CMI welcomes new Directors to the CMI Leadership Team: Brian Vidic and Dr. Robert Kormos. 

By Yash Mokashi, CMI Fellow

Brian Vidic: 

Brian Vidic is the Executive Director of the Office of Research Operations and Business Engagement. Brian brings years of business development and commercial experience to CMI. Brian spent the first portion of his career in the private sector delivering business & economic development solutions for governments and regional agencies. He was responsible for east coast U.S. sales and was the sales lead in the U.K., specifically Scotland and Northern Ireland. The middle portion of Brian’s career was spent in the healthcare sector with UPMC in their Physician Services Division. There, Brian led four divisions and a staff of 70 focused on technology, marketing, electronic health record rollouts and operations. Since late 2008 Brian has been with the School of Engineering, currently overseeing four central units including Research Operations & Business Engagement, Marketing & Communications, Professional Graduate Programs Recruitment, and Technology.

Robert Kormos

Dr. Robert Kormos has several titles. He is the Director of the UPMC Artificial Heart Program, Co-Director of the UPMC Heart Transplantation Program, Associate Director of the residency program for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Medical Director of Vital Engineering. He was the former Medical Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

A University of Pittsburgh faculty member since 1987, Dr. Kormos is internationally regarded for his clinical and research work in the use of cardiac assist devices as temporary or permanent support for patients with end-stage heart disease as well as cardiac transplantation. He has authored more than 250 published articles and book chapters on these subjects. In a new venture, he is directing a consortium of UPMC clinicians and engineers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to develop advanced biosensors for medical applications.

He has been a supporter of CMI research and educational programs for several years. Dr. Kormos brings a fresh clinical perspective to the CMI mission based on his many years of experience as a cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the Artificial Heart Program at the University of Pittsburgh and looks forward to contributing to the field of Medical Innovation.