CHICAGO (TIP): For the first time, surgeons led by an Indian American at Northwestern Medicine performed a double-lung transplant on a patient whose lungs were damaged by COVID-19. The patient, a Hispanic woman in her 20s, spent six weeks in the COVID ICU on a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a life support machine that does the work of the heart and lungs. By early June, the patient’s lungs showed irreversible damage. The lung transplant team listed her for a double-lung transplant, and 48 hours later, performed the life-saving procedure at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  

“A lung transplant was her only chance for survival,” says Ankit Bharat, MD, chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program. “We are one of the first health systems to successfully perform a lung transplant on a patient recovering from COVID-19. We want other transplant centers to know that while the transplant procedure in these patients is quite technically challenging, it can be done safely, and it offers the terminally ill COVID-19 patients another option for survival.” 

Dr Bharat is board certified in general surgery and thoracic surgery. His clinical interests include malignant and benign chest and esophageal diseases. Dr Bharat’s research is focused on lung preservation, transplant immunology and airway biology, achieved through collaboration with the Kovler Comprehensive Transplant Center and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Bharat, since joining Northwestern in 2013, has distinguished himself as a skilled thoracic surgeon, scientist and mentor. Beyond his clinical practice, which includes treatment of patients with complex thoracic malignancies, lung transplantation and extracorporeal life support, Bharat leads a multi-R01 funded laboratory focused on airway biology, lung preservation and transplant-tumor immunology. The laboratory aims to translate discoveries into novel therapeutics for patients with advanced lung disease and thoracic malignancies, as well as those undergoing pulmonary transplantation.

Bharat has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in top scientific journals, including Science Translational Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Immunology and American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine. His research, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, has already led to significant advancements in patient care.