A Heart-to-Heart With a Pioneer in Cardiac Surgery

Exploring the prolific work of Dr. Tirone David—a down-to-earth, solution-driven cardiac surgeon

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Ask Dr. Tirone David about his achievements and you're bound to get a humble response. He doesn't boast about being a 2025 inductee to Canada's Walk of Fame, receiving the Order of Canada (the country’s highest civilian honour) or collecting countless accolades over four decades. At 80, the affable world-renowned cardiac surgeon talks about his lifelong dedication to the cause: trying to conquer a disease that never dies.

Endless persistence

Dr. David has been dubbed one of the biggest influences in cardiovascular surgery, pioneering 16 groundbreaking procedures, performing more than 15,000 open-heart surgeries—with a nearly 100 per cent success rate—and publishing more than 450 scientific papers. Still, he's the first to admit he's not perfect, and that’s what keeps him going. "I have a sense of self-criticism. My driving force is an immense desire to do better today than I did yesterday,” he says. “I aim for perfection, but I’m human. My patients do very well, and that's something I want people to remember.”

Still operating twice weekly at University Health Network's (UHN) Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto, the premier cardiac centre in the country, Dr. David has played a key role in the cardiac and vascular healthcare innovation the hospital is known for. “I'm not a genius," he says with a laugh, "but I'm curious and have had spectacular mentors who have taught me to learn as much as I can. This has inspired and encouraged me to continue to discover new ways to help patients.”