heart Transplantation, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Adult Congenital Heart Disease at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of surgery at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Phillips has extensive experience in developing novel approaches to treat congenital heart disease, including hybrid methodologies that combine the skills of interventional cardiologists and surgeons. Dr. Phillips is interested in developing quality improvement programs with a family-centric approach.

Dr. Phillips’ research interests include blood conservation in congenital cardiac surgery, neurological outcomes in pediatric cardiac surgery, development of animal models for congenital heart disease and tissue banking of congenital heart disease samples. He has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Dr. Phillips has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Congenital Heart Disease, Pediatric Cardiology, The American Journal of Cardiology, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and The Journal of Invasive Cardiology. A prolific lecturer, he has been invited to lecture and present on his areas of expertise on both the national and international level.

Dr. Phillips is a member of several professional organizations including the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society, American Heart Association Councils on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, and Functional Genomics and Translational Biology. He is also a member of the American Medical Association, founding member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Surgeons.
After earning his bachelor’s of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from John Hopkins University, Dr. Phillips earned his medical degree from Columbia University. He completed residencies in surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He completed fellowships in pediatric cardiac surgery at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, pacemaker/defibrillator at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, thoracic surgery at Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center, and cardiac surgery research at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.Dr. Phillips has been named one of the Best Doctors in America (2007-2013) and listed in the Guide to America’s Top Surgeons (2009)