Tampa General Hospital

Dr. Katlaps received his medical degree from the Medical Academy of Latvia, completed general surgery training at Stanford University Medical Center and his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Katlaps completed a second fellowship in Europe at the Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK, where he gained extensive knowledge in heart and lung transplantation, ventricular assist devices, complex aortic and mitral valve surgery, and minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Katlaps then accepted a position at Medical College of Virginia, now VCUHS, serving as the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of Programs of Heart and Transplantation and Mechanical Assist Devices at McGuire Richmond VAMC. He has served on boards of several professional organizations, including two terms as the Chairman of the Transplant Surgery Advisory Board at the Department of Veteran Affairs National Surgery Office.

Dr. Lozonschi received his medical degree from the G.T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi, Romania, before completing a general surgery internship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He subsequently completed a general surgery residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Before joining USF Health, Dr. Lozonschi served as the Director of Surgical Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He also has experience as the Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital. Dr. Lozonschi's expertise is in robotic and minimally invasive cardiac surgery, heart transplant and cardiothoracic surgery. He has received multiple research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and has won numerous awards for his clinical care, research, and presentations at National professional societies. Dr. Lozonschi has published over 65 peer reviewed manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters. His has nine patents, and in 2017 was the first surgeon in the U.S. to implant the latest Heartmate 3 device in the veteran population.

Dr. Lozonschi was the first in Florida to complete a robotic mitral valve repair.