Karl Michael Gutierrez Reyes, MD $$

Karl Reyes, M.D., is a board-certified thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon. He cares for adults and children at Children’s Health℠. He has special clinical interests in adult congenital heart surgery, neonatal heart surgery, Ebstein anomaly, and complex mitral valvular and aortic root reconstructions in infants and children. He serves as the Surgical Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, the Director of the Congenital Cardiac Surgery Education Program and is an Associate Professor at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Reyes earned his medical degree at the University of the East – College of Medicine Quezon City, Philippines. He completed his general surgery residency at the Philippine General Hospital. He also completed fellowships in Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital and Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at The Cleveland Clinic.

We care for very special patients and families, and it is a calling. Patients of all ages come to us who are often very sick, and we have the opportunity to give them a chance not just to live but to have normal and productive lives.

He is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, and the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

Dr. Reyes is passionate about his specialty. He says, “We care for very special patients and families, and it is a calling. Patients of all ages come to us who are often very sick, and we have the opportunity to give them a chance not just to live but to have normal and productive lives.” 

As a leader, academic, researcher and publisher, Dr. Reyes’ experience brings a wealth of knowledge and innovation to the thoracic and cardiac surgery field. He is a sought-after lecturer with numerous published abstracts, book chapters, and peer-reviewed publications. His research has been published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, The European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Pediatric Cardiology, Multimedia Manual of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery.

Dr. Reyes co-founded The Operation Heart Foundation, a humanitarian program that partners with the Gift of Life International to organize and fund congenital heart surgeries in the Philippines. Since 2011, the program has helped over a thousand disadvantaged children. Dr. Reyes has also participated in multiple medical missions in his home country. He is also a Philippines 2013 Outstanding Young Men awardee.

His current research interests include studying outcomes in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery, studying the current valves in use in the infant and children population, the application of new materials in valvular reconstruction and the outcomes of adult congenital heart disease patients with reconstructed valves in both single and biventricular populations. 

In his free time, Dr. Reyes enjoys spending time with family and his 2 big dogs, traveling and being outdoors.