After nearly two decades of building a leading pediatric heart surgery program, David Bichell, MD, is stepping down from his roles as chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and co-director of the Pediatric Heart Institute at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Bichell will continue to see patients and perform his surgical duties.
Carlos Mery, MD, MPH, associate chief of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, a collaboration between UT Health Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center, will succeed Bichell. The change took effect Oct. 7.
“A brilliant technical surgeon, Dr. Bichell has provided extraordinary care to the children of Tennessee for over 18 years and developed the pediatric heart program into one of the most respected in the United States,” said Seth Karp, MD, H. William Scott Jr. Professor of Surgery and chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences. “We are so fortunate to have identified and recruited Dr. Mery as the best person in the nation to lead the program into the future and build on Dr. Bichell’s success.”
Monroe Carell is home to one of the original congenital heart disease and pediatric heart transplant programs in the country, and under Bichell’s direction since 2006, the program is established as among the top in the country. Bichell was recruited to Monroe Carell from Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago, where he had served as the director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and associate professor of Surgery.
Bichell is a nationally recognized leader in the surgical treatment of congenital heart disease in infants, children and adults. He is highly accomplished at performing a wide range of procedures to treat congenital heart problems, including surgery for single ventricle defects, correction of complex neonatal heart defects, and pediatric heart transplantation.
“Serving as the chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and co-director of the Pediatric Heart Institute for the past 18 years has been an incredible honor,” said Bichell, the William S. Stoney Jr. Professor of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery. “It’s been a journey fueled by the dedication and expertise of the tremendous teams of people who have helped build our program into one of the premier centers in the nation. I am immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together, and I look forward with great optimism to the continued success and breakthroughs that the future holds.”
Under Bichell’s leadership, the pediatric heart transplant program has consistently had among the highest transplant volumes in the United States, ranking 8th in 2023 for pediatric heart transplant center volumes with 15 transplants performed.
“We are indebted to Dr. Bichell for his years of service to children near and far who have heart problems requiring surgery,” said Meg Rush, MD, MMHC, president of Monroe Carell. “When he arrived, we were a small program without a separate cardiac intensive care unit or committed anesthesia team. Today, we have a large, comprehensive and successful program with a foundation of expertise across all pillars. I am so very grateful for Dr. Bichell’s passion and commitment to building this strong foundation upon which to grow.
“As we continue to mature our specialty programs, I am excited to welcome Dr. Mery, who will help take our strong program to a new level of prominence regionally and nationally. We will build upon our strong foundation and focus on elements of growth that will better utilize resources across our system yet differentiate us regionally as a pediatric heart institute,” Rush continued.
Mery specializes in the management of children and adults with congenital heart disease, including simple and complex congenital heart defects. His passion is to help every patient with congenital heart disease have access to high-quality, comprehensive and personalized care.
In Texas, Mery, who has an extensive background in congenital heart surgery and research, has emphasized the importance of personalized medicine and patient-centric care by helping create an integrated heart center, robust data infrastructure and psychosocial support for patients and families. Among his many roles there, he has served as a professor in the departments of Surgery and Perioperative Care and Pediatrics, and the director of health transformation and design in congenital heart disease.
Mery said he is honored and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a storied institution at Vanderbilt.
“From a pediatric cardiac surgical standpoint, Vanderbilt was instrumental to how it all started. The legacy of Vanderbilt and its pediatric cardiac program is second to none,” he said. “We have an opportunity to leverage that legacy, the amazing people that are already part of the team, and all the previous successes achieved under Dr. Bichell, and take the program to the next level.”
Mery received his medical degree from Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, and subsequently completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición “Salvador Zubirán” in Mexico, and a research fellowship in thoracic surgery and clinical junior fellowship in cardiac surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He completed his general surgery residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, cardiothoracic fellowship at University of Virginia and congenital heart surgery fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. Mery holds a master’s degree in public health from Harvard School of Public Health as well as a fellowship in surgical innovation from Stanford University.
Mery is making the move to Nashville with his wife, Marissa Mery, MD, a critical care anesthesiologist, and their three children ages 9, 7 and 6.
