Robert Bartlett

Co-Chairman of the Cardiac Surgery Advisory Board. Dr. Bartlett is Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Director of the Extracorporeal Circulation Laboratory at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) at Ann Arbor. Dr. Bartlett is a cardiothoracic surgeon and was Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Chief of the Trauma/Critical Care Division, and Director of the Extracorporeal Life Support Program at UMHS. Among Dr. Bartlett’s many distinguished accomplishments, he is best known as the pioneer in the development of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO), used to oxygenate blood in critically-ill patients worldwide. He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School, completed his general surgery residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, and was Chief Resident in thoracic surgery. He was also previously faculty at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Bartlett is the recipient of 26 separate research grants, 14 from the National Institutes of Health, including an RO1 grant for the development of a completely artificial lung. He has also received numerous national and international awards for his contributions to critical care medicine.