Michael Sekela, MD, professor and division chief of cardiac surgery, officially retired from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Surgery faculty in February 2026, finishing a 40-year career as one of Kentucky's preeminent cardiac surgeons.
Among his colleagues and patients, Dr. Sekela is well known as a dedicated cardiac surgeon who always puts his patients' care first.
"Dr. Sekela is a master surgeon and a fierce advocate for his patients. His legacy will endure the test of time," said William B. Inabnet III, MD, Johnston-Wright Endowed Professor of Surgery and department chair.
"He is certainly one of the hardest working surgeons I have ever known," added Sibu Saha, MD, professor of surgery and a long-time colleague of Dr. Sekela's.
They first met when Dr. Sekela was completing his formal surgical training in the University of Kentucky's Cardiothoracic Fellowship Program from 1986 through 1988. Dr. Saha was serving as volunteer faculty in the UK division of cardiothoracic surgery.
"He was always on time, very dedicated, and hard working. Very little has changed since, but that is Mike's personality. Throughout his career, he has remained a diligent heart surgeon. His patients were always his prime consideration," said Dr. Saha.
These sentiments were echoed by Joseph Zwischenberger, MD, former department chair and a fellow faculty member with Dr. Sekela in the CT surgery division.
"There are a lot of Kentucky heart patients who are grateful for having had Dr. Sekela as their surgeon. He's the one who'd take on the most complex cases of heart disease anywhere. When extremely difficult cases presented themselves, surgeons throughout Kentucky felt comfortable referring patients to Dr. Sekela to achieve a good outcome," said Dr. Zwischenberger.
Dr. Sekela earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He matched into the general surgery residency program at Baylor University's prestigious DeBakey School of Medicine. Upon completing that program, he was accepted into the 2-year cardiothoracic fellowship program at the University of Kentucky.
After his fellowship, Dr. Sekela returned to the DeBakey School of Medicine to work alongside Dr. George Noon, a renowned Houston-based cardiothoracic surgeon and a pioneer in heart and lung transplantation. Drs. Noon and Sekela were co-directors of the cardiopulmonary transplant program.
Although he was practicing at one of the premiere institutions for cardiothoracic surgery, he and his wife felt a greater connection with Kentucky. After three years in Texas, they returned to the Bluegrass, and he joined UK faculty to establish and direct UK's first heart, lung, and heart/lung transplant program.
UK HealthCare and the Commonwealth benefited greatly from his clinical expertise. "He brought his training, experience, and drive to Kentucky. His first major project was to start the heart and lung transplant program at Chandler Hospital," said Dr. Saha. "He has done many more things since, and he's been an excellent educator to dozens of CT surgery fellows and senior residents."
"One of the best things I did early on, every weekend, I flew my single-engine airplane all over Kentucky, meeting with the physicians," said Dr. Sekela. "I didn't do any kind of hard sell. We just talked and got to know each other. Building relationships, that's how we built up referrals."
After five years at UK, Dr. Sekela became a partner with Surgical Associates of Kentucky. The group helped start a minimally invasive aortic valve program and robotic cardiac surgery program at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington. At one point, the cardiac program was considered among the top 50 in the country.
In 2013, needing the surgical volume required to accredit a six-year cardiothoracic surgery (I-6 CT) residency program, Dr. Saha, Dr. Zwischenberger, and Michael Karpf, MD, former UK Executive Vice President for Health Affairs (EVPHA), recruited Dr. Sekela back to the UK HealthCare faculty as surgical director of the Gill Heart Institute.
"He and Dr. Susan Smyth, medical director of the Gill Heart Institute, established the cardiovascular service line that allowed a close collaboration between cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to attain a higher standard of cardiac care for UK HealthCare's heart patients," Dr. Zwischenberger said.
Within months, the cardiovascular surgical case volume at UK more than doubled. The increase had an immediate impact on the stability of the I-6 CT residency. It also gave the department of anesthesia's adult cardiac fellows increased OR experience as well. By the end of 2014, UK had opened one the largest cardiovascular inpatient units in the country. UK HealthCare was at the forefront of cardiac care in Kentucky and building upon its national profile.
His last seven years at UK, he served as division chief of CT surgery. In that time, he saw UK surpass 600 heart transplants through the Gill Heart and Vascular Institute. Residents that he helped mentor joined the UK cardiac surgery faculty, and they are taking the lead in continuing UK HealthCare's exponential growth in heart care with the application of advanced technology and development of cutting-edge techniques.
"I've enjoyed these last few years, but when it comes to health care, I find that I prefer being in the weeds delivering direct patient care more than anything," Dr. Sekela said.
In recent years, he has worked in collaboration with the department of internal medicine and division of infectious disease to establish the UK multi-disciplinary endocarditis team. This unique clinical response team identified a correlation between Kentucky's rising incidence of endocarditis in young adults and the opioid abuse epidemic.
Since the team's creation, there has been a decrease in patient mortality from this form of heart disease. The team's leadership recently published a seminal study on treating endocarditis with oral antibiotics. All of this activity is in keeping with putting the needs of Kentucky's patients first.
Because of his continuing concern for patient care and UK's surgical education, Dr. Sekela established the Michael Sekela, MD Cardiothoracic Surgery Endowed Education Fund, which provides support for medical students who have expressed an interest in either cardiac or thoracic surgery.
"At UK, Kentucky's needs must always come first. An academic medical center must always put the needs of patients as its highest priority and maintain a proper balance with training the next generation of surgeons," Dr. Sekela said. "This fund is a way to continue supporting the goals of the cardiac surgery division and our education programs."
