Mohammad Abdullah Zafar, MBBS

Dr. Mohammad Abdullah Zafar is an Associate Research Scientist, the Research Director, and Yale-Masone Aortic Research Fellow at the Aortic Institute at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Section of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery. The Aortic Institute at Yale-New Haven Hospital is one of the largest multidisciplinary clinical and research centers in the world dedicated to the care of patients with thoracic aortic disease. It includes experts in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, vascular surgery, vascular radiology, interventional radiology, cardiovascular anesthesiology, bioengineering, epidemiology, molecular genetics, and basic science research in vascular medicine. It is among the first such formally designated centers. 

After completing his medical degree with honors and internship in thoracic surgery from Pakistan, Dr. Zafar joined the Aortic Institute in 2015. Dr. Zafar’s research over the past seven years has been focused on advancing the fundamental biomedical understanding of thoracic aortic disease via scientific studies targeted at fostering a better understanding of the natural history and risk prediction, early detection and diagnosis, molecular genetics, and optimal therapies of thoracic aortic disease. 

In his capacity as the Aortic Research Fellow and Research Director, Dr. Zafar’s role is to bridge the academic, clinical, and research arms of the Aortic Institute to continue to ensure delivery of state-of-the-art expert and personalized care to aneurysm patients at Yale. Dr. Zafar supervises all investigations being carried out at the Institute and leads, mentors, and aids recruitment of members of the research team that includes high school students, undergraduate students, Yale and visiting medical students, residents, physician associates, postdoctoral fellows, and physicians and surgeons from across the United States and the world. Dr. Zafar has helped establish the Aortic Institute clinical database, tissue bank, and advanced thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection genetic testing program and database, some of the largest repositories of their kind in the world. 

Dr. Zafar has published over one hundred peer-reviewed scientific articles, book chapters, editorials, and commentaries on thoracic aortic disease, has presented his research work at leading national and international conferences, delivered lectures and Grand Rounds at the Yale School of Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and other institutions, serves as a peer-reviewer for journals, and serves as an editor for the journal AORTA. An avid Manchester United fan, Dr. Zafar enjoys playing and watching soccer, strength training, watching British crime and sci-fi shows, mindful productivity, brunch, and spending time with friends and family.