Dr. Jim Kauten is a celebrated cardiac surgeon joining our nonprofit team as Co-Director of Philanthropy. Dr. Kauten’s remarkable expertise and dedication to the field of cardiothoracic surgery will significantly enhance our mission and efforts.

Dr. Jim Kauten has been a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon since 1986. Together with Ellis L. Jones, M.D., he co-founded the Cardiac Surgery program at Piedmont Hospital. He is a distinguished fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology, and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Kauten is board-certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Kauten earned his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences of the Chicago Medical School in Illinois. He completed his General Surgery residency at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in 1983 and his cardiac surgery fellowship at Emory University in 1986. In 2011, he furthered his expertise by obtaining a master’s degree in medical informatics from Northwestern University.

Since 1988, Dr. Kauten has been a valued member of the medical staff at Piedmont Hospital and, since 2009, at the Piedmont Heart Institute. Throughout his distinguished career, he has performed over 11,000 open-heart surgical procedures and more than 2,000 minimally invasive transcatheter valve replacements (TAVRs). He is an integral member of the Marcus Heart Valve Center’s Transcatheter Valve Replacement team. His clinical interests include valvular replacement surgery, transcatheter procedures for all types of cardiac valves, aorta and aortic root replacement, and mitral repair. Additionally, he is deeply involved in coronary revascularization (CABG) procedures. Dr. Kauten has also served as the principal investigator for multiple TAVR trials and an aortic valve trial, among others.

Beyond his professional achievements, Dr. Kauten enjoys traveling the world with his wife, engaging in amateur radio (ham radio), building and designing computers and networks, bird hunting, sporting clays shooting, and photography.

We are honored to have Dr. Jim Kauten join our team and look forward to the significant contributions he will make to our organization and the communities we serve.