Charles D. Fraser, Jr., M.D., is Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital. His academic appointments include Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University. He also serves as Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Surgery Program at Texas Heart Institute. Dr. Fraser’s focus is to refine the surgical treatment of small babies, children and adults with congenital cardiac disease, including surgical correction of serious cardiac malformations. Dr. Fraser has developed dedicated pediatric heart and lung transplant and mechanical circulatory support teams to offer every available therapy in the care of critically ill children.
Dr. Fraser received a bachelor’s degree with honors in mathematics from The University of Texas at Austin and was a member of the Southwest Conference Champion varsity tennis team in 1977. He received his medical degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and completed surgical residencies at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in general, cardiothoracic and thoracic transplant surgery. He subsequently completed a fellowship in pediatric cardiac surgery at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Dr. Fraser joined Texas Children’s Hospital in 1995 to build a focused pediatric cardiac care center which has grown to be among the nation’s largest. His clinical focus includes congenital heart surgery, pediatric transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. As Surgeon-in-Chief, Dr. Fraser also oversees the Department of Surgery which includes more than 100 surgeons in 10 subspecialties. The surgical enterprise at Texas Children’s performs over 30,000 operations each year.
Dr. Fraser has contributed over 200 journal articles, numerous chapters and textbooks to the medical literature. He has received Distinguished Alumni Awards from UT-Austin and UTMB for his professional accomplishments and service to the Universities. Among the many awards bestowed upon him are distinguished honors from Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Heart Institute and American Heart Association.
Dr. Fraser and his wife, Helen, have been blessed by 30 years of marriage and their four children—Laura Margaret Fraser Nachitgall, Charles Duncan Fraser, III, Grace Cooley Fraser, and William Scott Fraser—and two grandchildren.