Back to John W. Kirklin/David Ashburn Fellowship

View CV

Dr. Connor Callahan was the 10th Kirklin/Ashburn Fellow at the CHSS Center for Research and Quality. In 2013, Connor obtained his Bachelor of Science in physiology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went on to graduate from Medical College of Wisconsin in 2017. Prior to starting as the KA fellow, he completed 2 years of general surgery residency at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri; with plans to pursue their 4/3 fast track cardiothoracic surgery fellowship on his return to St. Louis. He looks forward to the strong foundation the KA Fellowship will offer for a career as an academic congenital cardiac surgeon and looks forward to working with the CHSS membership to help answer the challenging questions the field faces.

His passion for congenital cardiac surgery began as a first year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and working under the mentorship of Dr. Ronald Woods at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin throughout his medical education. Their work resulted in two publications regarding proximal arch hypoplasia and coarctation of the aorta (World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2019 Jul;10(4):469-474), and single stage repair of coarctation of the aorta and VSD (World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2017 Sep;8(5):559-563). The ability to alter the challenging anatomy and physiology in our patients to give them the best quality of life is what draws Connor to congenital cardiac surgery.

In his spare time, Connor is an avid runner. He moved to Toronto with his wife, and their greyhound. At the Center for Research and Quality, Connor will pursue a Master's degree in Biostatistics & Epidemiology at the University of Toronto.